Tips for Setting Family Ground Rules for Your Family Enterprise

One big challenge of running an Enterprise out of your home is balancing work and family. If you're serious about succeeding, then it's up to you to set up ground rules for your family to abide by.

Here are 10 tips for setting the ground rules that will allow you to run a successful Family Enterprise and keep a happy home.

1. Establish a routine and stick with it. Families, and especially children, thrive on routines. If you set up specific times for both work and family, you’ll be more productive.
2. Carve out a workspace. Establishing a bona fide home office sets clear boundaries for family members. Keeping your work confined to your office will keep your Enterprise from intruding on your personal life. It will also protect important Enterprise information from falling prey to children's spills, negligence, or well-intended but inappropriate participation.
3. Keep separate quarters. If possible, locate your office in a detached section of your home: garage, attic, furnished basement, or another location away from the main house. At the very least, make sure you have an office door that can be closed to give you some privacy.
4. Soundproof your office. Do what you can to keep your office quiet. Make sure that the family noises from the houses — dog barking, kids yelling — don’t distract you or intrude on your Enterprise phone calls.
5. Schedule quality family time. Make sure your children and significant other are an integral part of your daily routine. Set up sacred rituals — bedtime, family dinner together — and devote yourself entirely to your family during these times.
6. Explain flex time. One of the great perks of running a Family Enterprise is it allows you a certain amount of flexible work hours. You can run midday errands and attend the occasional school function in the middle of the day. But explain to your family members that you may not always be in a position to be with them during the workday, that projects and clients might be the priority at a particular time in the day. Otherwise you risk disappointing them when you can't make it to a school function or take care of a family issue.
7. Hire help. Hiring a housekeeper or a nanny to take up some of the slack can allow you to focus on your Enterprise and be more productive. Consider this part of the cost of doing Enterprise effectively.
8. Assign household chores. Negotiate ahead of time what chores need to be done and by whom. Let your family members know that you are depending on them to help you out, and that you expect and appreciate their help in making your Enterprise a success.
9. Establish telephone protocol. If possible, establish separate work and family phone lines and email addresses. It is also important to teach your children and your spouse that, if they happen to pick up your work phone, they should answer it professionally. They should identify the Enterprise and take a detailed message so you can return the call.

Create signals. Create a signal that makes it clear when you do not want to be disturbed. This could be something as simple as closing your office door when you are hard at work or even holding up a "Do Not Disturb" sign when on the phone. 

Top 10 Family Enterprises for Stay-at-Home Parents

Being a stay-at-home parent does not mean you can't contribute financially to your family. To be a good fit for a stay-at-home parent, a home Enterprise should offer a flexible schedule, minimal customer interaction, and must generally fit in to your lifestyle. Here are 10 top recommendations for jobs that fit those criteria.

1. Medical transcription is a great choice for people with a good command of the English language and excellent keyboarding skills. Many doctors prefer to outsource their transcription function. This Enterprise requires a very low overhead, a minimum of necessary equipment, and a good income.

2. Accounting offers a flexible schedule for parents who already have extensive financial skills. You can either purchase a tax and accounting franchise for your area or start your own company right in your home.

3. Child care allows you to spend a great deal of time with your own children while taking care of other people’s children as well. This Enterprise is a good choice for parents who are already experienced in caring for kids.

4. Assembling and selling custom gift baskets let you combine your creative skills with your desire to work from home. These baskets can range from simple fruit baskets to complicated executive gadget baskets.

5. Making and selling candles and crafts is a great way to involve your children in your work. If you are handy at making attractive crafts, you can have your children help you create them and you can easily market these items from your home.

6. Catering can be a good fit for busy parents who love to cook and entertain. Most of the work can be done in your home while looking after your children, with only a minimum of time spent out of the house if adequate staffing is planned.

7. Medical claims billing offers another opportunity to showcase your accounting experience in a steady work-from-home job. There are many opportunities in this field for busy parents with financial backgrounds.

8. Freelance typing jobs are a great way to earn money from home. Even in this age of ubiquitous computers, there continues to be a demand for skilled typists.

9. Publishing e-books can be a great way to share your knowledge with a vast market. You can write and sell e-books on any number of topics. If you have been successful at juggling a family and a home Enterprise, an e-book is a great way to share your secret with others.

10. Online affiliate programs do not require you to directly interact with customers or worry about finding room for products in your home. You can start a successful affiliate Enterprise by finding companies that offer products you are interested in and marketing them on the Internet.

There is no shortage of home-base Enterprise opportunities, but there are also numerous scams you will need to be aware of. If an opportunity sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research before you commit to anything.

In the end, you will need to arrange your Enterprise so it doesn't interfere with your other priorities. There are many Family Enterprises that will never require you to set foot outside your home, allowing you to spend the majority of your time with your family.

Ten Tips on Creating a Virtual Office for Your Family Enterprise

The advent of the Internet has made it easier and more attractive than ever for budding entrepreneurs to start Enterprises in their homes. The Web has had a similarly revolutionary effect in allowing workers to telecommute. But what about harnessing the power of the Internet to do both?

A virtual office for your home Enterprise is a creative way to let employees focus on their work instead of wasting their time and energy commuting. Going virtual also can help your company save cash, increase profits, and expand its reach.

Here are 10 tips for building a productive off-site team.

1. Find the right phone system. Your phone system must be able to link and support all your remote locations in order to project the image of a single company.
2. Build an intranet. Because your employees don't all go to work at a single location, you need to foster communication and instill in them the sense that they're still part of a team. An intranet can help do both. It can connect your virtual team and make it easier to share information.
3. Hold off-site meetings as needed. There are a number of companies and hotels that provide high-end Enterprise suites and services to mobile executives. There’s also the local chain coffee shop, which may offer Wi-Fi access and enough space for you to hold informal meetings.
4. Plan team-building events. In-person events are essential to remind your employees that they're not alone. These events can be as simple as a lunch at your house or as involved as a professionally administered training program.
5. Hire a virtual secretary. A virtual secretary is someone — or a team of someone’s — who work off-site but who are hooked into your phone system, giving the impression that they are answering calls on-site. Virtual secretaries can answer phones, set up appointments, and take messages around the clock, if necessary.
6. Communicate openly and frequently. You have to maintain a strong leadership role to lead your virtual team. Be very clear about what you expect from employees and consultants. Make sure they know your policies on pay, health insurance, and vacations.
7. Handle payroll professionally. Treat payroll exactly as you would in a traditional office, with direct deposit or mailed paychecks.
8. Meet and greet your new hires. Whenever possible, meet employees and consultants in person before you bring them on board. It takes a special kind of individual to work remotely, so make sure they have the right make-up. You'll also need to determine whether or not they have dedicated office space at home and the necessary technology.
9. Project a professional appearance. A Web site can create a powerful public image for your Family Enterprise. Included biographies of all your virtual team members, a description of your team and its services, accomplishments as a team, and a central contact for prospective and existing clients to reach you and the other members of your team.
10. Take your public relations and marketing seriously. A solid and appealing brand — the image your Enterprise projects — is critical to the success of your Family Enterprise. You have to convey to customers that you offer the best solution to the challenges they face. And don't make apologies for working at home. 

Ten Tips for Hiring Employees for Your Family Enterprise

When your home is your office, the thought of hiring an employee may be daunting. It’s almost more like finding the right roommate, which makes recruiting and hiring the right match all the more important.

Here are 10 tips for finding and hiring the right person.

1. Know what you're getting yourself into. Hiring takes preparation. Will you hire full- or part-time employees or independent contractors? Hiring employees means dealing with payroll and benefits. Will you handle these functions in house or will you outsource them?
2. Ask for referrals. Before you place a help wanted ad, ask for word-of-mouth referrals. Call former colleagues and ask friends and family members if they know any trustworthy, hard-working people. Other places to look for and recruit prospective employees include local universities and community colleges, organizations or trade associations, and chambers of commerce.
3. Do your homework. Before you hire anyone for your Family Enterprise, familiarize yourself with your state's employment laws and with your town's zoning laws.
4. Define your compensation package. Determine what you can afford to pay the employee and what benefits you can afford to offer. If you are trying to cut costs, think outside the box. Offering flexible hours or allowing telecommuting can be very attractive advantages for prospective employees.
5. Perform your due diligence. Of course you'll want to carefully screen your prospective employees; after all, this person will be coming into your home every day. Verify that the person is legally permitted to work in the United States, perform a background check, and check the references your candidate provides.
6. Conduct the interview. Get as much information from the candidate as possible. In addition to submitting a resume, ask for references and have them fill out an application. If possible, have someone else with you during the interview. This way, you will have another person's impressions of the candidate as well as your own. Ask job-specific questions and try to create scenarios to test how a prospective employee would handle typical situations. Determine how they feel about working in an office where family members and even pets may be around.
7. Cover your assets. Make sure your Enterprise insurance policy includes worker’s compensation as well as any other liability to which you may be open. Consult with your insurance agent or broker before your employee begins work.
8. Set boundaries. Make sure your employee understands your expectations for being in your home and in your home office. Let them know which rooms are open to them and what the Enterprise hours are. Make it clear that though they are in your home, they are there to help you run an Enterprise.
9. Compile an employee handbook. This lets your employees know immediately that you take your management duties seriously. Your handbook or operations manual should include policies on sick days, hours, personal use of phones, and performance expectations. It should also include job titles and descriptions, office rules, and procedures for requesting vacation time or reporting an absence.
10. Prepare your family members. Because family members may feel resentful having a stranger in such close quarters, you need to set boundaries with the employee and to prepare your family members for their presence. Assure them that the employee will not be interfering with their personal space, and that they are not obligated to entertain, feed, or treat the employee as a guest. 

Top 10 Advantages of a Family Enterprise

As corporate downsizing continues to make news and the Internet makes telecommuting ever more productive, more and more entrepreneurs are discovering the benefits of running Enterprises out of their homes. If you are looking to get out of the rat race, to spend more time with family and friends, and to live a more balanced life, a Family Enterprise may be the right decision for you.

Here are 10 reasons why it pays to work at home:

1. Personal freedom. If you're used to spending hours in traffic to and from work every day, some of the most exciting advantages to starting a Family Enterprise are your newfound freedom and the retrieval of lost time. The average American spends 348 hours each year commuting, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. Suddenly with a Family Enterprise, you have those extra hours to regain control of your personal life. Plus, there are no bosses, no dress code, no set work schedule, and no office politics to maneuver. All you need is personal drive, discipline, and time-management skills.
2. You get to keep the money you make. It’s a simple principle: the harder you work, the more money you can make. Your earning potential is directly proportional to your performance, so you don’t have to wait for a raise or a promotion. You work harder, and you produce more. You'll also save money on gas and food. Preparing lunch at home is more cost efficient and offers a nice break in your workday.
3. Increased opportunity. With so many corporations and industries in a slump, starting your own Family enterprise means you can create your own income-producing opportunities. Good job prospects can be scarce in some industries, and promotional opportunities within major companies are also shrinking.
4. Less risk. Running an Enterprise from home takes much less startup cash than a freestanding Enterprise, or even a franchise location. And once your Enterprise is up and running, it's cheaper and easier to maintain than a separate Enterprise location.
5. Tax advantages. There are a number of tax advantages to having your home and office under one roof. You can deduct a part of your home's operating and depreciation expenses on your home as Enterprise expenses. This can be a percentage of your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and/or the expenses of household maintenance.
6. More time for friends and family. This is especially important for parents of school-age children: you can see the kids off to school and on most days be home when they return. Also, if someone is sick, it's easier to leave your home's desk than one in someone else's office.
7. Less stress. It's a little less stressful to juggle the demands of work and family when you know you can stay home to care for a sick child and generally set your own schedule.
8. Opportunities for professional growth. Being your own boss gives you the chance to wear a lot of hats: sales director, marketing professional, strategist, Enterprise development manager, and more. This gives you insight into and experience with all the aspects of running an Enterprise, which, in turn, makes you even more marketable.
9. Increased productivity. Now that you no longer have to budget time and energy for commuting or a succession of useless meetings, you should have a lot more time and energy to make your Enterprise a success.
10. A creative outlet. Launching your Family can be an opportunity for you to give birth to your passions and hobbies and create a money-generating outlet for your unique and creative talents.