GigaOM » Collaboration

It’s Okay to Work at the Kitchen Table

Amber Singleton Riviere — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:00:49 +0000

In a recent post by Chris Brogan about family balance, he says he might be perceived as someone who lacks balance between work and home. But he says, “I’m more home, more connected, and more a part of my family’s life than…ever before” thanks to what he calls “kitchen table companies.” Such companies “can operate from a kitchen table, get talked about around the kitchen table, and get [workers] home in time for dinner.”

This got me thinking about how much my beliefs about business have changed in the ten years since I started my own company. I used to agree with the common recommendation that lines should be clearly drawn between one’s business and personal space. The advice was that you shouldn’t work from your kitchen table, and that you should have a separate space for your business.

From a balance perspective, it seemed only natural to compartmentalize, and to have clearly-defined boundaries between work and home. After all, wasn’t that how it worked with “regular jobs”? So when I created a business, I attempted to maintain clear boundaries between it and my home life.

But I began to see that my life as an entrepreneur was very different from those with “regular jobs.” For me, it was a struggle to determine where my work life stopped and my home life began. I thought that something was wrong with me for a while, but then I realized that I actually liked the blurred lines. I liked ‘living’ as much within my business as outside. Since that was true, why was it so necessary to separate the different parts of my life?

I’ve come to accept that I like having a “kitchen table business.” Like Chris Brogan, I have way more time with family and friends now than I ever did before starting a business. I have flexibility to work when I’m able: around sickness, around unpredictable bouts of insomnia, and around the even more unpredictable ebbs and flows of life. So while I used to believe that having a “kitchen table business” would set me up to become a workaholic, I now see it as a way to live my life exactly as I want.

Does my business have boundaries? Yes, but they’re more like gray areas. I’m a web worker, but I also have Internet-free days. There are days when I work eighteen hours, and other days when I work three. Sometimes I work in my pajamas from the sofa, but I can crave the structure of my office. In the end, it all evens out, and for the most part, I feel I’m able to maintain a semblance of balance.

How do you balance your life and business? Do you set clearly defined boundaries, or are you able to work successfully at the kitchen table?

Photo courtesy Flickr user Muffet

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4 Ways Not to Be a Doormat

Amber Singleton Riviere — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:00:33 +0000

When running a business, it can sometimes be hard to draw the line between being of service and being taken advantage of by customers, clients and other professionals. Here are a few ways to reinforce that line.

1. Know your policies, terms and limitations.

I believe that the biggest mistake we all make when drawing lines with customers, clients and other professionals is that we don’t have a firm grasp of our own policies and limitations before beginning to do business with someone.

It’s important to sit down on your own, when you’re not under pressure, and decide, “These are my policies. This is how I do business. This is what I will accept. This is what I won’t accept.” That might include things like your rates, how you handle rush jobs, your availability and working hours, how you handle late payments, etc. Figure out your terms and then stick with them. If someone tries to push your policies and limitations, simply say, “That’s not how I do business,” and then outline your terms.

2. Lose the need to be liked.

Our need to be liked can interfere with our ability to run our businesses effectively and profitably. If we’re constantly allowing clients, customers, and service providers to dictate how we do business, simply because we’re afraid of making an enemy or making someone angry, we’ll never get anywhere. I’m not saying that you need to go around being a flaming jerk, but if someone is going to write you off because you won’t allow him/her to run over you, that’s not a friend you’d want anyway. Be willing to walk away from toxic people and relationships and know that you’re not always going to be liked, and that’s OK.

3. Know your value and be confident in that.

I think a lot of times it’s unnerving to stake a claim and say, “This is what I’m worth.” However, it’s necessary to establish that value and know that we don’t have to accept less than that. Sometimes you will come across people who want something for nothing, and there will be times when people who see that you’re succeeding will try to get a free ride on your coattail. If you try to cater to those types of people, you’ll never get anywhere. It’s OK to say, even just to yourself, “I’ve paid my dues to get here. I’ve worked hard, studied hard, and applied myself to make the progress that I’ve made.”

You can be willing to help other people (if they’re willing to help themselves, of course), but you have to always remember to be conscious about how you spend your time. Every minute that you give to something or someone is a minute you can’t get back and is a minute that isn’t going to something or someone else, so always think, “Is this a wise investment?” If you’re giving away your time to someone who constantly takes advantage of you, is always looking for ways to nickel and dime you, or isn’t your ideal client, then you no longer have that time to give away to someone who values it, pays you what you’re worth, and is better-suited for you.

4. Follow a modified “3-strike” rule.

Inevitably, you will come across people who will try to take advantage of you and push your boundaries, and inevitably, there will be times when you try and try (and try again) to work with these people, even though you know they’re not a good fit for you, they are trying to take advantage of you, or the relationship is a one-way or dead-end street. Knowing where to draw the line is the most important thing in these situations, which brings us back to Rule #1. You must establish your limitations, and a good place to start is a with a modified “Thee-Strike Rule.”

If you find yourself working with a client or service provider who tests your limitations or policies, try to give three opportunities for correcting or improving a situation before walking away. This will be different for every situation and business, but in these situations, keep a mental (or even physical) record of how a project or relationship has gone. If you constantly find yourself back at the same point of negotiating your terms or what you’re worth, then eventually you have to say, “Enough is enough.”

The “modified” part comes into play when your integrity or principles are at stake. In that case, one strike is all you need, so if, for instance, a client or service provider does something or asks you to do something that clearly lets you know this person is not someone you want to do business with, be willing to walk away right off the bat. In these situations, there’s no sense in hanging around for three strikes and allowing the opportunity for your integrity to be called into question.

Finding a balance between being of service and being a doormat who is constantly taken advantage of by customers, clients and other professionals can be a challenge, but by deciding upfront what’s acceptable to you in your business, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches — and be more likely to create a successful and thriving business.

In what ways do you make sure to leave the doormat at the door?

Photo by Flickr user say_cheddar, licensed under CC 2.0

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Glass Ceilings: Are You Limiting Yourself?

Amber Singleton Riviere — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:05 +0000

We have a tendency to impose restrictions on our abilities and potential by creating glass ceilings for ourselves. It starts with arbitrary boundaries.

In recent months, I’d been working toward a certain fixed, arbitrary goal, when it came to my business and my income.

I had three income “buckets,” and I had decided how much revenue I wanted in each bucket, but by essentially capping my income in each of the buckets, I was unintentionally capping my potential. I wasn’t aware of that fact until I was forced to rework my numbers after a change in priorities: I wanted to shift my attention to focus more on one of my buckets in place of another. The only problem was that I couldn’t make the numbers work.

In order to reduce what was in one of the buckets, I had to increase what was in one or both of the others, but my self-imposed boundaries were forcing me to fit things neatly into a glass box.

I had unintentionally limited myself and my business with my revenue cap for one of my buckets. Not only that, I had also limited myself by my own willingness (or lack thereof) to do certain things. Here were the conditions I had set for myself.

Rule 1: I wanted to make x dollars.
My first mistake was that my income goal was arbitrary. At some point, I had decided I didn’t “need” more money, so there was no point in aiming for more of it. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that by limiting the revenue potential for my business, I was also limiting my ability to hire outside help, which completely interfered with Rule 2.

Rule 2: I wanted to work x hours.
My second mistake was that my work hours were arbitrary. Aiming to work only a certain number of hours or forcing myself into busy work by feeling compelled to work 9-5 was silly. There are days when I work three hours and get more done than on days I work twelve. A schedule needs to be about getting things done and moving goals forward, not working a set number of hours. Plus, just because work needs to be done doesn’t mean that I have to be the one to do it. If the workload starts to exceed my availability or abilities, I should hire help. If I hired help, though, that would mean I’d have to take on more clients, which interfered with Rule 3.

Rule 3: I wanted x number of clients.
My third mistake was that the number of clients my business served was arbitrary. If I had more help, I could serve more clients. Period. There was nothing stopping me from taking on more clients, except that to take on more clients meant that I needed more clients, which meant that I’d have to generate more leads and take my marketing to the next level. I could, in theory, start an affiliate program, which would help me “duplicate myself” and generate more clients, but in order to have an affiliate program, I’d need affiliates, and the only way to get affiliates is to pay them, which definitely interfered with Rule 4.

Rule 4: I wanted to make x dollars per client.
If I started an affiliate program, it would need to be so worthwhile that people would want to be a part of it, which meant I would need to pay my affiliates well. If I paid my affiliates well, that would definitely reduce what I made per client, which meant that I’d need to have more clients in order to make the same amount of money, which interfered with Rules 1, 2 and 3.

I started to realize the absurdity of my self-imposed rules and decided to challenge every one of them. Who said I had to limit my potential and that of my business? Who said I couldn’t hire help and serve more clients? There were no rules or limitations on how I played this game, except for the ridiculous ones I was setting for myself.

I realized the importance of stopping and checking in with myself every once in a while to see if I was forcing myself into some glass box that I had created. Many times, we think outside influences and obstacles are affecting our progress, when really we’re getting in our own way and holding ourselves back.

Challenge your own rules. Challenge your own assumptions and limitations. Why do you have them? Are they serving a purpose, or are you simply not thinking outside your own glass box?

Image from Flickr by Nikki L.

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Open Thread: What Are Your Holiday Break Plans?

Anne Zelenka — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:01:05 +0000

Gone are the days when we were in school and got two or more weeks off at holiday time to celebrate and recuperate. Some companies shut down for an entire week or more around Christmas — and their employees probably feel pretty lucky. If you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur or just really busy at your job, you may not be able to take off more than a day or two.

But everyone needs some downtime and a chance to reconnect with family and friends. Taking at least a couple days off at the end of the year can help you feel refreshed and ready for the next one.

What are your plans for taking time off over the holidays? And what are you going to do with that downtime?

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