The Number One Questions from Mums Wanting to Work From Home

I speak with many mums, every single week, who express the desire to work from home or start a home business. Some are new mums with pre-school aged children, and others are juggling school-aged or teenage children and a household while working a job. Talk about multi-tasking and being busy, they know what it means! Interestingly, many mums wonder whether they would be ABLE to start their own work from home business. For many, it all sounds ‘too much’, ‘too hard’ or ‘too scary’…

 

I want to address the question I receive the most from ‘to be’ work at home mums:

 

How can I manage my kids, my home AND a new business?

 

Many mums don’t realise that they already have the skills required to do this. What mums with a new home business must do, is transfer their existing skills, and a re-allocate their time and resources to their priorities, in a highly organized manner! Before I started my business, I was a full-time mum, and this was my number one priority. My second priority was to support my husband and the household, and I carried all my tasks in a spontaneous fashion. I must say, my first priority has not changed. My children’s needs remain at the top of the list. But since I now have a business which I work at every day, and I still am responsible for many aspects of running a household, I have had to change the way in which I carry out my many responsibilities.

 

I have a detailed daily schedule. It’s amazing how much more you can get done in a day when you are organized! I feel more IN CONTROL now than I ever did before having a home business! I have acquired new skills to better set my priorities and allocate my time and resources to them. I still spend quality time with my children. I work from home, so I can manage my work and my home almost seamlessly. And most importantly, I am now empowered to achieve my goals while being in charge of my own schedule and lifestyle. I do what works for ME, MY family, MY business, MY goals.

 

Here are my thoughts around the question: “How can I manage my kids, my home AND a new business?”

-       Having a home-based business and working around your kids will require that you get highly organized. Whether this is a new skills for you or not, it will require some tweaking over time until you find your very own magic formula!

-       As mums, we are all great multi-taskers! You can use those existing skills to become highly efficient in managing your household, and create more time to focus on your home business and your children.

-       When you are clear on the income and lifestyle goals you want to achieve, and you fully commit to being successful as a mumpreneur, and you know that you have the right business vehicle to achieve this, you will create a strong motivation to make it work!

-       As you grow and develop new skills, you will become more productive. You will develop a schedule that allows you to be 100% present in your most important tasks, including being a great mum and a focused business woman!

-       If you allow yourself to embrace personal and professional development, you will empower yourself to achieve amazing results in your personal life and home business. Never underestimate the power of personal growth!

 

If you commit to your DREAMS, you will see it is all worth it! Working for yourself may be the scariest, most challenging thing you ever undertake. But aren’t your dreams worth the challenge?

 

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard’s Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

3 Lessons Learnt From Hawaiian Massage for Mumpreneurs

I recently received my first Ho’oponopono Lomi Lomi Hawaiian massage. This treatment has a great focus on positive energy, holistic wellbeing, spiritual healing, deep breathing and detoxifying the body. All through my massage, my therapist expressed some inspiring and insightful messages which will affect my personal growth as a work at home mum. Let me share the most powerful lessons I received:

Unconditional Self-Love

As mothers, we all have unconditional love for others, still we forget to give ourselves this same unconditional love love! We give forgiveness others for their mistakes, while we give ourselves harsh judgements for our own actions or results. We grant our children and others we love the room required for their personal development and growth, while we settle on incredibly challenging ambitions for ourselves. And just as I trust and teach everyone else to embrace the process, to move gradually toward their most meaningful goals, to embrace personal growth, to concentrate on their talents and passions as work at home mums, and to act with integrity… I tell myself to ‘get there right now, to wipe out my weaknesses, to surmount all obstacles, to get tough and be better than my own self! (I realise I am disclosing some of my personal challenges here – but I believe this may serve and inspire other people!). Like most people, I have to practice more what I preach, and allow myself to grow as I provide a safe personal environment of unconditional love!

Achieving Balance Between Action and Allowing

My therapist spoke of the Masculine and Feminine side of all human beings. The Masculine side brings the actions, the steady drive to create change, to re-shape, to DO. The Feminine side inspires gratitude and stillness, and opens to RECEIVE and ALLOW. A great balance involving the Masculine and Feminine sides orchestrates holistic wellbeing of the mind, body and spirit, and bring the realisation of our greatest potential and desires. I have heard this repeatedly in the last few months… but at this point, I need to truly receive it and put it into practice! Taking consistent action is one vehicle, but often we become so immersed in creating change and ‘DOING’, that we cannot express gratitude and appreciate the stillness of what is, in the present time. We may not see opportunities and gifts, ready for us to utilise. We might not attract and allow for things, people or events that require our focus and openness. So while I’m greatly focused on creating positive change, taking inspired action and completing my goals as a mumpreneur, I’ll make certain to look up often, grasp the abundance I already possess, open my mind and my heart, and ALLOW!

Your Body is Your Best Friend

According to many, our ‘body is a temple’, but the analogy of a best friend is more meaningful to me. Together with the message of unconditional self-love, how about perceiving and taking care of my body like a best friend? To my best friend, I am kind, gentle, caring, respectful, mindful, generous, available, patient, and loving. My body needs all this! As I apply this to my daily mindfulness and actions, I will genuinely provide my body with what it requires for mental and physical wellbeing, from nutrition to fitness, and from oxygen and relaxation to strength and energy. It is an attitude and priority shift, as I nurture my body as I would for a best friend, and devote it the love, respect, time and care that it needs to give power to my mind and actions. Nice approach indeed, in particular for busy work at home mums!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Hawaiian massage, and particularly the meaningful messages given in this approach for holistic wellbeing, which I will apply to my home business and personal development Before I go, let me share with you the ‘9 Principles of Living in Natural ‘Huna’ Harmony’, which were communicated repeatedly during the session:

Be Graceful (Ho’ola) •  Be Aware (Ike) •  Be Free (Kala)
Be Focused (Makia) •  Be Here (Manawa) •  Be Happy (Aloha)
Be Confident (Mana) •  Be Positive (Pono) •  Be Merciful (‘Ohana)

Here is to empowering mumpreneurs and mums working from home to grant themselves unconditional love, to achieve the essential balance between ‘taking action’ and ‘allowing’, to practice gratitude and appreciate the personal development, and to truly respect their bodily health and wellbeing!

 

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard’s Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, work at home mums and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Work At Home Mums: If You Have No Time To Start An Online Business

This will be a bold one my friends. If you are known to apply the ‘I don’t have the time’ excuse, this article is for you. Although if you’re satisfied using this excuse (and staying in the rut) maybe it isn’t for you – you can decide while you keep reading…

As a work at home mum (to two boys aged under 4) and online business owner, I understand the meaning of being ‘busy’. I appreciate the challenges of juggling my work, my family, my health and fitness, my finances, my friends, my home, my personal aspirations and my lifestyle.

In my online business, I speak with many prospective partners everyday. Individuals who have big desires for having financial independence and more freedom in their life. People who tell me they want to spend more time with their family, to travel overseas, to work without a boss, to be challenged and rewarded, to donate more to charities, to feel passionate about their career, to pursue their biggest ambitions. But they ‘don’t have the time’ to do anything about it.

Hey, it’s a catch 22. You cannot change one thing before the other thing changes. But if you don’t change anything, what happens?

Nothing!

There are only 24 hours in each day. You probably sleep from 6 to 8 hours. It needs to be done. Nobody will GIVE YOU more time. This is the time that is available, and the only thing you can do is TAKE IT and split it up productively! And indeed, it calls for wise allocations to your priorities.

Do you watch TV? Do you sleep on your public transport commute? Do you spend 30 minutes in the shower? Are you taking an hour lunch break with the only activity being to eat? Do you like to sleep late whenever you can? Do you drive for hours listening to the radio? Do you spend time wandering around without a purpose on the internet? What I am asking you is: would you have the opportunity to allocate your time more wisely to more productive things, and to take action on the things that will allow you to attain your most meaningful goals?

What you require to start (or develop) your online business and bring financial independence and freedom is NOT more time. What you require, is a strong commitment… and an improved allocation of your time.

Let me share some reasons you should consider that could help you uncover why you FEEL you don’t have the time (to begin an online business, or do anything you really desire to do!). And remember, it is mostly a FEELING, not a FACT. Those reasons may be different to the ones you are expecting!

- Your desire is not strong or meaningful enough.
- You are not clear on the goals you have set and the actions needed to accomplish them.
- Your time allocation is poor and you confuse urgent vs. important things.
- You permit others to set your priorities and determine how you spend your time.
- You give in to procrastination (and the question is, WHY do you procrastinate?).
- You are wasting time on counterproductive activities (this includes oversleeping and watching television).
- You are not using opportunities to multi-task and create more time.
- You are disorganised and don’t follow a productive schedule.
- You don’t have the energy required for productivity and mental focus.
- You disregard your health and personal growth.
- You are feeling overwhelmed and are not capable of taking back control (sounds heavy, I know…).
- You have not made the decision to achiving your goals, and have not committed to taking the necessary actions.
- You are missing the inspiration or are unable to harness your own motivation.
- You are not developing the personal skill-set and mindset essential for positive change.
- You under-utilise the support and resources that are available to you.
- You require more time to activate on your aspirations…ha ha, just kidding! That one is only an excuse – you can’t apply this one!

So if you desire to begin an online business or bring significant positive changes in your life, but establish that you ‘don’t have the time’, revisit this list! Do you know what you want? Do you really want to realise your dreams? Are you clear on the actions you must take to get what you want? Why are you not taking action, today?

 

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard’s Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Work At Home Mums: The 12 Mistakes in Online Business

Whether you have started a work from home business or are still researching online business opportunities, you must know the 12 MISTAKES TO AVOID to grow your business and make real profits! These mistakes are probably not the ones you expect!

So many work at home mums start their new business without the right coaching, and without being armed with the best tools and resources to manage their business, grow their profits and develop their personal and professional skills.

I have just released a 1-hour recorded webinar that addresses exactly this! How to build a profitable online business in 2011, and how to avoid the 12 COMMON Mistakes! I did this webinar with my great friend and partner, who like me is a home business coach and work at home mum, and we are passionate about empowering other mums to get it right when their start their work from home business!

So whether you are still in the ‘research’ phase, or you already work from home or have your own online business, click on the link below to get instant access to the recorded webinar!

What You Need To Know About Starting An Online Business in 2011

Enjoy the webinar, make sure to apply what you learn, avoid the 12 mistakes, and grow as a mumpreneur!

To your success,

Justine Simard

Justine Simard is a home business coach and work at home mum! To learn from Justine Simard how to start an online business and get the right mentoring for success, visit www.sheerambition.com.

Also visit Justine Simard’s Blog for more online business resources, personal development strategies and inspiration for mumpreneurs!

Online Home Business: 5 Rules Against Stress and Overwhelm for Work At Home Mums

So being a work at home mum didn’t turn out to be as leisurely as you thought it would be? Did you plan ahead and think that, throughout the week, you’d just look after your kids, take care of the washing, tidy the house, prepare great elaborated meals for dinner, get some shopping done, catch up with some friends, get some physical exercises done daily, and manage your home business leisurely amongst all these other tasks? Maybe you even managed to do all of these, in a somewhat frantic way, for a couple of weeks (maybe months), and abruptly came to the realisation that you were totally overwhelmed, disorganised and stressed out?

I’ve been there, and I have met many other work at home mums who have felt the same lack of control and efficiency, in their two primary roles as a mother and home business entrepreneur. When I launched my home business, I had the belief that I could just wing it and use my multi-tasking talents to juggle everything at once and get great results. But I didn’t – wing it or get the results that is. And so I decided I would work HARDER. And trust me, I can work hard. I can become a machine. And I actually don’t mind it. But my goals do, because when I work hard (and not smart), there are not being realised.

I’ve taken back control since then. I have 5 rules which I follow, and these empower me to be a successful home business owner and work at home mum, without the overwhelm and stress. So here they are:

1. I maintain a strict schedule. Yes, this is true! Although I love the flexibility I gain while working from home, I only use that flexibility if I need to. When you know what you’re supposed to do and complete at any particular time, and you have a deadline for it, you take action and get it done! I have diligently scheduled my week to cater for quality time with my kids, catch-ups with friends, and all of my business tasks. I know the times that work best for being a loving mum and enjoying my kids, and I also have identified the best times for productivity and focus in my online business.

2. I leverage my efforts. I focus on creating results that I can duplicate. I collaborate with others so that I can get more back from my own efforts and contribution. I create processes that can be utilised widely across various tasks (I regularly begin new projects from skeletons from previous projects). I seek resources that I can set up once and automate, and that will save me time and effort. Fortunately, my business opportunity arrived with automated systems for managing and marketing my business, and a powerful leveraged profit plan – which helps immensely.

3. I manage my expectations. Like many work at home mums starting a business for the very first time, I was full of ambition and belief. But, I completely underestimated the level of commitment and determination that would be necessary to realise all my goals. While I continue to hold a high level of self-confidence, focus and optimism (and significantly invest my energy into developing my success mindset), I also manage my expectation by having a rational business plan, by closely monitoring my progress, and by consistently evaluating the effectiveness of my strategies.

4. I get help. I have a professional virtual assistant for my online business and she does a superb job at completing all those activities that are time-consuming and don’t require my skills. My children go to daycare two days each week, which I believe is the ideal balance for them to be stimulated, independent and sociable. During those 2 days, I focus on my business. My partner is also part of the master plan, and we have set periods where I work while he cares for our kids. This works for everyone in my family, and enables me to dodge the unproductive multi-tasking.

5. I take care of  myself. While being a hard-working machine, you often get no food even if you’re hungry, or no sleep even if you’re tired. That’s only sustainable for real machines, and doesn’t work even for ambitious work at home mums! If I take good care of my mind, body and spirit, I am also more empowered. So I create some time for personal development, sleep, food, fitness, and relaxing too.

These five rules allow me to maintain balance and productivity in my life and work from home business, and I trust that work at home mums can implement these and get the rewards of being organised, productive, healthy, relaxed and successful.

 

Justine Simard is an online business and network marketing coach.  To learn from Justine Simard and tap into the most powerful and profitable marketing systems and online business industry, visit Home Business Opportunity. Also visit Justine Simard’s Official Blog for Online Business Resources, internet marketing training, personal development and success strategies, and inspiration for online entrepreneurs.

Which is Best for Work At Home Mums: A Work At Home Job or an Online Busines?

Most mums ask themselves whether they can and should work at home. These questions emerge with a desire to be present for their family, to bring up their children at home, to do school runs… and to earn an income!

To start with, I need to explain something. Work at home opportunities belong in 2 groups: the work at home jobs and home businesses. Having a work from home job, you continue to work for someone else. Your employer is letting you work from home (telecommute), and you’re still being remunerated for the hours you put in and the work you were asked to do. With a home based business, you become your own boss, you decide on your tasks, and you make profits for the sales or services you generate. While running your own business, you don’t get compensated for your time, you get rewarded for results, which means that as soon as you can generate great results, regardless of the number of hours you worked, you can create an unlimited income.

So which is best for work at home mums? A work from home business or work at home job?

There are certainly several things to consider when choosing a work at home opportunity, between a job and a business. Also, within the work from home business category, you have various alternatives: you can start your very own business based on a skill you have or a product you manufacture or make yourself. For example you could start a business around personal assistant work, data entry or typing, craft, cooking, teaching, personal training, coaching, graphic or interior design, writing, clothing and fashion, and the list continues on and on. Alternatively, you could start a home business opportunity with an existing company, where the company usually provides you with all the products, the systems in place as well as the support and training that you need to set up your home business.

Which is best FOR YOU?

If you’re not sure whether you should seek a work at home job or work from home business, firstly you must take into account your personality. If you’re somebody who prefers to report back to another person, who doesn’t like decision-making or working independently, who needs to be supplied with a structure with agendas, deadlines, and a definite description of your role, your responsibilities and the activities that you have to do to get paid, then a work at home job is likely to be for you. In contrast, if you are a person who’s more autonomous, who likes to call the shots, who is self-reliant and self-driven, somebody who wants to decide how much they earn and is highly determined and tenacious, then you definitely can be successful as a work at home mum with a suitable home-based business opportunity.

One more really important criteria is the cost to work from home. If you choose to take on a job, you’ll need some capital to set up your home office, and some of your expenditures may even be reimbursed by your employer. Starting a home-based business typically costs more. Depending on the business opportunity, you may have initial costs associated with a membership, purchasing or manufacturing products, education, using business tools or systems, and marketing your business. Remember that in both cases, you can actually get tax deductions. And let me give a word of caution: if you do come across a work at home opportunity that promises a huge income and tells you it doesn’t cost anything to get started, then you should start hearing alarm bells because it’s probably not a genuine business opportunity.

Working from home can be so rewarding for mums. You can do activities throughout the week with your kids, take them to the park, after school activities, to playgroup, catch up with other mums, friends or grandparents, give them flexibility around their sleep schedule and also just enjoy being at home. It is however a juggling act, just as it would be if you worked in a company setting because you would still need to juggle everything between work, groceries, daycare or school pick-ups, etc. The advantage here is that you are able to run the schedule that will be just right for you and you’ll have more flexibility around looking after your loved ones and doing your work. But for work at home mums to succeed, it requires discipline and being organised.

I hope this helps shed light on your alternatives to work from home with a work from home business or telecommuting job, and whether this can be the right choice for you. Being a work at home mum myself, my online business gave me the opportunity to raise my 2 young kids at home, to build my business part time around them, to be my very own boss, and to generate an unlimited income. I wish you all the success in working from home, to find a business or work from home job that you can be passionate about, and in achieving the great income and family lifestyle that you desire!

Building Your Networks And Growing Your Home Business Online.

A wide number of online businesses use network marketing to promote their products or opportunities, but networking is not solely about marketing in the internet business world. In fact, if you take on a home online business opportunity for yourself, you will soon discover that networking in the context of your online business goes further than promoting and selling.

When beginning a work from home business online, there are in reality numerous groups or networks that you should consider creating or joining. I have identified them in 3 categories: 1. Mentors, 2. Supporters, and 3. Customers. I’ll address at this point how having networks in each of those categories will greatly support your success in your home online business opportunity.

1. Mentors. These are the people who can provide you with training, resources and inspiration. These people as sometimes already involved in the same company as you, or others such as renowned authors or coaches in your industry. Being part of your organisation’s partners network will surely assist you in learning how to use the systems available and replicate the achievement of others using those exact systems. In addition, joining other groups of people who specialise in areas which you wish to further develop can be a true asset. As an example, if you want to use blogs as a way to market your home online business opportunity, you can join the networks of successful bloggers who are generous with sharing their knowledge. You can also network with motivational speakers or success mentors to guide you with your business and personal venture as an online entrepreneur and work from home business owner.

2. Supporters. These are the people who may not purchase anything from you: they may already be your partners, or may simply not be considering home online business opportunity. On the other hand, they might have similar interests as you, be keen to learn from you, or be happy to support your business promoting activities. For example, this type of networking is seen when partners join each other’s Facebook groups or subscribe to each other’s YouTube channels. You can take advantage of your particular interests within your field to set up and participate in networks with related matters. For example, you may have special interests in entrepreneurship, health, advertising and marketing, personal development, web design, work-life balance, finance, etc. and appeal to like-minded individuals who want your information or inspiration. This category also ties in with the next, because once you have developed a relationship with your supporters or followers, they may wish to look more into what you do and might enquire if they could do the same work from home business too!

3. Customers. Networks of customers can be varied. They range from people directly visiting your internet site in their search for a home online business opportunity, to people who accidently come across your online content or videos, and also to your other personal networks which are not linked to your business. You may join particular networks for the primary purpose of marketing your business or products. This however doesn’t indicate that your sole activity inside the network should be about advertising (unfortunately, network marketing doesn’t work that way!), but rather that you would participate within a group with ulterior motives, such as showing your profile, products or business opportunity. You may for example join a Facebook group about health because you want to promote vitamins. As I mentioned earlier, your customers network can often be interrelated with your supporters network. In a more direct fashion, your customers network may also be created via an opt-in section on your website, in which case your visitors provide their contact details in exchange for something you offer (e.g. an e-book, newsletter, phone call, reports, etc). Through time, a contacts list can be a powerful asset for promoting your work from home business or products to a warm market.