Door To Door Got a problem? Let homebased business experts Paul and Sarah Edwards solve it.

Q: Everyone says you should have a separate entrance to yourhome office, but this is impossible for me. In fact, people have totrudge through my living room to get to my office. How do Imaintain a professional image with my clients, considering mycircumstances?

A: While a separate entrance is certainly ideal, it is byno means necessary. Very few people are lucky enough to have aseparate entrance for their businesses, including us. Not one ofour three homes has had a home office with a separate entrance.

Considering the most common location for a home office is aspare bedroom, however, you must make sure you present aprofessional image for clients en route to your office.

With people entering your home through the living room,you're off to a good start. In many homes, the living room isthe most formal room in the house, reserved for company. Livingrooms can often pass for office waiting rooms, considering officewaiting rooms are usually designed to look like living roomsanyway.

Because your living room will make a lasting impression on yourclients, carefully survey the area to identify anything thatwouldn't be considered appropriate in an office environment.Comfortable chairs, a couch and a coffee table displaying a fewnewspapers, books or magazines are all completely acceptable. Evena television is fine, as many waiting rooms and executive suiteshave TV monitors. But playpens, children's toys, exerciseequipment or laundry baskets, on the other hand, would not convey aprofessional image--you should definitely relocate such personalitems to other places in your home.

Now think about the activities that go on in your living roomduring business hours. Does it serve as a dining room? A familyroom? Do you or others watch soap operas or cartoons there duringthe day? Does anyone eat lunch or snack on the couch? Do yourchildren play with friends or watch videos there during businesshours? Ideally, your living room should be off-limits for suchfamily activities while clients are coming and going. Try toarrange for these activities to take place in other parts of thehouse during the business day. If that's not always possible,on days you expect clients to visit, you'll need to shoo folksout of the living room and pick up and put away toys, dirty dishesand clothing scattered about.

If this arrangement isn't possible or sounds like too muchof a hassle, consider purchasing a large, attractive screen, usinga bookshelf-like room divider, or installing a sliding partitionthat creates a passageway through the living room to your office,preventing anyone from seeing into the rest of the room.

Q: I've just hired my first employee. I'm frequentlyout of the office at meetings. Would you suggest I give my newemployee the key to my house? The idea of giving someone access tomy home is scary, but I'm not sure I have anyalternatives.

A: If you have a self-contained office with a restroomand any other facilities an employee would need for the day, youcould install a separate lock for your office entrance and keep theother areas of your home locked while you're away. You mightwant to install locks on bedroom doors or install a separate doorto lock off hallways leading to strictly personal areas of yourhome.

Otherwise, to allay concerns about leaving valuables or privateareas of your home open to a virtual stranger, you can safeguardvaluables by locking china cabinets, personal files or jewelryboxes, and getting a safe for other valuables.

Given your work situation, you need to hire an employee whom youcan trust with a key to your home. Having reservations about givinga key to this individual is probably not a good sign.

Q: I've been in business for three years, and about 80percent of my work comes from a single client. I know I need topursue other clients, but how can I possibly find the time todiversify while still keeping my current client satisfied?

A: As you are undoubtedly all too aware, as great as thesteady cash flow is, getting the bulk of your income from just oneclient puts you at great risk should you suddenly lose that client.In your case, it sounds as if you not only get 80 percent of yourincome from this one client but also spend most of your timeserving them. To free up some of your time to market and serve newclients, you'll need to hire additional help to complete thework you already have. Your first step is to evaluate what portionof your work could be done by an assistant, associate or outsidecontractor.

You should arrange to free up at least two hours each week formarketing and to begin breaking in someone to work with you so thatwhen you generate new business, you'll have dependable help tomeet the demand.

While you did not mention the nature of your business, there areself-employed individuals in a wide variety of industries whoprefer not to market themselves. Highly introverted people andpeople bound at home by family responsibilities or physicaldisabilities sometimes find themselves in this situation. Suchindividuals can be excellent resources in a situation like yours.Be certain, however, that all funds and billing come through youand that you have clear written agreements signed by yourassociates to prevent them from contracting directly with yourclients. Also, you need to line up individuals you can depend on todo high-quality work within established deadlines.

To find associates you can count on, get referrals from sourcesyou trust. Then be sure to review their work and discuss with themtheir priorities and work ethics. Ask for references and check themthoroughly. Most important, start them off with one very small,low-risk assignment. Set a clear goal and a specific deadline. Ifthe deadline is more than a week away, check progressintermittently and, if possible, ask that portions of the work beturned in as they are completed. This can help you identifypotential problems before they become full-blown disasters.

Keep in mind that working with someone else will take someadditional time, especially at first. But by building a network ofassociates you can rely on, you can expand your business withouttaking on debt or adding to your expenses until you have thebusiness to cover them.

Paul and Sarah Edwards are homebased business experts andco-authors of several books, including Finding Your PerfectWork and Secrets of Self-Employment(Tarch/Putnam).