There are many advantages to having a home based business. Some of those advantages are: you do not have to work according to anyone's schedule but your own, you do not have interruptions from co-workers, your office reflects your own personality, you do not have a long commute, and you have the opportunity to give yourself a raise whenever your business expands.

Some of the disadvantages are: you may find yourself lonely if you are used to having others to lighten the mood or share the day, you can feel isolated, others can expect you to be open to doing all sorts of errands with or for them since you are home all day, and you have no guaranteed paycheck since your profits are dictated by your business.

There is one thing that everyone working from home should know and appreciate, however. That is, when talking to anyone in the offline world, you must seem like you are a regular business the corporate person can relate to. In other words, you must appear to be on the same level as they are. You must not have doorbells ringing, music blasting, dogs or children interruptions, and must appear to be working in an environment that is conducive to order and discipline. If a potential customer overhears your wife in the background yelling at the kids or slamming a door or other distractions, you can be sure they will think that your business is not up to par and that you do not take your business seriously.

So, enjoy working at home, but, please make an effort when you place phone calls. Just this simple little command of your place and time will show respect to the person at the other end of the line and will gain you much more business.

You should always return phone calls when scheduled and you must always do a polite follow up to recap a conversation when you expect more action. A simple note that is written by hand will showcase your sincerity with a potential customer as that is not done much in the business world anymore. However, standing out from the crowd is exactly what you hope to accomplish and what will get you the customer and job for which you are competing.

Keep a daily log of what you what to accomplish each day. Make up a to do list each evening when the day coming is fresh and put the most important jobs at the top of the list. Crossing each one off will give you a sense of accomplishment and keep you on track to achieve a full day's work.

Working at home can be relaxing, fun and stressful all at the same time. Take the situation in hand by outlining your goals, making your time count each day, avoid distractions, and think of yourself as a big business until you become just what you desire.