Change out of your pajamas, and other ways to keep your at-home business on track.
Act professional. Business contacts shouldn’t automatically know you’re working from home. Set up a direct phone line and make sure you're the only one answering it. Designate a private space as your office area. Also, schedule work hours and stick to them. It'll keep you in sync with the rest of the working world—and prevent you from straying from an urgent e-mail to throw in a load of laundry. Inform your family of your work hours—print them out and tape them to the door if you have to—and ask them not to interrupt.
Keep your personal life. “Create boundaries both physical and mental,” says Victoria Colligan, founder of Ladies Who Launch, a new media company for female entrepreneurs. Keeping work hours also will prevent you from overworking until the wee hours of the morning. “To maintain your balance and to keep the endurance up, make sure to enforce a time rule on yourself,” says Angela Jia Kim, founder of Savor the Success, a women’s entrepreneurial network. When you’re done for the day, you’re done. Turn off the ringer on your office phone.
Stay organized. Create a permanent working space—the kitchen table shouldn’t be your desk. From there, centralize your to-do list rather than slapping sticky notes everywhere. Set up a separate bank account for your business and arrange an organizational system, such as a tickler file, for papers.
Get out and network. It’s easy to get holed up at home, so make sure you’re reaching out to people daily, both for the benefit of your business and your own sanity. The network communities you establish online and in-person will motivate you, hold you accountable and provide you with a pool of resources. “It’s a lonely field when you’re a solo entrepreneur and it’s important to have the energy of very positive people around you,” says Jia Kim.
Make it official. Don’t forget to protect your business! Whether you’re in a converted closet or a rented cubicle, it’s imperative to investigate the legal logistics. Trademark your ideas, register your domain name online and, just in case, meet with a lawyer.