My Business Blueprint - What is Important?

As I started the research phase of defining my at home business, I thought the first step would be to figure out what kind of business I would want to run. The business needs to reflect my values, the work/life balance I desire, and utilize my strengths. Then I found this article on WITI, Selling a Business and Designing a New Life: 10 Questions to Your Best Future and it helped me realize I need to first decide what I want my days to look like. By defining what I care about and want to spend my time doing, I can begin to list the characteristics of a business that still lets me live.


So I am making a list of what is important to me. I want to be with Lee (my hubby) every day. We really like each other and I am lonely when I can’t talk to him or see him. I want to be able to find a group of people to pray with and to praise God with. I want to be able to walk in the country every day. I want to be able to cook in my kitchen, garden in my garden, and play in my river most days. I want to be able to have my grandchildren staying with us and be able to take breaks for adventures with them. I want to write poems and stories and songs. I want to travel sometimes, and don’t mind working on the trip, as long as I also get time to really play. I want to be able to help my kids with their kids and opportunities that come up in their lives. I want to hang-out with my girlfriends and work from the beach a couple of times a year with my buddy. I want to be involved in community activities, especially in non-profits locally. When I look at this list, I have no time to work. Ha Ha But the truth is I love working, solving problems, motivating and empowering others, and learning. I want something that inspires me and makes a difference.

Money used to be really important because we had four kids to raise, but now we can live off a lot less. We don’t have a lot of debt so we can make some choices. A (very) few years ago I read a book, One Acre and Security, an instruction book for how to live simply. That year we grew a big garden and had chickens. We hunted deer and turkey, and I made fresh bread all the time.  We loved that year accept for the chickens.  Lee will veto chickens forever after that experience. But I have always liked knowing I could live with very little and like it if I needed to. I think this is a good mindset when I start a new business because success will not happen overnight. We need to be ready to live lean (for a time).

I realize as I write this, I am fleshing out a blueprint for my life and a new business will be only one piece.  This process is not going to be a straight line.  I will proabably take a lot of side roads and walk in a few circles, heh that sounds like my life story up to now.  But I am getting more excited about stepping out and finding the next path.  Thanks for walking with me.

The Work From Home Dream

I have dreamed of really working from home since my children were young. Now I have 12 grandchildren and I still am trying to figure it out. I have daughters and friends struggling to figure out how to use their talents, support their families, and be home. If I figure this out, then maybe i can help them too. I may not be like all women, but I like being in the nest I have feathered. I want the time to have friendships and dream and find new adventures. But I also want to use my talents and make a difference.

The world has progressed since I was young. Companies, like Alpine Access, want to use at home workers to meet the growing corporate service demands. And sites like The Work At Home Woman provide links to potential employers.  This is on shore sourcing at its best. And after building a call center in Bangalore, I know the cost is comparable and the employees are more loyal. While these jobs may be great for women who need flexible schedules and just want some extra cash, I need something more.

I have so many experiences, sales rep, educator, manufacturer, business owner, corporate trainer, IT guru, process and operations consultant, software implementation director, operations VP. Surely I can find a way to create an enterprise in Wimberley, Texas that is fun and still leaves time for life!.

So this is my mission. I will one day leave the corporate world to develop a business from home. I may find that it is an impossible dream. That is OK. I have always believed that it is better to risk and dream than never to try so I guess this is just my next leap. If you have already found success, your advice is appreciated. If you are also thinking of taking the leap, I hope my journey will help you.

First step, Research.