A couple of years ago I picked up a shoulder injury and needed
some pretty serious surgery. This obviously meant I would be away from
work,( I am a lorry driver specialising in moving dangerous chemicals)
and consequently not earning. We were fairly confident that we could
survive, but I was going to use that time to create an online
business... I had done my research, and knew where I going to get my
digital marketing education.
What we did not know was that my wife
was going to be laid off the following month, no notice and no pay off,
she was on a rolling annual contract and they just did not renew it.
We
were stunned completely taken out I had just had the surgery and could
not have gone back to work if I had wanted to... in the space of four
weeks we had gone from double income and grown up kids, to no income,
and panicking!
When Opportunity Knocks
Stunned
by the shock of unemployment, and the total lack of money coming in.
Judi did something that left me breathless. She took all our savings and
bought three sewing machines, a work top cooker, an upgraded laptop, a
virtual secretary and took three exams that allowed her to certify
various health and safety qualifications.
She assumed that as I
had been working my new digital marketing business and had successfully
built my own website that I would drop everything and build her one
too... After a bit of a discussion, not too high volume! We outsourced
the build of her first site... I took the job of marketing.
Demarkation Is Vital When Working From Home Together
Let
me clarify that, I was busy learning many new skills as an on-line
marketer, those skills apply equally to off-line as well as on-line
businesses. However it was essential that as we grew the businesses,
that we respect each others skills, and each others time. From her
degree days we knew that we had to schedule work time and home time, or
certainly the edges would be blurred and family life would be lost. But
this new challenge of two businesses in the same house was quite a
strain. Add to that we were both massively out of our comfort zone. I
had never really been technically minded, so venturing into this new way
of life was hugely strange... add to that the pressures of little
income, and we were heading for disaster.
The Solution To Potential Rifts
Obviously
we needed clear channels of communication, and strong ground rules
around who did what, but more importantly when things were done. We are
both slightly workaholic and so we set our selves tough schedules. That
we both made sure we stuck to. Even to the extent that if we managed a
night out to the pub, phones had to be turned off, face down in the
centre of the table... First to pick up, paid... silly but it helped us
remember that we were still man and wife.
One Rule, Treat Each Business, As A Business
This
was a tricky one. What it boiled down to was that my wife could not
have favours from me, If she wanted steve-greenhalgh.com to organise her
social marketing or the SEO of her web site, she had to pay the going
rate. I equally could not charge ridiculous rates. We actually put the
jobs out to tender on Elance or Odesk, good respectable ways of
accessing outsourcing. This did two things.
- It gave us an accurate price range for me (A Novice) to charge,
- It also gave us a realistic time scale of how long a job should take.
In many cases we actually paid the contractor, as it meant the job was done properly and quickly.
Outsourcing Saved our Marriage
This
is a major lesson. I would be upset at first, that the money was going
out of the family purse. However It did mean that the jobs we needed
achieving, were done professionally. I learnt a lot by subsequently
reverse engineering the delivered product, and most importantly, the two
businesses flourished quickly.
The Virtual Assistant
Can
I just emphasise the importance of this service.We have a virtual
receptionist. She handles all incoming phone enquiries. We divert both
phones. If they need urgent responses we get a text, if they need a
brochure they get one. We receive a daily summary of calls at 4.30pm at
which time we go through the names and numbers, call those that need it
email those that it is appropriate to.
This single service keeps
us so focused, we never get interrupted by the phone (we also have our
email off so we do not get distracted) this means we both get the work
we need to get done, done. More Importantly though in my opinion, it
gives both businesses a very professional image. Can you imagine a head
teacher phoning Datech Education, and getting a grumpy 15 year old
watching Neighbours or playing on Xbox answering the phone... hardly the
professional image we want to portray, and to be honest, not that fair
to the kids,who actually have a right to be in their own home.
Did It Work Out?
Judi
is now employing a team of trainers to deliver the training, so she is
actually is a true Work at Home Mum, we converted a spare bedroom into
her office ( our eldest two children have actually flown the nest ) My
office is still a bit of a bone of contention... I use the family
computer room, which is a shared room, although on busy days I sometimes
over run making the children a bit grumpy... But we have a new office
in the garden on order, so I will actually have to walk to work! But The
Digital Marketing Business is Flourishing as well.
Could It work For You?
Would
I recommend that you both work a different business from the same
house? Yes absolutely, as long as you both respect what the other is
doing... by that I mean demonstrate the respect... Judi used to text me
saying put the kettle on, or what are you doing for tea... when I was
halfway through a call... Or I would barge into her office talking
without checking if she was on the phone... getting these little things
right are no guarantee of success, but without them you will certainly
struggle.
