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!