5 Skills You Absolutely Need to Successfully Work From Home

There are five skills you need to work from home. I’ve been working from home since 2009, growing my business while growing my babies and these are te give skills I have found absolutely necessary.

Before I share these five skills you absolutely need to work from home, let’s talk about why right now is thee best time to own your own work at home business.

Why Start Now?

In this day and age, working from home is more attainable than any other previous generation.

Entrepreneur, author and speaker – Gary Vaynerchuk calls this the “Golden Age of Opportunity.” In other words, there has never been a better time to actually work from home and be your own boss. It’s never been easier than it is right now.

I started working from home part-time in 2000. I left my corporate job to work from home full-time in 2009 and haven’t looked back since.

When I first started working from home I was scared, stressed, and felt like a fish out of water.

If you’re thinking of working from home, or already work at home, here are 5 skills you absolutely need to be successful.

1. Be Motivated

Honestly it may go without saying, but you have to be motivated day in and day out if you are going to run your own business. If you’re not feeling motivated you have to figure out what the heck will get you back on track (motivational videos, reading your Bible, plugging into your favorite podcast, whatever it is.)

You have to motivate yourself each day to work instead of catching up on episodes of the Mindy Project, trust me the struggle is real. You have to be motivated enough to work when your kids are in bed, and you work on the days you don’t feel motivated.

You won’t get paid if you don’t work.

So many people will tell you to “treat it like a business.’ NAY. I say “treat it like a job.” The reason is because not everyone has owned a business – so what the heck does that even mean to you to “treat it like a business” if you’ve never owned a business. However, most people have had a job.

Just like with a job, you need to have your set hours of operation and you need to show up, plug in, and get crap done even when you really don’t want to do it.

2. Good time management skills

When you are a parent working from home, often times your schedule depends on your kids. For me that means I primarily work in the evenings when they go to bed.

This summer my schedule will change to match their summer vacation, and then this Fall it will change again as our youngest starts kindergarten and Fall activities begin.

Honestly, my schedule has changed at least twenty times over the past seven years to accommodate my kids and we just have to be able to roll with it. I make a task list the night before so that each day I’m able to sit down to work and get things done off that list without getting distracted. That allows me to get my work done faster and in the short time frame I have for work.

Every Sunday night I map out what my week will look like – including what goals I want to accomplish for the week and what steps it will take to complete those goals.

3. Good people skills

Honestly this is just a no-brainer for life. Everyone is different and the only person we can ever control or change ultimately is ourselves. So to get ahead in life and in business, it takes some basic understanding of good people skills.

This means you need to use manners and be able to communicate well. I’ve had hundreds of people contact me for job information and 75% will not even respond back to me with a “thank you.” That just blows my mind.

Good people skills also includes how you speak to people, how you relate to them, and how you interact with them. All of these can play a huge role in your success.

Think about it in your own life. Who do you want to work with, do business with or be around? Someone who is kind and helpful, or someone who is short and rude? So always trying and have manners and be kind! You never know, they may refer their friends to you!

4. Be creative

This is not required to be successful working from home, but I really think it helps a lot. Sometimes you have to come up with new ideas on how to advertise yourself, how to find new customers, how to grow your contact list and being creative can help make it easier!

If you are not creative, you can always ask others who successfully work from home for tips as many people are happy to share what they have found works for them.

Join my friends and I inside the free Facebook group Success Squad to get some support. See you there!

5. Be the boss

This is one of the most important skills you need, you need to be able to be a BOSS!

You need to keep yourself on track, but you also need to be able to evaluate your own work. Are you working the required hours you need to be each week? Are you doing busy work, or productive work? Are you being honest with yourself about how hard you work? These are things you have to hold yourself accountable for every day.

I know so many people who tell me they weren’t successful working from home, but usually that means they didn’t show up to work!

An at home business is the same as an office job, if you don’t work, you won’t get paid! If you work for 15 minutes 3 days a week, that is what you should expect to get paid for and believe me your efforts will show in your results!

If you spend your office hours organizing product instead of connecting with people, then you can’t complain about a small check because you haven’t really helped anyone. You have to be your own Boss and be willing to look at your work and see how you can improve to help you with your goals.