I recently attended a business seminar, dedicated to the WAHM. It was fantastic. It covered the usual topics – sales techniques, marketing and promotion, networking, and the all important goal setting. The unique bit about this one was that it actually acknowledged some of the issues with running an office from home, particularly with young kids.

Not only that, but the advice imparted in this seminar – I could actually follow!!! I really could do this.

Especially the goal setting stuff. We were given some practical tips on how to set realistic, achievable goals. One of the suggestions was to finish each day off with your To Do List for the following day. Making it realistic and achievable.

The To Do List would generally contain things such as collecting the post, checking and responding to those e-mails you could respond to immediately, bookkeeping, sending invoices, banking, work on updating your website or promotional material, and working on your future marketing strategies… you know, the usual. It even suggested, as part of the realism and achievability of the To Do List and goals, to allow for the unexpected. I would even work my lunch break into mine.

Yes, Yes, YES! I can do this!!

Until I put it into practice. Not suggesting the advice was incorrect or anything – but here’s how it works for a REAL Business Mum…

My To Do List (which I painstakingly worked out – partly because of the mess on my desk, and that in my head) consisted of pretty much the above.

My day consisted of none of the above. Well, I lie, I did check e-mails, immediately the moment I got up, whilst simultaneously praying that the kids would stay in bed long enough for me to respond to as many as I feasibly could.

Fortunately, my PC takes a bit of time to boot up, so was able to manage to pour the cup of coffee that appears second on my To Do List (immediately after “Boot Computer Up”). As for the rest of the day, well I kind of left things off like:

“Entertain Mother In Law who drops in unexpectedly, expecting lunch and a cup of tea made “just so” whilst she comments on how my business is not really serious, is it now dear and have I thought about getting a “real job” now that one of the children is at school”

Like:
“Remember to strip the bed that the toddler weed in because hubby didn’t quite get the nappy on right last night at bedtime”
“Remember to wash sheets”

Oh, and things like:
“What the hell is that smell coming from the bedroom. Oh, that would be the sheets on the bed that I’ve forgotten to strip”
“Why are you wearing those clothes, they’re disgusting? You got them from the washing basket? What’s wrong with clean clothes from your cupboard? You don’t have any? All your clothes are in the washing basket? Oh.”

Then of course there’s the all important things I’d completely forgotten to include, like:
“Prevent children from braining each other with the wooden train set”
“Prevent trip to the Royal Children’s Hospital by stopping the washing basket races down the stairs from proceeding any further than they have”
“Field call from concerned neighbours resulting from the screams emanating from the bedrooms where I have placed them”
“Feed children” (how come they have to eat so often. It’s not like I do)
“Pick child up from school because he’s throwing up & ‘we can’t possibly keep him here’”

So, in order to keep my goals realistic and achievable, my daily To Do List consists of two To Do’s:

1. Boot up computer
2. Pour Coffee

Anything I achieve beyond these two things is a bonus!

And that’s reality.

Despite the notions that you are “rolling in it” (and, no, I’m not referring to that, I’m referring to “money”) because you are running your own business, and, therefore, you have no need for a “real job”, being a WAHM can cause considerable financial stress. Usually, we are relying on one source of revenue to produce an income. Whether this is an online shop, selling products or your services, attending markets or whatever. It is not widely known to WAHMs that there are more often than not multiple streams of income.

Some of you have it, where you are selling products online and offline. Or you are offering business support as your main business and working or contracting for someone else. You may also have worked out you can produce more income by paying someone to do some of your work for you.

There are also additional streams, like affiliate marketing, where your promote the products and services of others and in return, you receive a percentage kickback, on-selling the products of other businesses at a rate higher than what you paid for it, or even dabbling in some e-bay style selling.

Then, there are the streams that we rarely consider, and most often completely forget about. These methods can generate you a nice little side income that keep you in coffees with the girls for quite a few months. If not the whole year.

Back of the couch – this is the method whereby, once every 6-8 months you either have a “quiet” workweek, or get the guilts so bad that you decide you should probably do some housework and a quick vacuum. As you now notice a weird life form growing from behind the couch cushions, you remove said cushions and locate … among things like toast from last June, your missing “good” lipstick and, um, not sure what that is … several dollars in coin lurking in the behind cushion. If you’ve left it long enough, the figure could even go into double figures.

The School Bag – again, it’s usually a bi-annual (if that often) event that can net you some decent dollars. Within the School Bag resides misplaced and forgotten lunch orders, coins that have fallen out of pockets and pencil cases, and usually some weird rubbish that you can whack onto e-bay and generate some profit.

The “Good” Handbag – the Good Handbag is often located under the shoes, at the back of the wardrobe or the bottom of the toy box. It will take you a week to locate, and is only required when you have an Important Meeting Coming up. Inside the bag you will find a note of considerable size, which, six years ago, you put in there for “emergencies” or when you had an Important Lunch Meeting. It will also contain multiple coin, and, if you’re really lucky, and entire wallet. It will also contain 17 train tickets that are no longer in use – but these are of no use to you at all.

There you have it – 3 cheap and easy ways to generate yourself the cream on top of your current income.

Now, get out and enjoy that coffee you have been longing for for years!

We’ve just got through the Mother’s Day debacle, and it is now time to embark upon our next planning and promotion strategy.

Nope, not the Queen’s Birthday, and certainly not Father’s Day. No, we would have done that back in March 1983. It’s the Christmas Planning! Of course!!

Christmas Planning is so much fun! I mean, not only is it months away, but as Mums, we also have to deal with this amongst the kid’s birthdays, birthdays, weddings, new babies and the numerous celebrations of our loved ones. And not so loved ones. And the Mother-in-law.

Any good WAHM will also have the celebrations of their customers, clients and colleagues in hand as well. So, while we’re at all that, why not think of Christmas 7 months out?!

Of course, there are several elements to planning for the festive season for the WAHM. You need to consider:

• What new products you want in your shop by Christmas;
• What products you want to promote for Christmas;
• Who you’re going to promote to;
• Where you’re going to promote;
• New banners and advertisements for Christmas this year;
• When and where they will be displayed.

This involves a comprehensive, forward planning chart, along with lists, goals and milestones, and an inventory of contacts; potential, current and otherwise. You will locate your list of contacts, business cards and scraps of paper with a first name and phone numbers written on them on your desk. Under the recently acquired, excess Mother’s Day paraphernalia. Read: gifts from your children. Mistaking these for rubbish and unwanted scraps of paper is not in your best interests.

If your target group is other Mums, then your planning starts off easy. Look at your desk. Take careful note of what sits in front of you after last month’s efforts. Ensure these items do not make your list. Include everything that you want, and then leave it lying around the house.

Someone, one day, will get the hint. Eventually. Surely???!!! Once you have your list completed, you can go about planning the processes of ordering, creating, designing and manufacturing these products, determining which are most suitable for you and your business. Keeping in mind saleability as well as your time and financial resources. If you can’t get it done, photographed and added to your online shop in three and a half hours, it’s just not gonna happen for Christmas … unless, of course, you did actually learn from last year and you are actually doing the ordering, creating, designing and manufacturing now and not on December 19?

Products determined, you can set about promoting them, getting some new advertising banners whipped up and plan your marketing strategy!

Congratulations, you are well on your way to being organised for Christmas! Not this Christmas of course. The one next year.

After all, you still have to wade through all the birthdays, weddings, new babies and other celebrations of your loved ones and hangers on. Who has time to think about Christmas now?

My New Years Resolutions …

1. Avoid procrastinating as much as possible (I’ll get around to doing this, I promise);
2. Plan, plan and plan. This year, I will plan my business. Properly;
3. Swear less;
4. Play with my kids more:
5. (hmmm, those two could go well together);
6. I will drink less coffee;
7. And stop telling myself I only drink it for the calcium.

That was last year.

But, Reality got in the way.

My little boy went to school, taking up a majority of my opportunities for “spending more time with the kids”.

This also provided me with myriad opportunities for procrastination. You can’t start your year off as a School Mum and not have coffee’s with the other First Timers. Or assist as a Classroom Helper. Perhaps a bit of assisting with fundraising for the school. Or even go so far as Joining The Parent Committee.

(OK I didn’t go quite that far – I’d pretty much filled my Procrastinating Diary with the other commitments.)

My Darling Husband became a Full Time Stay At Home Dad. There went my opportunities for planning the business. He also assisted in the procrastination process. He also took over some kid stuff, further reducing the time I was Spending With the Kids.

But mostly, he got just in the way of my planning; coming up with new ideas, “helping” with the business, and getting bored and wanting me to spend more time with Him.

Alas, the time has come again to re-assess last years Resolutions and to declare my purpose for the coming year.

My first of which was “Write down New Years Resolutions for 2007 on or before January 1 2007″.

Amidst am eruption of expletives, bucket loads of coffee (I’m not having any more cups than previously, but I did find larger Mugs) and more chocolate that I’ve consumed in any given period (did you know that chocolate also contains calcium?) I realise that Reality has once again thwarted my well laid out Plans.

Because, let’s face it, running a business, raising children and maintaining (I use the term loosely) a household, the Christmas/New Year period is not the time to be resolving such important issues.

I’ve spoke to the school, who refuse to change the end of school year to a more suitable time of year.

Santa will not return my phone calls, emails or letters.

Worst of all, my family refuse to behave and cut me some slack.

And I’m attempting to locate my To Do lists under mounds of wrapping paper and curling ribbon, still recovering from the trauma of the in-laws visiting for Christmas, and pretty much waiting for Reality to subside.

Therefore, I have resolved that, this year, I’m going to embrace Reality, to work with and around it, in all of its chaos, its extremes of having kid free hours through to contending with attention starved kids demanding undivided attention, with its nutrition laden coffee and chocolate and its moments of extreme profanity.

This will be a Resolution I can keep, and one that I will be more than happy to work with.

One that won’t leave me feeling guilty, inadequate or incompetent by the time Christmas comes around again.

On a final note: Thank Goodness for Chinese New Year, which allowed me to deal with Reality, procrastinate and still get my New Years Resolutions in on time!

Happy Real New Year!

Christmas is hurtling towards us like Rudolph after a Red Bull, and the tradition that is Present Purchasing is proceeding in a flurry of scrunched up wrapping paper and tantrums.

There’s presents needed for the kids, for grandparents and partners, for aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces and myriad other assorted friends, relations, colleagues and acquaintances. Christmas cards need writing and posting, and the Christmas tree needs assembling and decorating. Oh, and purchasing.

I maintain a façade of professionalism, in my office/storage area, which currently resembles the aftermath of Nagasaki, albeit decorated with tinsel, by attempting to ensure that:

• I have enough stock to fulfil this overwhelming influx of orders;
• That the correct purchases are sent to the correct recipients, and
• That the correct recipients receive their correct purchases at the correct time.

That is, pre-Christmas!

Whilst I am ensuring that the rest of the known universe has the whole Christmas thing under control, and that their children, partners and assorted hangers on will actually receive gifts, I am aware of the impending sense of doom that is the Lack Of Time To Do My Own Christmas Shopping.

All is not lost. Being a WAHM, I have the entire World Wide Web at my disposal; therefore, an infinite array of possible gifts is at my very fingertips! Surfing late into the evening, viewing an endless number of potential presents, from the fun and quirky to the practical and functional, and everywhere in between, for my own personal recipients I discover that it’s too late to order anything from the ‘net in time for Christmas!

Aagghhhhhh!

Well, I lie. I can get a version of the trains I want, but it’s a cheap dodgy version of the real thing that will inevitably result in a tantrum not dissimilar to that of a disgruntled Naomi Campbell on Christmas morning.

At this point of my utter dismay, it occurs to me that the Christmas cards I had planned (this year and every year previously) to send to my clients and loyal customers, thanking them for their support and generosity throughout the year, are still sitting on a shelf. Unopened. Un-written in. Not at a shelf anywhere in the vicinity of me. No. On a shelf at the printers. They’ve been there since this time last year.

And the Christmas tree still needs putting up!

I face Reality. I do what any WAHM would do in this situation. I do what I do every year.

I brave the shopping centres. The largest one I can find. I fly through the stores, assisted by my multitude of post-it notes that proffer suggestions for gifts, ignoring that voice in my head that says “No Way! She won’t like that” and “That’s far too small for him, it won’t fit”. I take what I can get my hands in this time of need, tossing reason to the fatigued and dishevelled shopping centre Santa. I purchase presents until I can no longer contain them in my trolley and my car boot is overflowing.

(And purchase an excessive amount of goods for myself. Let’s face it, how often do I get the opportunity to do a shop like this?)

I return home, to discover that at some point earlier in the year I had been a little organised and have just purchased a heap of inappropriate gifts for those I already had gifts for. For the others, I throw together gift packs of my own stock, stuff bottles of wine into pre-loved gift bags for wine bottles and search the cupboards for unopened and still in-date boxes of chocolates.

I inform the children that, this year, they can decorate the tree. After all, Christmas is about the children. Or so I tell myself. I allow them the opportunity to express themselves, to put their own touches to the tree that is our Christmas. And remind them continuously to leave me the Hell alone. I’m too busy!

I convince myself that I’m going to do something great for my business, something that will set me apart from others. Yes, I’m going to do something different for my clients and loyal customers this year. I’m not going to send them Christmas cards this year. After all, they will be receiving them from loads of other people, customers and friends. Mine will be lost among these. Nope, I’m going to send them New Years cards. Failing that, I’ll send them an “I hope your New Year was great!” card. Or, at the very least, a pre-Easter card.

Yup, that’s what I convince myself. And it’s gonna be great for business.

Finally, I tell myself, this is not going to happen next year. Next year, I’ll be organised in both my business and personal life.

Just like I tell myself every year.