Indie Business Blog

Combine Home and Business Without Losing Your Mind

Board Games and Crafts Make It Easy to Do Both

Raising kids and profits under one roof at the same time can be quite a challenge, especially when both demand so much of your most precious resource, your time! For example, today is Saturday, but like most Saturdays, I'm juggling home and business tasks. I'm not complaining though, especially since the new family games "Santa" brought this year are saving day.

      

Trouble is my favorite. The kids love to press the bubble (see action shot above!), which triggers a spring that causes the die to jump and "roll" a different number. "Popping" instead of "rolling" your number also makes an acceptable amount of noise. When it comes to kids, you can't go wrong with noise, right? Not only are board games a fun way for kids to spend their time, they also accomplish numerous other positive goals.

Vanessa's New 2009 Year Rules

Indie Business "Rules" For 2009

This morning, my 7-year old daughter Vanessa decided to record her "New 2009 Year Rules." I'm not sure where she got that terminology from, especially since I have always taught her that you don't have to wait for a new year to make positive changes. As she recorded her "rules" and taped them to the refrigerator door, I was fascinated with how she categorized her life, reasoning out loud about things she wants our family to strive for in 2009.

        

First, she divided her life into six neat compartments. Then, underneath each one, she wrote the "rules" she thought we should live by in 2009. I was astounded at how closely her "rules" resembled the New Year's Resolutions that are prepared by people far older than her. Pretty much everything on her list can help Indies have a better and more productive 2009. It's amazing what we can learn from children. I feel so blessed to have her perspective. It's transparent, innocent, grounding and brutally honest. Here's what she wrote, paraphrased a bit because her spelling is not the greatest yet.

Wordless Saturday

Wordless Wednesday, Late

For those who don't know, a Wordless Wednesday blog category contains posts that consist only of a graphic; a picture or sketch that the blogger likes or uses to send a special message to readers. Priia Cosmetics' Mineral Makeup Coach Blog has a fun Wordless Wednesday category. I have never had a Wordless Wednesday category at my blog. My husband says I've never had a wordless moment in my life!

         

But this picture he snapped of our daughter a few hours ago changed all that. It seems like yesterday that I was nursing our little Vanessa Grace, holding her tiny body in my arms. This evening, she is a young lady and I am her very proud mother. And I am, for once, wordless.

Question: Has anyone you love ever made you wordless, in a good way?

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Making Love and Money

Before You Work With Your Spouse

As many of you know, I work with my spouse. He's my high school sweetheart, the father of my offspring, a photographer, a super quiet loner type guy and a rabid Washington Redskins and USC Trojans fan. We don't do everything together. In fact, we do a lot separately. And it's a good thing too since our road to Indie Business ownership has not been altogether smooth. But we share common goals. So whether together or separately, our activities generally support those goals, one of which is to have fun as we provide for ourselves and our two children. Emergency funds, college savings, dance costumes, mortgage, our daily bread. You know the drill.

             

Most couples have the same goals as we do, and there are lots of ways to achieve those shared goals, the most common of which is via a traditional full-time job that matches your talents, educational background, skill sets and interests to a particular job description. If you land the job, you work for a third party, earn a regular pay check, make some new business friends and hopefully enjoy health benefits and opportunities for personal and professional growth. That's great, but for some of us, a regular job is not all it's cracked up to be. Long rush hour commutes, dwindling family time, day care hassles, latch key kids, sick kid nightmares, etc. So what do we do?

Boyz in the Fam

Who Stole My Hair, Makeup and Teleprompter??!

I recently invested in a laptop with a webcam. I didn't know it was there until I got it and my husband noticed it. Since I'm married to a professional photographer and videographer, I am used to spending most of my time in front of the camera. With a teleprompter. And with hair and makeup. And it's always a much better camera than this one, as you know if you've enjoyed any of the other videos at this blog. But since I have the most fun when I'm laughing at myself, I thought I'd share this quick glimpse into early morning life in the Indie Business household. I'm nuts, I know.       

What do you think? Is this the best break you've had all day from the politics-heavy stuff you're seeing on everyone else's blog today?! Enjoy!

Indiecation Nation

With More Americans Becoming Entrepreneurs, Indiecations Are the New Vacations

A lot is being discussed these days about "staycations". These alternatives to vacations are taking place more and more as families find that the rising cost of gas and other consumer goods is making it more difficult to vacation away from home. They are meeting this challenge by taking time off, but staying at home to "staycation."

       

Last week, I was on "indiecation," a term I coined to describe the kind of vacation Indie Business owners like me take. Indiecations are enjoyed by solo and family owned businesses who take traditional vacations away from home, but who still have to manage their businesses day to day, even while away. Indiecations are characterized by a mixture of traditional vacation time and work time, often done at the same time. Here are some tips you can use to enjoy your Indiecation.

Greetings From Hilton Head

We are having a blast on Hilton Head. Thought I'd share a photo from our glorious Indiecation.

            

Want to know what an Indiecation is? Subscribe to Indie Business Blog today so you don't miss finding out in my next post!

The New Family Business

Nine Reasons Why Home-Based Business Ownership Works For Parents

So you’re a parent, or thinking about becoming one. No matter what your background or walk of life, you are probably dealing with the question of combining parenting with holding down a job outside the home. If you ponder these things, you are not alone. I wondered the same things as a new bride in 2000.

         

My husband and I wanted a family, yet his job as a camera man on ABC's Nightline required him to work from late in the afternoon to long past midnight. I worked like crazy from morning until after the dinner hour at a Washington, DC law firm. We had a fantastic combined income, yet we knew that it would be impossible to have a child with our schedules and the stress caused by our jobs.

How to Hire a Family Helper

10 Tips to Finding Help For Your Family and Your Business

Before my husband joined the business, I was home by myself a lot with our children. At the time, his work hours as a cameraman for ABC's Nightline were horrendous, keeping him away from home from the dinner hour until well after midnight every night. During those times, it would have been nearly impossible to run a business and be up half the night with babies without our family helpers.

          

I am often asked by other parents, mainly mothers, for my tips on running a profitable home-based business with young children in tow. It's a challenge, and sometimes, it's just not fun at all, honestly. It can be done, but the first step to making it work is to get yourself a family helper or two (or more ...).

'Til Business Do Us Part?

8 Questions To Ask Before Taking The Plunge

With all its blessings and benefits, marriage is a challenge. Taking the plunge for the first time at the altar is one thing. But taking the plunge again, as business partners, is quite another.

          

I've been working with my husband, Darryl, off and on ever since my business started in 2000. But a few years ago, we decided to merge our talents and gifts in a more formal sense so we could grow in new and exciting ways. The road has not always been smooth, but it is filled with enough joys and high points to keep us energized and excited.

While there's plenty of pre-marital counseling available, there's not much help when it comes to pre-spousal business counseling! We're no therapists, but based on our experience, we have concluded that these are among the most important questions to ask and answer before going into business as a married couple.