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The Home Office From Hell Cure

Author Q&A

Looking to transform your home office into a more profitable venture? The author of a new book, The Home Office From Hell Cure, has plenty of advice to share that will help get you organized and motivated. Author Jeffrey Landers is also donating 50 percent of royalties to NAWBO and two other non-profit organizations that support entrepreneurship. Learn more about the book in this Q&A with the author.

Q: How can a woman business owner determine if she has a "Home Office from Hell"?

A:  Here’s my definition of a Home Office From Hell™:

Home Office From Hell \hohm-aw-fis-frum-hel\ Noun:

1. Pertaining to or being about a completely dysfunctional, client-repelling office space in the home that makes one lose money. Also the scene of many business-killing behaviors, including but not limited to: the Saint Bernard scaring away the FedEx guy, clients sitting in folding chairs in the hallway for meetings, toddlers answering the business phone and introducing themselves to new clients, and/or colleagues picturing you in your nightgown while you are on a teleconference call.

2. An office that more resembles a playroom than a professional space. The space might include: piles of papers on the TV, last night’s burrito stuck to the client proposal, clothes pins and masking tape holding together the fax machine, and/or dirty diapers stuck in the file cabinet.

In all seriousness, you have a Home Office From Hell, if you are plagued by the following two types of distractions – a) physical distractions – the baby crying, the dog barking, an annoying spouse, etc. and b) business distractions – having a plethora of non-revenue producing tasks that you try to handle by yourself.  This will just eat up your time and prevent you from focusing on your core business – the stuff that actually makes you money.

Q: Why are home-based businesses a good idea for women entrepreneurs?

A: Studies have shown that many women entrepreneurs place lifestyle issues above making money.  Having a successful home-based business will let you do both.  Working from home will allow you to be close to your family, have a 30 second commute, give you the flexibility you need and want, while still offering you the opportunity to make a very significant income.

Q: What skills do you women need to develop in order to successfully run a home office?

A: The sad truth is that only 3% of all women owned businesses ever achieve revenues of $1 million or more (at 7% the guys aren’t doing that much better!).

One of the big reasons why most home-based and small businesses fail is because the owner tries to do everything themselves and they don’t spend enough time focusing on the revenue-producing aspects of their business.

The way to succeed is to get rid of your non-revenue producing, time-sucking administrative jobs as soon as possible.  The more time you have to focus on the “stuff” that makes you money, the more successful you will be.

Many business owners think that they are being frugal and smart by trying to do everything themselves.  Unfortunately, they are wrong on both counts!

The simple answer is that you must start outsourcing those non-revenue producing tasks ASAP.

To those of you that don't want to spend the money on outsourcing, I say the following:

You can’t afford NOT to outsource
Outsourcing will not cost you money – It will make you money!

Q: What strategies can women business owners implement to put their home-based businesses on the fast track for growth?

A: The very first thing that all home-based women entrepreneurs must do before they can even start to think about taking their business to the next level is to determine what type of home-based entrepreneur they are.

Are you a Lifestyle Guru™ or a Growth Maven™?

Lifestyle Gurus™ want to:

• Stay small, but look bigger and more professional. They use Virtual Office Space to conduct meetings and important presentations (No More Coffee Shops!).
• Increase Productivity. They outsource and use Virtual Assistants to get rid of time-sucking, non-revenue-producing jobs that hinder success.
• Make More Money without infringing on their lifestyle 
• Get Better Clients 
• Stay Competitive with their larger and more established competitors

Growth Mavens™ want to:

• Think Big – they use Shared Office Space or Executive Suites to acquire their first “real” office without committing to a long-term lease or large up-front expenditures.
• Delegate – They outsource and use Virtual Assistants to take over their non-revenue-producing work until they are ready to hire on-site staff.
• Plan Long-Term 
• Share Their Vision

Once you know which type of entrepreneur you are, the rest becomes easy.
In essence, home-based entrepreneurs need to become 1) more professional, 2) more productive and 3) more profitable.

Q: How can home-based women entrepreneurs position themselves as experts in their fields?

A: You need to become what I call a Nexpert™ (niche expert).

The very first step is to focus your business on a very narrow niche. For example, if you are an accountant, you are competing with every other accountant for business.  You must differentiate yourself by finding a much narrower niche. So maybe you become the accountant for home-based entrepreneurs. Or even better, you become the accountant for home-based entrepreneurs that have revenues of at least $100,000/year. 

Q: How will The Home Office from Hell Cure transform the daily lives of women with home-based businesses?

A: The Home Office from Hell Cure provides a 100-day, step-by-step plan that will take your home-based business to a much higher level.

You will learn how to:

1. Identify your business goals and determine if you are a Lifestyle Guru or a Growth Maven.
2. Grow your business using your expertise – become a Nexpert.
3. Create time to focus on high revenue items.
4. Expand your business with real or virtual office space.
5. Successfully market your business using proven tactics and strategies.
6. Use manageable tasks to turn your daydreams into realities.

About the author: Jeffrey A. Landers is the author of The Home Office from Hell Cure: Transform Your Underperforming, Time-Sucking Home-Based Business into a Runaway Success. His company, Home Office Success, Inc., has helped thousands of home-based businesses become more professional, more productive, and more profitable.