WAHM Information – The Who, What, Where, When, Why & How

In beginning a discussion on WAHM information, the first question many people are probably pondering is "What is a WAHM?" Well, it is not a singing group from the '80's. It is actually an acronym for "Work-At-Home Mom" (or Mother). A WAHM has chosen to not only be a SAHM (Stay-At-Home Mom), but a mom who has decided to work from home too.

Naturally, the Who in our conversation is a mother. She may be married, single, with one child or several. She could be the mother of a newborn or an experienced mom of older children. Whoever she is she has come to the decision that working from home is an improvement to working outside the home.

The When may occur sometime after a woman finds out she will be a mother. Perhaps, it is because she believes that it is to her and her child's advantage to seek a better solution to the daycare situation and the normally rigid employment requirements associated with a J-O-B. Not so long ago, it was much harder for women to make a living at home because there were not many prospects. However, because of the advances in technology in general and the Internet specifically, opportunities to work from home currently abound.

Now the Why is due to various factors that are important to each particular mother. It may be costs of daycare and traveling, convenience, work hour flexibility, a sense of motherly duty to care for her children or even just the desire to care for them because she loves them and knows it is best for them. Also, she may have the talent and passion in a certain area and wishes to start her own business. Thus working from home is a great way for her to begin.

Now how about the Where? I hear you smugly answer, "Obviously, it is at the Mom's home." However, the answer must be much more specific than that. For Instance, where exactly in the house will she locate her business area? Will she need only to incorporate a small desk in a room or will she require a professional office to meet clients? Wherever the home office is located, she must make sure not to blur the line between home and business. Far too often, a work-at-home mom will permit toys and children to creep slowly into her workspace that inevitably will disrupt her work. While the whole idea was to be with her children, she must maintain a quiet place that is all her own to be able to concentrate when she has to on her tasks.

The How has countless possibilities. There are so many businesses that can be run out of a home whether selling a product or performing a service. There are the obvious ones like running eBay auctions, direct selling like home parties and websites selling products that are fulfilled by drop shippers, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Many people assume that a WAHM is always self-employed, but that is not necessarily true. Some women prefer the stability or security that working for someone else gives them. They may not wish to develop a business of their own or tackle the responsibility and headaches that being a self-employed person must handle daily. So instead, she may opt to apply for a telecommuting position with a company. Whether someone else employs her or she is the business owner, it is imperative that she always portrays a professional image to her boss or clients. Otherwise, her employer may feel she is slacking off and her clients may not feel she is serious about her business.

With any luck, this overview of WAHM information has inspired a few potential WAHM's to consider taking the plunge into the rewarding experience of caring for their children while at the same time meeting the needs of providing an income. Possibly instead of jumping right in, the cautious WAHM may try working at home part time until she is sure that it is the solution for her situation.

Fabulous Ways to Manage Time In Your Business

There are many tips on how to create time for yourself and to manage your time in your business. Here are several items that may just help you remember the basics.

Do not allow someone else's lack of planning destroy your time plan. Many people find it hard to turn someone down especially if it is a customer or a good friend. You more than likely have your day planned as to what needs to get done in your business and then along comes someone and wants you to "help" them in whatever problem they are having with their website, etc. Most of the time, the reason they are having trouble is lack of planning on their part or lack of understanding of some basic rules of software or programming. If you stop and interrupt what you are doing, it will impede your progress in your own business. Learn to just say "no" when the time is not right for you. Of course, if you are free to help, then that is fine as well. But, make sure that you are not being "used".

Make time to train - If you have assistants or others that help you in your business, take the time to train them in specific tasks that will free up your time. This way, you will spend less time taking over tasks that they cannot complete and interrupting your productivity flow. Keep the things you need to work and to train in places where you can find them rapidly. Keep your filing system organized and don't just file haphazardly, but logically and systematically and you will find that the work flows a lot smoother. Teach your assistants to do the same so that you can access what they do as well.

Switch tasks when you get stumped and cannot come up with the right solution to a problem - This makes your mind relax and stop concentrating on the problem. Somehow the mind, however, continues to work on the problem. When you go back to the problem, relaxed and refreshed, the mind jumps back in and the solution is usually revealed. Putting off a decision sometimes is the best path if you are not sure you do not have the right solution.

See if you can make routine tasks automatic - Do you have letters that need to be sent many times to clients? Do you have questions that are asked over and over again? Are there special situations that are resolved in the same way many times? Try to think through your business and the time being spent and put a series of autoresponder messages together that you can send when necessary. This will free you up tremendously for time to spend on tasks that are more creative and challenging.

Make appointments with yourself to do the important steps in your business - In other words, take the time to analyze what you need to do to grow or to keep control of your business in a better manner. There may be tons of pressing situations that are demanding attention, but you also need to have some time to be able to make important decisions and to think and plan on the important, rather than the mundane, items of everyday business.

If you take control of your time and your management skills you will find that your business continues to grow and prosper. You will be a much more relaxed and creative person and have a lot more fun working your business.