Andy Vaughn

One week ago, I programmed a simple PHP/MySQL application that logs my daily tasks. After finishing something (writing a blog post, programming a stylesheet, designing a mockup, etc.) I add it to the log, and it tracks the total time, whether it is billable, the related project, the expense for me, and whether or not it requires travel. I now have three weeks of tasks logged in to the work log, and it is a great way to look at how I have been spending my time during these initial few weeks of starting-up, as well as how I’ve been spending and making money.

I know there are tools out there that do this for you, probably have a slick “Web 2.0″ interface, and only cost $15.99/month to use. What tools do you find useful for task/time tracking, whether you’re independent or not?

What do you think about using GMail, Google Documents, and other Google products for business?

Generally, Google’s uptime is reliable. However, a friend of mine recently said, “I’ve been hearing about Google going down a lot lately. I don’t know if I trust my client data with them.” The instances of note were probably just on this surface of his memory, and not reflective of Google’s business as a whole (certainly not down as often as Twitter). But, his thinking was along the right/secure lines – I don’t want to trust anyone else with my clients’ info, other than myself and my trusted hardware/software.

Your servers go down and you lose access to all of your business data for a period of time. What do your clients think? You failed. You can try and explain it to them, but they don’t care.

What about Google? How familiar is Google? Isn’t there a relationship that most Web users have with Google, that you can foster? There is more understanding when a mutual friend is suffering downtime. However, if it’s your buddy that spilled red wine on my carpet – you brought him, you’re responsible.

How much more real understanding can you get with your clients than to say, “Hey, even Google was down.”

“The ultimate meaning to which all stories refer has two faces: the continuity of life, the inevitability of death.”Italo Calvino

Comedy

Your business tells a story about the evolution of technology, the iterations and attention paid to development. Your customers will feel good after using your product. You deliver excellent service — because that’s authentic, trustworthy, and perpetual.

Tragedy

Your customers need your help. They were sold a faulty product from another business with claims of excellent service, and now they are stuck with a liability. Your business represents help. And, get them out of this mess, you do. Your business builds a strong reputation for trusted service, safety, security, and quality.

Which story does your business represent? Which face of Mr. Calvino’s quote do you address with your business. One is not more right than the other. It is important, however, to stake your claim on one side, and not both.

…and other fun rules for running a successful home business.

Close the door

When I first started Breakaway Web Design, I had a ‘mobile office.’ Meaning, I didn’t have an office (or rather, didn’t use it), and instead worked from the couch, dining room table, bar-table, etc. The problem with this as a habit, is that your ‘office’ has to be cleaned up for dinner. You can’t leave notes, letters, CDs, drawings, etc. lying out. It’s communal space, and your family shouldn’t be expected to work around you.

Also, how enticing is it to your spouse, if you are in constant visual proximity? Of course (if she/he likes you) you will be like dangling steak in front of a labrador. For the sake of your familial relationships, and your own good habits, get an office-room, and close the door.

Put on your shoes

Take off your shoes. It was the first lesson I learned upon marrying an Asian wife. Always take off your shoes when you enter someone’s home, especially your own.

One designer mentioned this tactic a while back (I think Mr. Boulton), and it has really helped me define to myself when I am working and when I am not. Put on your shoes when you start work for the day, and take them off when you are done. It may seem rude or uncomfortable at first, but it is a good way to create boundaries and definitions.

Put the laptop away

If you work on a laptop, it is important to not bring that laptop into the bedroom, to the dinner-table, etc. The reason? You will create a conflict of intention.

Stacey and I used to enjoy watching Netflix on-demand movies in bed on the laptop. Booting it up and signing in, I would notice that I had two new messages in my business email inbox. Now what? I’m thinking that I need to respond to these emails, given that they are guaranteed to be client emails. Stacey’s thinking if I had never brought the laptop in the room in the first place, I wouldn’t even know about these messages (and she’s right).

Did you ever study on your dorm-room bed in college? Fall asleep? Me too. This is another reason for separation of work and play/rest. When the lines are fuzzy, you will create poor work and poor rest. Can’t get that client project off your mind? Once your head hits that pillow, you better be able to rest-up for a powerhouse work day in the morning.

Creative mornings

Replace “mornings” with your particular power-cycle time of day. When I wake up, I usually have a topic on my mind, or a client-project that is just burning to be worked on. So, before I start emails, I immediately start in on unleashing my creative monkey.

Email tennis

One successful technique that I picked up from following the Four-Hour Workweek is to check emails less. At my old work, the email system was basically used as an instant-chat, since everyone always had it up, and was willing to sacrifice attention for surface communication. This was disturbing to the creative process – to say the least. However, one habit that I took-up and still hold to, is checking email and immediately responding to it. I check it less, but give more quality and consistent responses. This builds communication trust between me and my clients.

Jumping Jacks

Have a set time of day that you have routine activity. Before we had Lily, my time of day used to be around 2:30pm, since it was sunnier at that time of day, and allowed for some awesome mountain biking. Now, I like to get up an hour before my girls do, and get my run, bike, or gym-trip in. It provides a schedule for my body, and let’s me know that I have already accomplished something towards one of my goals (health) before I’ve even started work for the day.

Et tú?

I would love to learn more successful habits of successful home business-ers. Please share, if you have any new ones that I didn’t mention.

When you work for yourself…

1. …you get to make all the rules. Easy.
2. …you have to follow all of your rules. Hard.

No one is going to hold you accountable, except for your customers and yourself. Stick to the game-plan, because your customers will find out if you don’t. And, that’s bad news for your business trust.

Value

Running your own business is exciting. You get to wake up at noon, take two hour lunch breaks, schedule mountain bike rides in the middle of the day, and chat on Facebook with your friends, before you call it quits around 2:30pm. Yeah right! If there was a way to monetize this strategy, then perhaps this is possible. But otherwise, you need to work intelligently and consistently (usually more than 2 hours) towards providing value to your customers.

Marketing

Remember the guy who wrote the best book ever, in the desert, alone? Me neither. Marketing is gaining the attention of your customers.

During one Summer while I was in grad school, I started a coaching business for cyclists. I ran classes for juniors, and did one-on-one skill sessions with high-level racers. Every one of my athletes improved. We pulled in more state titles that year than ever before, and the families and friends of the athletes all loved my classes. It was obvious I was providing value to the training of these athletes.

The problem, however, was that outside those that I reached with my thirty orange fliers, no one knew about my business. On group rides, I would mention the classes and coaching sessions, and all I would receive was a shrug. I was not reaching my target group. I was not marketing my product well.

Trust

Do you have a credit card company that you hate? Maybe not hate, but trust to screw you? You’re not likely to spend any more than the dollar you have-to with them, and if a lower rate pops up, you are likely to switch.

It is important for your customers to trust you. With trust comes expectation. What do your customers expect of you? If they only expect you to screw them, that is a trust that you don’t want. If they trust you to follow-up with good service when something goes awry, you have acquired an asset in that customer.

Happiness

How happy does driving your new car to work make you? How happy are you when you get to pop open a nice bottle of wine for that special guest? While happiness is a focus behind many advertising campaigns, it is useful to see how your product plays a role in supplementing that happiness.

A few questions

Are you accessible to your customers? When a problem occurs, can they reach you?

Does your marketing campaign address the happiness customers feel when using your product?

Is your business actually providing value, or just charging for it?