find me at www.vintagemother.wordpress.com

I'm still blogging about being a WAHM on my newest blog:

www.vintagemother.wordpress.com

Please visit me there!

What does at WAHM do?

What does a work at home mom do all day?

• Do some field work
• Consider stopping by starbucks on the way back
• Complete an office task related to the field work by 10 or 11am-the due date
• Order 2 inspections
• Fax 2 forms to the electric utility dept
• Check on status of outstanding task list
• Draft the interview questionnaire and pre-interview questionnaire. I should have remnants of previously used questionnaires around somewhere.
• Arrange for someone to care for my preschooler when I conduct interviews
• Consider whether to conduct interviews at home office or at a public place-I've used coffee shops and bookstores before.
• Research QuickBooks payroll
• Consider that although I own QuickBooks, I don't know how to use it. Think about finding a QuickBooks class
• Create a file for a new file the office received
• Draft a notice to be used on a file-field work
• Call a client and ask a question about a file-that I already asked but received no answer
• Submit options to a client

and get my child to tryouts by 11 and make sure the kids are fed and the house doesn't get destroyed by the 3 kids home today.

Some things never change

I read my previous posts about hiring help and it just so happens I need to hire more help. Don't get me wrong, I have had successes hiring people recently, but I am in the middle of a hiring challenge. I have an independently contracted assistant who does a good job, but is not keeping up on the volume of work. When I told her that I need her to keep up or let me know so I can do it, she re-wrote her job description telling me she would only do the things she feels like she can do, I want her to do other things. So, I have to hire someone else. She makes about 30/hr right now working part time at her own home and I am moving towards hring an employee whom I would pay less and be able to tell more specifically what has to get done. I guess when I look at it like that, I can see that it is for the best to hire someone else. But I do like my assistant and a part of me doesn't want her to think I'm being mean to her, but I have to hire someone else because I have personal and business goals that do not include me taking on half the work that is better suited to someone else.

The good thing about hiring an employee is that my costs may go down while the amount of work I outsource will increase. The other really good thing is that people have laready responded to my ad.

The bad thing is the taxes and withholding I will need to figure out how to do myself. I found a free all day employer tax class sponsored by my local emplyment development department, the class times will allow me to drop my kids off at school and pick them up, I'll only need to find someone to watch my preschoolers. I'm very choosy about him going away from me while I work. I am loving the silence in my home. I sometimes wish my kids were gone all day so that I would have silence like this to work in all the time. Nah, I'm lying, I would never put them in day care and I would miss them, but I am so much more productive when they are sleeping. Gosh, it's 1st light out, 6:45am and I should leave now to do my field work. The other bad thing about hiring an employee is that I will not be able to pay them on a 30 day net like I do with my ic's. I also hate the liability of employees, but that is why I formed an s-corp, so I could grow without increasing liability. But, I have got to find workable solutions to this problem.

The simple life

Wow, it was beneficial for me to visit my blog, after so much time. I guess I could say that I am still at the same spot I was in last November...wondering where to go next? I still am overwhelmed and have taken some steps toward relief of that. Since November, I have tried hiring several assistants, to no avail. So, I have upgraded my license so that I can work independently and I also am working affiliated with a traditional office that provides many time saving efficiency tools at a price. But I have to remember that I don't want money as much as I want less time at work.

I specifically came online today to blog about balancing work and family. I think balance is a myth. I think that you have to make choices and prioritize according to your goals. I absolutely love being home with my son. I gaze into his 3 year old eyes while he sits on my lap and tell him how blessed we are to have each other and how much I thank God for giving me a son. I love him that much. Especially when it's quiet and I'm not rushing and I have time to love him. I only have that time when I make the choice not to work. It is easy to fill up my WAH day with busyness. I am trying very hard to only work early in the am or at his nap time and if for whatever reason I can't work at those times I do not work during other times of the day-except to answer the telephone. I am trying to put him 1st and the housework 2nd. I have been really taking it easy at work. It is simply a question of deciding what to do next.

The entrepreneur in me says grow-in fact my business grows automatically, and it is a blessing to have money.

I think my goals will have to be to just earn enough-and nothing more. I think I felt like a failure to cap my growth. I have to make sure of what I want. I feel this pressure to keep growing, to make as much money as I can to some avail...but what avail? I believe that the best thing I can do is be a good mom, and a good wife.

So, I have to balance ambition with motherhood and I can do it if I stop to evaluate my goals and the consequences.

The baby woke up from nap, so I've got to go!

Achievement of Goals and Feeling Overwhelmed

Is it possible to achieve your goals and feel overwhelmed at the same time? I mean, I have achieved what I wanted, right? High income, working at home? But I get an overwhelmed feeling sometimes when I can't see all of the details and don't feel like I have done everything that I should do. I'm currently only doing what has to be done and -gasp-declining some work! ):

I know that the next logical step is to hire some help and implement some systems, but I am having challenges keeping good workers motivated. I guess they have to have a certain type of mind set to be able to work with me.

I am considering hiring either:
another VA
an onsite employee who works in my home office
an offsite employee who works in her own home
an offsite employee who works in office space I provide

I have found that VA's I hire/speak to (professional VA's that is) have a work ethic that matches mine-they work hard, they're competent, they're full of ideas, they learn about the things they don't know about.

I have found that it is difficult for me to find other people to work with me locally who have that same attitude toward work. I have had increasing tasks that are causing me to possibly need a person with a license and background in my field and for that reason I may hire someone other than a VA.

I really don't want them to work in my home, necessarily, but I'm not sure that I want to rent office space ( my baby just climbed in my arms (: )

However, all of my income goals are on target to be able to afford the cost, which is minimal. Sometimes, it's not just about cost, though it's about hassle and headache. VA's are the least amount of headache since they're independent contractors.

I really don't want an on site person in my home. I work in my jammies and my baby runs around naked a lot. And I'm only in my office about 5 hours per day until 2 pm ish when I go pick up my kids and I want the person to be available for work until 5 or 6pm.

I am in the mood to have a pity party for myself, so I will continue my blog. I know that in a successful business, growth should be effortless on the part of the owner/sole proprietor. I need to grow a systems based business, not increase my job responsibilities. It is for that reason that I need to hire a licensed local professional, I have so may ways to make more money....A good entrepreneur would implement them, not think about them. I sometimes see my future as a managing broker. I have a lot of ideas on how to make money in this field. I just don't do it myself because I don't want to be the 60 hr per week professional. I don't want my agents to be this either, but if they have an entrepreneur mindset, they will already have figured this stuff out, I think... or not. I wonder if their is a desire in the market for a broker to actually show you sure fire ways to get leads and to hold hands with you throughout the process?? Coaching, motivating, and doing it alongside you as needed?

And where do I find time to think sbout these things, write down the systems and the busiess plan while doing my regular work? Oh yeah, that's why I'm supposed to wake up at 1am, not 5:45am! I just have to pray to God to help me. He keeps opening doors for me and showing me things I never would have dreamed of. I want to be His instrument to do what He wants me to do in this world. And, I want to be an at home mommy, I know that he has appointed thattask to me as well, and it is of the utmost importance.

September 29, 2007 Dearest Blog,

I haven't had time for you lately but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about you.

I've been busy with, what else?! my work at home business. Challenges I've faced lately have been replacing unreliable virtual assitants and keeping my assitants happy. I have had one assistant for over 6 months and my assistant has become resentful and began complaining about one of my clients. In trying to keep her appeased, I didn't notice one of my other asssitants had been failing to complete assignments on time. These things came to a head over last weekend when I was trying to enjoy family time at the Circus so I was not pleased. Family is number 1 to me.

I must say on the bright side of things, my assistant that I've had for 6 months is great and the other assistant who didn't complete the assignments on time had a communication problem. I think we can move forward. I also have a third assistant who has not let me down at all and saved the day when theo others couldn't. I got through that mini-crisis, but felt really bad and down this work week questioned whether this is what I really want to do. I have taken some time off-which I keep doing every few weeks.

My production level has been so high with my team and I've arranged their pay schedules to align with my oay schedules fofm clients, so life is so good. I only have about 1-2 hours of wrok per day.

Despite all of this, I have been giving some thought as to whether this is realy where I want to be. I'm not passionate about my work. I'm a number cruncher for banks. I am more passionate about children and teaching, but that job won't allow me to be home with my own kids and have as flexible of of a schedule ad may not pay as much, espeically in the early years of teaching. I wondered if I should go back to school next year. I will apply to the local state university, since the aplication filing period is not for next year. Btu I don't think this is the right time, my baby will only be 3 then. I want to be a housewife most of all.

I also am working toward an upgraded license in my field, becusse it will help me expand what I am doing now as well as save me some money each month.

One of my cleints has asked me to do a different kind of work for him that has opende up a whole new door of possibility about income.

Also, I have thought about going into a different sales area of my field. It would mean much greater income and some time away from my baby. But probably in the evenings when my husband is home, so it would just invade on my family time. Auggh.

BUT, one day, my baby wil be in school. And I think that I would proably like to get into sales by that time. Well, I think I may want to do something else at that time. I have about 3 years. So, I guess that I would like to beigin setting up that aspect of this buisness, even if I don't go for it full force right now.

My plan for my business is to get it on track to earn me 60,000 per year working no more than 30-40 hours per week plus enough to put away money for retirement (10%). I'm about 75% to my goal. I have told myself that if I can't do that, I should go into a regular job with the school district with benefits when my kids get into school.

I keep thinking about tax time. I am earning a sold 2000-3000/month and don't have many deducations other than my home office. No child care excpense and I don't think that private school is a deduction. But, worry is a sin, so I will not worry, just keep swimming...

Staying on Track

Hello WAHMers!

Life has been keeping me busy. But I wanted to update. I have had to really focus on completing tasks daily that I set out to complete in order to get the bigger jobs done.

My to-do list today said:
· Create a chore chart for my kids-an idea from a book called “The Cheapest Family in America”-not done

· Forward information on my child’s school fundraiser to several friends via e-mail.-done

· Update my instructions that I provide to my assistant-not done

· Complete an assignment from a client that needed correcting – great news there-once I called the client and explained why I did what I did the way I did it, they said ok; you don’t have to change anything! Yeah!-done

· Price pants for my DD next year. We buy almost all of our clothes from the second hand store, so I’m used to them costing approx $4 per pair. Many times, we find new pants. They are mostly name brand pants, too. Next year, she’ll have a school uniform to wear and the pants cost $28.50 per pair. And they are not cut in a very flattering way. I want her to look like her peers, and not feel like she looks different. A few moms told me they buy their kids pants from the GAP or they buy Dickies. I found out that Dickies cost about $30 per pair and GAP pants cost $40-$60. Ouch. I’ll have to do what I’ll have to do. I want her to feel like she fits in, so if she really wants them. I’ll work something out.-done

· Pay Bills-not done

But I have a work life, too and that is what I want to write about.

In the past few weeks, I learned the importance of having a good account tracking system that logs work completed and tracks payment received and the date it is expected to be received. A client - a big corporate client who I never would have thought would screw up, did screw up and lost several thousand dollars worth of money owed to me. Ouch, but this served as a learning experience about tracking payments. I’m using a modified version of the system that was mentioned in the book “America’s Cheapest Family”

I also have learned the importance of not overworking. When I push myself too hard and work all of the time, I burn out and need to take week long, or longer breaks. I think it would be better for me to work fewer hours on a weekly basis, or fewer days per week, than to need to take off for weeks at a time. I try to only work when my kids are at school, but that only lets me work about 4 hours per day-since I have to have breaks to eat lunch and play with my toddler. The business woman part of me thinks that is absurd, the wannabe SAHM in me says, well... that’s ok.

I have hired 1 virtual assistant – who is a tremendous asset to my business - and also am in the process of hiring several other freelance assistants. It is really hard not to have anyone to bounce business ideas off of during the day, and having an assistant provides me with that.

I have also implemented a diet plan for myself and my family. I have lost 7 lbs so far and intend to remain committed to the diet for up to 3 months. After that I can simply maintain my weight. I figure that it takes about 30-60 days to from a new habit. When launching my business, there were several tasks that had to be completed daily, but I knew that by doing them consistently, I would make X amount of money. Now it is a habit for me to do the things I need to do in order to make money. Well, I am currently focusing on developing new eating habits for the next 30-60 days. I believe that although it may seem hard, once I teach my body better attitudes toward food, it will be easy to maintain the habit. Especially, because I plan to buy a new wardrobe once I reach my goal and maintain it for 2 weeks. I think I stated in an earlier blog that I need to loose about 50lbs in order to be at a healthy BMI. One rule is no eating at the computer-only water, tea with 1 tsp sugar or veggie sticks at the computer. I also exercise for 1 hour each day and have reduced my caloric intake.


Back to habits, I also plan to expand my business into an area that others are not forthcoming with how to get into. In order to do this, I will need to spend some money, and also some time prospecting for new leads. But I have faith that if I contact X number of prospects, I will convert a certain percentage into leads. Once I convert them to leads, a certain percentage will turn into clients. I want this prospecting to be a regular part of my business, until my business grows to the point that I get enough business by referral primarily.

One thing that really helps me to stay focused on developing my business is that I have a personal mission statement as well as a business mission statement. Baiscally, my personal mission statement is a few paragraphs on why I want to be a Stay at Home Mom. It talks about why I want to be a SAHM and the sacrifices I'm willing to make to be able to be available to my family to serve their needs.

My business Mission Statement talks about why I run my business-the "Why?" for me is in order to be an At Home Mommy.

Therefore, as long as what I'm doing lets me be home withmy kds, I know I'm going in the right direction for my business.

I also keep in mind the scripture Numbers 23:19 that says, "God is not a man, that He should lie; nor the son of man that he will repent.:hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? God is not double minded, he has promised to provide for me. When the devil places confusion before me, or things aren't going as I expected and I feel doubt I rely on this Word.

Happy Working At Home!

Tales from the home front

When working at home, it is important not to become stressed out and to roll with the punches, because the punches will come. If you take yourself or your work too seriously, you might get upset when something happens like what just happened at my house...

Picture it: the kids are "off-track" (think summer vacation for a month at a time 4 times per year) from school and I was hard at work completing administrative tasks for my business. I was working on income projections for the rest of the year. I believe you have to know what your goals before you can make a plan to achieve them. Everything was going amazingly well for me to even have enough time outside of my paid work to work on these goal setting and measuring tasks.

Just then, my 25 month old walks into my office and says "poop down". I ask him to show me and silently hope he will lead me to the bathroom where he will simply say he needs to go boo-boo and I will just set him on the potty. Ha! I must have been dreaming. My son led me outside and then I saw it, a rather large pile of poop he had just finished depositing on our backyard patio. So I rushed him to the toilet and the good thing was that he did want to sit down on the potty and wipe himself. The bad thing is, he was already done pooping.

Just then, my Blackberry rang and I shouted to my oldest to check my e-mail. One of my clients e-mails several vendors at once and whomever responds first receives the work order. So, it was a good thing that earlier this morning I had promised my daughter a commission if she received any orders for me while she was at the computer because my daughter did receive the e-mail and communicate back to the client for me.

Simultaneously, as I was shouting the directions to my daughter on how to communicate with the client, I discover poop tracks, all the way from the back door to where my son found me at my desk and back to where he was now sitting on the floor in a different room. Apparently, he stepped in his poop before coming inside to tell me.

Alas, it was a great morning, my son told me he needs to go poop and he wants to sit on the toilet, work is being completed ahead of time and new work orders have been received, life is indeed, good.