Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Spending more time with your kids may have been one of thereasons you decided to start a business from home. But keeping abusiness running and children occupied so you can work can be achallenge.
For Amy Levitt, owner of Amydoodles, a personalized giftbusiness in Needham, Massachusetts, the best solution is to involveher children in the business. Her son, now 8, was tapped as ahelper when Levitt started the business four years ago. Herdaughter, now 5, joined in as a toddler.
"If I have a big order, they can take things out of boxesand put labels on the back," says Levitt. "When I do amailing, they attach labels and stamps. When a delivery arrives,they love to unpack cartons and put inventory away."
If your business isn't one in which children canparticipate, Liz Folger, author of The Stay-at-Home Mom'sGuide to Making Money (Prima Publishing, $12, 800-632-8676),offers some suggestions to keep kids busy:
- Keep grown-up "business" objects for kids to playwith: old check registers and wallets, play money, Post-it notes, anonworking phone or even a used typewriter. Set up a miniature deskin or near your office. Give the child junk mail to play with.
- Check out crafts books from the library, buy supplies and letthe children go at it.
- Put up a tent in the house or backyard for the children to playin--but only while you're working.
- Hold a writing or reading contest to keep children quiet whileyou work. The reward? Lunch out with you or some other fun familyactivity.
- Ask your children's teachers for other activities kidsmight enjoy.
Evelyn Salvador, owner of Desktop Publishing Plus, agraphic-design and resume service in Coram, New York, offers theseideas:
- Every 45 minutes to an hour, take a break to spend 15 minuteswith the kids and start them on a new activity.
- Spend part of your lunch break taking the kids on a short walkor playing in the yard. They'll have fun, and you'll feelrefreshed.
Lynn H. Colwell is a business writer in Post Falls,Idaho.
Hook, Line And Sinker
Do you need more customers? Take a tip from entrepreneurMichelle McCullers, who landed five new clients in one week.
McCullers' AdCo2000 Marketing sends clients' e-mail adsto 150,000 Internet users each week and submits clients'Web-site addresses to up to 500 search engines.
"My business has been growing since I decided to make atleast one new marketing effort each day," says the WarnerRobins, Georgia, entrepreneur.
Her secret to success: a marketing plan tailored to herindustry. "I offer free links on my Web page for all women inbusiness, and I placed ads on these and other free classifiedsites. By using the replies from those classifieds, I built mydatabase of potential clients."
Online networking was an important part of the mix. "Ibelong to online mailing lists for work-at-home moms and singleparents who own homebased businesses," says McCullers."I've also started my own mailing list, The Home Office,which is growing rapidly."
Second Place
You love your cozy living room but feel awkward meeting clientsthere. What do you do? Lori Haston, partner in SmartStart: SmallBusiness Advantage, a consulting company for business start-ups,created a thoroughly modern solution: online business meetings."I recently formed a partnership with a consultant on the EastCoast," says the Roseville, California, entrepreneur. "We`see' clients online in private chat rooms."
Jeff Bronfeld, co-owner of Cadick Corp., a Garland, Texas,engineering consultancy, uses hotel conference rooms--but advisesmaking sure you know what you're getting: "Some hotelsdon't have real conference rooms," he says. "Theyjust remove the bed from a guest room and put in a table."
Some chambers of commerce offer members free conference rooms;call your local chamber for details. Executive suite companies rentmeeting rooms for the day; for more information, contact theExecutive Suite Association at (800) 237-4741 or visithttp://www.execsuites.org
Contact Sources
AdCo2000 Marketing, e-mail: Michelle@workathomeparents.com,http://www.workathomeparents.com
Amydoodles, (800) 388-3771, http://www.amydoodles.com
Cadick Corp., (607) 722-1229, http://www.electricnet.com/cadick/cadick.htm
Liz Folger, Bizymommy@aol.com
SmartStart: Small Business Advantage, bizanswers@aol.com, http://www.mallswithoutwalls.com
