Owning your own home-based business is by and large a very rewarding, exciting endeavor. You can set your own schedule, and be where you want, when you want. You can oftentimes forego the commute to a “regular job” and save money on gas and other “niceties” that are expensive in the work-a-day world, such as lunches, parking fees, etc.There are unexpected pitfalls and disadvantages, though, in the owning and operating of a home-based business. Some are psychological, some are emotional, and others are purely physical. The unexpected stresses of a home-based business are really one of the major obstacles that need to be overcome by business owners. Many new business owners are unprepared for just how much stress is involved, actually.Home-based business stresses usually fall into three overall categories:1. Psychological : Employees, Finances, Legal, and Operations2. Emotional: Family, Friends, Change of Personal Routines, Personal Disruptions, Isolation3. Physical: Sedentary Lifestyle, Poor Eating Habits, OverworkMany business owners, in order to prevent the psychological stress will have plans in place for dealing with these particular stress factors, prior to their occurrence. This is a proactive approach that is infinitely better than having a reactive approach to these occurrences.Each business owner should have a financial plan in place for the times when orders or clients are few and far between (slow times), as well as a good accountant to call when necessary. Each business owner should also have a lawyer who they trust and can turn to for advice if necessary (we do live in a very litigious society). And each business owner should have a plan for sickness among employees and hiring and firing protocols firmly in place. Machinery and replacement of business supplies should also be well planned in advance, and purchased according to well laid out plans for expenditures.Leadership skills will need to be developed, as a new business owner who is used to being part of a team, will find working alone and “being in charge” a somewhat difficult transition at first. Books on leadership skills abound and it is a good idea to do readings on the development of these to proactively avoid the psychological stress that comes with this change in roles. Working alone and making decisions alone is quite different from the conformity and decisions made within a group.If a proactive approach is taken, the psychological stresses of a new business can easily be prevented, or at least lessened.The emotional stresses of a home-based business are usually a bit more difficult to ascertain and tackle when they occur. Some of these stress factors can come directly from well-meaning family and friends, unfortunately, and the approach is of course, much different. Since a home-based business is directly tied usually to the home life of an individual, there is less chance to escape these stresses, than with a traditional method of employment. A new birth in a family, a death of a loved one, illness, or simply a change of schedule of another family member, can greatly impact the daily workings and routine of a home-based business.In addition, family and friends may view the business owner as “being at their disposal” all day now, as the business owner is now “home” much of the time. These well meaning individuals may call or visit all the time, and also expect the business owner to take care of their needs before the needs of the business. This is simple human nature, but is very distracting for the business owner. The only way this can be successfully overcome is to make plans well ahead of time for any changes in routine, if possible, and adjust the schedule accordingly as the changes occur. Well meaning family and friends need to be told with certainty that there are “business hours” and “personal hours” and a business owner needs to remain firm in their resolve in regard to these issues.Stressing over emotional stress will just escalate an already stressful situation.Another unexpected emotional stress comes many times from the feeling of isolation and loneliness that business owners may experience. Business owners many times are unprepared for the time they now find they spend alone within the parameters of their home-based businesses. A home-based business owner, while relieved to leave the workforce, sometimes does not realize that the workforce provided social opportunities that are now missing from their lives. Many hours may be spent alone each day, which can lead to loneliness and even depression in some cases.The best approach to combating this type of isolation is to actively plan social opportunities. Planned outings with family and friends should be made regularly. Business owners may also join community groups that expose them to other business owners or others within the community. The local Chamber of Commerce and other volunteer groups are a great way to make connections for the business and also enhance the social experiences of business owners. No one can exist in a void, so the social aspects of a business can’t be ignored.Finally, owning and operating your own home-based business brings with it some purely physical stresses. Like most office jobs, a home-based business can lead to a more sedentary lifestyle, as owners may spend most of their days in the running of the business, either slumped in an office chair, or hunched over a computer, depending upon the requirements of the business. Because of the long hours involved in any business, business owners may also eat “on the run”, grabbing whatever is at their disposal, rather than planning meals, which compromises their nutrition. The sedentary lifestyle and bad eating habits can lead to weight gain and other physical ailments associated with poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles: high cholesterol, lack of energy, loss of muscle tone, and a deficiency of vitamin D from being indoors more than usual.The sedentary lifestyle is the easiest however, of the stresses to avoid or to change. All it takes is a dedication to an exercise routine that includes some form of daily physical exercise, and an adherence to a diet that is well planned and nutritious. Just some planning is needed and some will power in order to stay focused on achieving physical activity daily and good nutrition. It would be beneficial, if at all possible, to join a gym or health club, as the physical and emotional stresses can be avoided by belonging to one, as a gym also provides social opportunities. Even a simple walk each day can increase exercise, exposure to sunlight, and create social opportunities.A tendency to do too much each day, is a syndrome many business owners fall prey to also. Overwork can leave anyone run down, and open to many diseases as the immune system becomes compromised. A business owner is of course, very excited and energetic about the business, which can lead into this syndrome of overwork. A schedule should be maintained to combat this syndrome, with set hours for “doing business” and set hours for “relaxation” included in each day. Trying to do too much all the time just leads business owners into a decrease of productivity, rather than an increase of productivity.As you can see, having a home-based business, while very rewarding in many ways, can have many deleterious effects on the physical, mental and emotional states of business owners. Many business owners fail to plan for these changes, and yet, if planning is done, the negative effects can be minimized to a great degree.If a business owner takes care of themselves and their own needs, overall, the business will also profit from this positive behavior! A happy, healthy business owner means a happy, healthy business!
Small Business Excuses Which Are Utter Nonsense
It’s an excuse I have heard too often from small businesses. ‘it’s so much easier for the larger, more established businesses. As a small business, or a new business, we’re at such a disadvantage.’ Utter tosh, and here’s why.
As a small business, or a new business, it is not acceptable to blame problems, difficulties or challenges on the mere fact that the business is small, or new. Indeed, smallness and newness are very much advantages, or can be if you apply a little ingenuity, a little forward thinking and accept a little appreciation of the options available to you.
First of all, let’s consider the benefits a small business has over a large one. Yes, a small business really does have benefits compared to its much larger rivals. Think of a cruise ship and a speedboat driving at full speed at night. Up ahead is a large iceberg, although not easy to see until you’re up quite close.
The cruise ship spots it, and starts to veer to one side, although another iceberg is up ahead, meaning that regular adjustments need to be made. There’s an awful lot of frantic checking and calculating and steering and re-checking, and not a lot of very responsive changes in direction. Often it’s best to slow down a little, take stock and do things carefully step by step.
The nippy little motorboat however is able to adjust course very quickly, dodging obstacles and changing course rapidly to take advantage of new open pathways, and steering well away from any potential problems or dead ends.
You don’t need me to explain how that analogy works in terms of large and small businesses. But today with online technology and social media marketing new opportunities can open up with little or no warning, and it may take larger business very much longer to take advantage of those opportunities. Be on the lookout for opportunities and pounce on them in order to completely outmanoeuvre the bigger businesses.
What about newer businesses – do they have any advantage over more established ones? Yes, of course. Let me explain through another analogy. This time imagine a house that’s been standing for a couple of hundred years. Over time the land has shifted, the river has widened and the ground has become wetter. The old house is starting to creak and crack, and has had to be held together with metal poles, pushed up by metal struts and reinforced with buttresses.
On the other hand, consider the property being built on the same ground, but taking stock of the current conditions, and more aware of the likely direction the ground saturation will take in future. This house is built on raised stilts, and is fully capable of coping with the damp conditions.
Newer businesses are built within the context of present day opportunities and customer preferences. By developing businesses from the very early days within the context of the current climate it is possible to create a resilient, responsive and dynamic business presence which is not going to suffer under the weight of many years’ patching, fixing and adapting older businesses are having to cope with.
There are other excuses given by smaller or newer business too, including online businesses and even those who run their business entirely from home. I’ve heard excuses such as ‘it’s easier for more established or larger businesses because they have flashy business addresses, premises and offices,’ or, ‘larger businesses can afford to hire teams of telephone operators to answer the phones all day, whereas I have to do that as well as run my business,’ and even ‘larger more established businesses can afford accountants to do their bookkeeping, whereas we smaller businesses have to spend huge amounts of time trying to do it all internally.’
These excuses are by no means more than scratching the surface, but I utterly refute them all, as I do the very fact that a business is new, or small, or even both.
Even the most causal of searches online will reveal excellent virtual office service providers, offering very affordable and easily scalable business services such as a virtual office address, fully equipped meeting rooms as and when required, telephone answering services, mail handling services, invoicing and bookkeeping services and much, much more.
Being small or new is absolutely not an excuse for feeling that second place is the best that you can hope for. Grab the opportunities, overcome the challenges and steer a course through the inevitably interesting path ahead towards the success which will be richly deserved. All it takes is to stop making excuses and start taking the right action.
Spanish Legal Translation Guide
Legal documentations, even when in our native language, can greatly become mystifying or foreign-sounding. Actually, terminologies used within Spanish legal translation documentations are so intricate and specialised that the general public often fails to understand their implications.
When you are planning to translate some legal documents from Spanish to English (or vice versa), you can’t help worrying about how you’d ensure that you’re choosing the correct words and language. This is why you need an experienced and hospitable agency specialising in Spanish legal translation.
If you can find yourself a good company with English to Spanish legal translating services, you know you have found a way to get precise and authentic target text, which is like a transformed mirror image of the original.
A dependable legal translation service can be of great help, when you require Spanish translations regarding foreign trade bylaws for the import-export dealings you’ve just moved into.
People also need these types of agencies when their birth/marriage certificates are translated into English (usually for getting UK Visas). You can always have these agencies by your side when you need personalised services regarding English-Spanish legal translation on specialised translation needs.
It is an undeniable fact that virtually everything regarding legal systems, in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, is a daunting, sophisticated and stressful task to handle. But no need to worry when you have a dedicated and expert translation company to assist you on this.
You can have the peace of mind knowing your crucial legal documents rest in good hands. You can relax feeling that when you’re paying for the service, you’ll get a well-translated target document. In addition, a good translation company will always try to put your work into well-managed processes, which are affordable and efficiently streamlined.
Be it a Spanish legal translation task or an English translation job, in good hands, your documents will get their deserved attendance from the right translator(s) employed for your assignment.
Some final words…
Competent companies are never afraid or shy to take pride in their well trained staff and superb services. The story behind the success of most Spanish legal translation companies is in their ability to match the know-how of specific English-Spanish translators to the requirements of diverse legal documents.
Their legal translators posses a specific or subject-oriented skill-set when it comes to legal translations. The company you hire for your translation job must have an impeccable and extensive knowledge of Spanish and English vocabulary, along with the implications of different law terms or jargon.