To kick off the new year, I am focusing on home based businesses: because I know there are many of you out there!

Most of us are aware of the pros and cons of working from home. And if you have been operating for any length of time, you will know how much hard work it is too. So here are some tips that will help you to maximise the positives:

• Take regular breaks. This can be tricky at home because it can be easy to be distracted by the home environment. So make sure your breaks involve physical exercise or even just getting outside to eat lunch. And if you do want to undertake ‘home’ tasks, make sure you put a time limit on them so they don’t eat into your work time.

• Create designated work times. These times should also be communicated to your family and friends so that you can maintain uninterrupted work wherever possible. Many home based business owners find that their friends and family don’t take their work ‘seriously’ and think that all manner of activities and tasks unrelated to work can be included in your work day. Of course flexibility is a great advantage to working for yourself from home, but if your day is full of unplanned interruptions, your productivity will decline.

• Interact with others. A large proportion of successful home based business owners lean toward the introverted end of the personality spectrum. This means that they work well on their own and don’t always need to interact with other people. But this isn’t necessarily a good thing! At some point, we all need to talk to and relate with others who are in similar environments. So if you aren’t already doing this, make networking a new year’s goal!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

This week I’m speaking just to the numerous home based businesses, the overwhelming majority of which are run by women. There are a few ‘essentials’ when working from home – some you may be aware of them but need to reminded again!

A schedule is really important. Even if you are more of a ‘go with the flow’ type of person, you need to ensure that you have times for professional and personal. Make decisions about when you will stop answering business calls – and stick to it!

Wherever possible, have a dedicated office space that you primarily only enter when you are working. It needs to be a place that you want to go. If it doesn’t inspire you or enable you to operate effectively then you won’t be productive.

Write out a plan for running your home based business. Even though you are not a large company, it is still imperative that you have a path to follow and goals you are aiming for. This also helps you to think ‘big’ and stay focused as your business grows.

Use your status as a home based business to your advantage. Promote the fact that you are flexible and can often respond more quickly than larger enterprises that are beholden to company structures and procedures. Think of other advantages that distinguish you and explain that uniqueness clearly in your promotional activities.

The power of technology has dramatically shrunk the gap between micro and large business as far as service provision and you can be a formidable competitor in the world of business!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender