Family Living
Focus
Multi-County
Extension Agent
Winnifred McGee
Becoming More Professional
When Susan began to speak at
my workshop on pricing crafts, I
knew almost immediately that
there was a problem with her busi
ness a problem she didn’t know
she had. She talked about how
she’d started her craft business in
an effort to make some spending
money while caring for her pre
schoolers. She made items to sell
now and then, blending work
hours around her family’s hectic
schedule. She sold at craft shows,
not on a regular basis, but when
the table fees were low enough
and her inventory was large
enough. And, of course, she
added, she sold items at a rate that
was much lower than her competi
tors because she was really an
amateur and saw this as a way to
make pin money. Although she
wasn’t sure that her prices covered
the costs and her time, she felt that
everything was alright because
she got to be with her children
when she was needed.
Susan’s problem was that she
was playing at being in business,
rather than taking the entrepre
neurial challenge head on.
Although she was making some
money, by not setting goals, not
knowing whether she was doing
something profitable, and by
engaging in her venture now and
again, she was actually wasting
hours not spent with her family,
rather than making the most of
every minute. This is because, like
many home-based business peo
pie, Susan did not consider herself
to be a professional, and did not
work at letting other people see
her as one.
Setting a professional tone from
the start is an important way to
ensure business success. Accord
ing to Debra J. Perosio, of Cornell
University, it’s been said that in
the business and professional
world, people form, their lasting
impression of you within 30 sec
onds of meeting you. Generally, if
we see a person (or business) in a
favorable light, we are likely to
continue to make favorable asso
ciations with that person (or busi
ness). If this is true, then commu
nicating a professional image in
your first business contact is
necessary if you want to continue
selling or providing services to the
people you meet.
Your professional image
improves when you consider these
questions:
• Your Product Is it the
very best one that you can make,
while remembering what your
customer can afford? What can
you do to improve your skills?
Remember that the marketplace is
filled with average, cheaply made
goods from large assembly lines.
As an entrepreneur, you should
ensure that your product is special
Snd valuable; something that you
are proud to have your name
linked with.
• Your Appearance Do you
get dressed for work? When you
are out in the community, does
your behavior and appearance tell
people that you are serious about
success? This doesn’t mean that
you must go out and spend a great
deal on a business wardrobe, but
the way you dress and act should
at all times reflect your goals,
helping you fit in with other pro
fessional people.
• Your Work Schedule Do
you have regular working hours
set aside to make products, prom
ote and sell, and do the paperwork
for your business? How often are
interruptions to this schedule
allowed? Remember that there is a
difference between a true
emergency and just taking up the
slack for friends and family mem
bers who are employed outside of
the home. Asking yourself if you
would use vacation days from an
out-of-the-home job to do a task
helps you judge whether it should
interrupt your business schedule.
• Your Work Space Is the
area where you work clean, neat
and well-organized? Is this space
used only for business, allowing
you to leave home life behind for
interruption-free work sessions?
Even if your customers never see
your workspace, it is necessary for
you to have an area that you can
go to separate you from the
demands and cares of daily living,
to give your full attention to your
work.
• Your Price Have you
priced your product or service to
cover costs, labor and a margin for
profit? Is your price in the same
ballpark with others’ prices for
similar goods/services? Low
Lancaster Arming, Saturday, July 30, 1994-811
prices translate into low self
esteem. They signal to the buyer
that there is something wrong with
what you’re offering. Pricing low
er than your competitors may
anger them, causing you to lose
the valuable networking that takes
place between professionals.
• Your Network Do you
belong to any guilds, professional
organizations, or community
organizations (like a Chamber of
Commerce) that help you to grow
as a business person? Do you reg
ularly make new contacts, and
work at keeping old relationships,
to keep your foot in the door for
sales?
In her book, Women and
Home-Based Work,, Kathleen
Christensen says that one of the
three major problems for home
based business people is a loneli
ness, caused by lack of contact
with the outside world, and loss of
daily contact with co-workers.
She suggests as a solution that
“those who run a home-based bus
iness can compensate for the lack
of office culture by joining busi
ness groups, or trade guilds
focused on their type of work, and
can thus ensure that they have
access to the kind of information
they need.”
The road to greater profession
alism is not paved with a binding
set of rules and regulations... it is
instead a path you cut for yourself.
Starting on a path toward success
requires a decision on your part
that you will make your business
real to yourself and others. It
means stepping off the path occa
sionally and taking a critical look
at what you’re doing, who is help
ing you, and if you’re really head
ing toward success or into a dead
end. Professionalism makes your
business and the hours you
invest pay for themselves.