What To Do When Your Friends and Family Do Not Take Your Home Business Serious

If you are working from home, then you know that trading in the metal desk with one filing cabinet for your garage or bedroom is a god-send. No more lengthy commuting, no more of your coworkers not taking the initiative to make the coffee, mindless meetings to attend, and snotty coworkers whose lack of work and incompetence have been the thorn in your side of your corporate existence; furthermore, no longer are you at the calling of your boss who seems to have great ideas and wants to start work 15 minutes before quitting time. Even though you seem happy and make a decent living with your business at home, you find that the reaction of your family and friends is that they do not take your business serious.

"Hi, it's mom, just wanted to chat" or "Hey can I drop Sarah off for a few hours?" or the most dreaded line, "Since you're home, can you......". You know how that goes. They make you feel that they are off earning a living and you are at home, living a life of leisure. There is a lack of respect from friends and family if you can relate to any of these scenarios. Yes, no respect!

For instance, do you communicate your business to your friends and family with a sense of accomplishment and ownership, or do you speak like it's "something to do" between watching reality shows and soaps? People will sense your delivery of speech - you have to own it - you have to be prideful and give them the feeling that you want to share your enterprise. People can read you like a book. If they don't sense your burning desire of what you do and how important it is, how can you expect respect from them? It's all in the delivery. You need to have that firm sense of accomplishment, and if you don't, maybe you need to move on to something else that will give you that ownership.

Are you available during the day to accept phone calls or do you just let the answerming machine fill up? If you do answer the phone and it's a friend or family member asking you to do something for them, do you find it hard to decline? Why is it so impossible to put ourselves first? If you must help them out, stand firm on your decision to return to work after the time you have affirmatively set. If you say, "yes I can but I need to get back to work by 2:00 p.m.", guess what, get back to work by 2:00 p.m. It's that simple. We need to stop feeling guilty about not conceding to our friends and family. You will always be "accessible" by working at home if you do not put your foot down. I'm not saying to be ugly and cause a scene, but I am saying to stand your ground. This is YOUR business that you've worked so hard at. Keep it YOUR business and set ground rules. You'll be so happy that you did. Go ahead, start right now! Your business is only as serious as you display it.