Almost three years ago, I left my part-time adjunct faculty position at a small private college to focus exclusively (from a business standpoint) on my freelance work as an editor, copywriter, and very occasional graphic designer. I was homeschooling while working at the college, and was receiving so many other requests for freelance work that I decided to drop the commute, the office politics, and all the other things that go along with working outside the home and have a career that I could more easily work around the children’s busy schedules and lessons. Working freelance still allows me an income while continuing to have something personally and mentally stimulating to do while working around the children’s needs. It has especially been helpful with my husband working out-of-state; with no relatives around, it’s just me managing the home front, so any work I do outside of managing the family has to be flexible.
I do not discuss my personal and family life in detail with my clients, but most are aware that my office is in my home. Whenever I meet with a client in person it is in his or her office; I wear exactly the same style clothes that I wore as a professor, carry a similar bag, and have professionally-printed materials. I do not present myself or do anything differently working out of my home office than I would if I had a small office in town.
Yet I notice something very different about the way I am treated now as opposed to when I had a faculty office at the college: clients assume that, because I work out of my home, I am able and available to work at any time. Last-minute requests are made with the assumption that it is no problem for me since I don’t have to travel to or stay late at an office.
It’s another twist on the misconception of the stay-at-home-mom: because I am “at home,” I have all the time in the world to do things for other people.
I’ve surprised many clients when I’ve told them that I do indeed have office hours, just like any other business.
We mothers who work out of our home all know that we do work at odd hours. Of course we squeeze in some work during nap times or will stay up after the children are in bed to finish a project. We are very good at being creative to get our jobs done.
Our clients, however, do not need to know that.
To the outside world, it is imperative that your home business has business hours, times specifically set aside when your clients know they can call you or that you will call them, when you are willing to devote your attention to their projects. Most people understand business hours for offices outside of the home; they understand that you have to “go home” eventually. Because your home is your office you need to gently set your boundaries so clients understand that you do indeed “go home” from your home office, and you are not constantly at their beck and call. When you do your work is not their concern; when you are available to work with them is.
For instance, I inform my clients that my office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and by appointment. The “by appointment” is for those circumstances where a meeting has to be scheduled outside of those hours, or if I have agreed to a project that requires me to be more open with my time. Otherwise, I let my business calls go to voicemail outside of those hours. Most of the time anything a client needs after 3:00 can wait until the next business day.
Do I actually only work for my clients on Mondays through Fridays, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM? No. When I was homeschooling a lot of my work was done on the weekends, when my husband was home from his job and he could be on Parenting Duty. I scheduled meetings during the week, which was trickier to manage, and would work alongside my children while they completed lessons after I taught. I homeschooled and worked at the same time. But I did not reveal this to my clients.
Now that the kids are in school I have taken on a few more clients and I am not working on weekends. However, I do have other responsibilities–kids get sick, cars have to be repaired, etc. When my personal life takes precedence, I treat it like an appointment with a client; if I am asked by a client if I am available during a family conflict, I simply tell the client I have another appointment and suggest a different time. I do not explain myself or apologize; I am polite and work to be accommodating, but I do not give up my life.
When I was starting up our family farm I enjoyed reading books by Joel Salatin, a pioneer in the pastured meat business. In his books he writes of starting his farming business by setting his policies and sticking to them; if a client doesn’t “get with the program,” as he puts it, then he drops the client. His business philosophy is that, by dropping a troublesome client, he isn’t losing money; instead, he can replace that client with one who will respect his boundaries, thereby saving time and stress.
When you are just starting up your business or when you desperately need the money, it may not be possible to let a client go even when he or she is unreasonable; however, professionally, people most often have more respect for others who present themselves as confident and with policies in place. Even if you have to make a special exception because you cannot afford to lose the client, let the client know that you are doing him or her a favor: “I know this is important, and I’m fortunate that I can move some other appointments around this week to accommodate you and can do X on this date.”
If you do not respect you time, your client certainly will not.
Respect yourself. Respect your business. Respect your work hours.
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