Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Do you have what it takes?
Telephone Sales Script
Top Ten Qualities Required to Start A Business
Technical Competency Checklist
Chapter 2 The Nuts and Bolts of Starting a Business
Start-Up Costs and Other Decisions
Set Up an Office
Health Insurance
Business Plans
Selling Services vs. Products
Should you Incorporate?
Take Advantage of Being Female (Register as a Woman-Owned
Business)
SEP IRA
Starting a Business Checklist
Exit Strategy
Chapter 3 Case Study: Cynthia Long, Project Manager
Chapter 4 Selling Yourself
Networking
Six Qualities Necessary to Be Likeable
Top Five Ways to Sell Yourself and Your Services
Closing the Sale
Five Ways to Establish Credibility
Getting Business Referred to You
Rates
Five Criteria to Consider When Setting Fees
Profit Margins
How to Get Paid
What if the client can't afford to pay your going rate for the job?
Chapter 5 Case Study: Leita Hart, CPA
Chapter 6 Freelance Consulting or Working Part Time in Your Field of Expertise
Working Part Time for Someone Else
What if you don't like what you do?
Part-Time and Flexible Career Choices
Certifications
Consulting
What if you don't have a specific specialty?
Franchises and Other Opportunities
Chapter 7 Case Study: Tina Brown, Telecommunications Expert
Chapter 8 Professional Coaching
History of Coaching
Who uses a coach?
Categories of Coaching
What does it take to be a coach?
Key Factors Necessary to be a Coach
Who are coaches?
Coaching Certifications
Chapter 9 Freelance Writing
What's your area of expertise?
Who do you call?
Application Articles
Trade Magazines
Technical Writing
Course Development
Marketing/Copy Writing
Offer Design Services Too
Travel Writing
Editing and Proofreading
Chapter 10 Case Study: Ann Kasunich, Marketing Professional
Chapter 11 Teaching Computer Software Classes
What does it take to teach computer classes? (The Right Stuff)
Why would this work for you?
Teaching Certifications
What if no certification program is available?
Franchise Courses
Other Teaching Options
Mix It Up (Combine Your Options)
Presentation Skills and Training Techniques
Chapter 12 Case Study: Jennifer Harrison, Independent Instructor
Chapter 13 Public Speaking
Who are public speakers?
What would I say?
Six Pointers to Remember When Giving a Presentation
Who do I talk to?
Speakers Bureaus
National Speakers Association
Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)
Chapter 14 Being a Professional
Professional Behavior
Return Phone Calls (Be Responsive!)
Communication Skills
Image
Customer Service
Keep Yourself Up to Date
Dealing with Burnout and Boredom
Top Ten Qualities Required for Being Professional
Chapter 15 Case Study: Beni Patel, Consultant
Chapter 16 (The Pros and Cons of) Working from Home
Advantages
Separate Work from Home Life
Cabin Fever
Self-Discipline
Chapter 17 Advice From Those Who've Been There
Top Five Priorities for a Business Owner
Feast or Famine
The Art of Contract Negotiation
Six Things to Remember When Negotiating Contracts
Risk Management
Advice for Going Out On Your Own - Five Common Themes
From Women Who Have Done It
Closing Summary
Appendix: Additional Resources
Index
Book Order Forms
About the Author
Excerpt
Introduction
Over the past few years, I have had many women approach me for advice about starting their own business. These women wanted to "pick my brain" and copy my business model.
I found this amusing, because I never even knew that I had a business model! All were seeking a part-time professional career that would allow them to work from home while raising a family.
For a variety of reasons, increasing numbers of women are looking for more flexibility not only in a career, but in their daily lives as well. Sound familiar?
All of these women - from recently married professional women thinking about starting a family, to women with three kids who quit a corporate career - are looking for viable, part-time career options they can pursue while they have children and raise a family. Chances are, since you picked up this book, you are one of them. Does this describe you:
- Are you working more than 40 hours a week?
- Do you have technical, programming, or other computer skills?
- Are you a woman working in a male-dominated industry?
- Would you like to earn income commensurate with your talent and experience?
- Are you tired of commuting?
- Would you like to work from home?
- Do you "freeze up" at the thought of trying to give a presentation or make sales?
- Have you dreamed of becoming your own boss?
- Are you worried about giving up your benefits, including health insurance?
- Are you looking for a way out of the corporate work world?
- Are you a former career woman turned stay-at-home mom, whose children are now in school and you're looking for a way to ease back into the working world?
- Are you wondering if you will have to change careers entirely or is there something else out there that you can do using your existing skills?
- Would you like to earn good money and have more time to spend with your family?
If you can answer "yes" to any of the above questions, then this book is for you! Full-Time Woman, Part-Time Career is written specifically for married professional women who want to transition to part-time work and/or a more flexible lifestyle. Sound good?
You may be wondering what it is that I do that is so attractive to women who want more flexibility in their life?
I am self-employed, and I teach computer software classes. Teaching! What about that old saying, "Those who can, do, and those who can't, teac"? Not so! On the contrary, you have to know a subject extremely well in order to teach it. The same is true for consulting, public speaking, coaching, and sales. Technically, it's called being a "Subject Matter Expert," or SME.
My Story
In 1996, I quit my job, married, and moved from Houston, Texas, to Austin, the state capital. Nestled in the Texas Hill Country and appropriately nicknamed "Silicon Hills," at the time Austin was undergoing a tremendous high-tech economic boom. Even so, the smaller metropolitan area offered few employment opportunities in my field.
At first, I worked for a small consulting company on a contract basis. After a few months, the company went through a difficult financial period and consequently laid off a good portion of its staff, including all contractors. Not having a full-time job, I decided to explore what I could do out on my own "for a little while." Today I have built my own business writing, teaching, and consulting in two specialized, but interrelated, fields known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
When I started out, I certainly did not foresee creating a business model that other women would want to copy. However, now that I have a daughter of my own, I have come to appreciate the flexibility that my line of work offers. I truly have the best of both worlds - ample income and time with my daughter. I want to share my knowledge, experience, and insights with you so that you can do it too!
If all of this sounds easy, I want to set the record straight. Many of the women who originally approached me wanting to "do what I do" only see the part where I teach a few times a month. What they don't see is everything that goes on behind the scenes.
I have one colleague who started out on her own, but she didn't do enough to market herself and ultimately didn't make it. I don't want this to happen to you. Full-Time Woman, Part-Time Career tells you exactly what you need to know and do to go out on your own, including how to sell yourself and your services.
There are many books on balancing a career with motherhood (is there really such a thing?) or starting a home-based business. However, while most work-from-home opportunities involve stuffing envelopes, assembling crafts, or selling cosmetics or kitchen accessories from well-known companies, these are not necessarily appealing options for all women.
Full-Time Woman, Part-Time Career takes a different approach by bridging the gap for women who are looking for flexible, professional, and technical career options. And, unlike those other businesses, you don't have to come up with a significant amount of money up-front to buy products. I believe that, using the strategies outlined in this book, women can build a part-time business in as little as two years, in order to have a more flexible and satisfying life. But first, let's define part time.
"Part-time" means different things to different people. In traditional income models, people work 40 hours or more per week, and earn a standard annual salary, paid weekly or monthly. Working part time doesn't necessarily mean working only 20 hours or less a week.
Some of the women profiled in the book work only a few hours per day, or one or two days each week. Cynthia Long, a project manager featured in Chapter 3, defines part-time work as working on a project for several months in a row, and then having several months off. What it boils down to is building up your business to realize the payoff of having flexibility in your life.
Once a woman has her first child, she faces a difficult decision - whether or not to stay home with her child, or go back to work. There is no perfect solution. Becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom is not the answer for everyone. Some can easily transition from the professional workplace to full-time motherhood with no problems. For others, it is not that easy. Some need to keep working in order to retain their sense of identity and self- worth and/or to keep their mind active.
A married friend of mine, who chose to stay home full time with her two boys after working for many years in the computer field, summarizes the mixed feelings that many women wrestle with:
Not all women can give up their work. I find that both sides [women who continue to work after having children, and those who don't] have things they are unhappy with. After the birth of my first child, I was planning on going back to work. I had three months of maternity leave and when I was down to the last week left, I was not ready to go back. I had received a huge pay raise at my job, and it was very attractive to go back.
You give up a lot staying home, though. Yes, your children come first, but you do give up a part of yourself. I could never get a job now and make what I was making. I would have to start back at entry level. I try not to think about it and just go for the "now." I also hate being dependent upon someone else's money. I like earning my own money. Some days, I feel like all I do is laundry, cook and clean. It's easy not to feel appreciated. But I tell myself that it is all worth it in the end! My kids don't know how lucky they are to have their mom around all the time.
Professional women in particular are finding it increasingly difficult to choose between a career and the role of a traditional stay-at-home mom. Not solely wives and mothers anymore, women today are multi-faceted - they have unprecedented access to higher education, birth control, and professional opportunities. As a result, many are delaying having families until later in life.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 19% of women aged 40-44 are childless, a number twice as high as twenty years ago. More women are postponing having a child until their mid thirties or early forties, thus waiting to start a family at an age when fertility rates plummet. This is likely a direct result of the increasing dilemma that women face: choosing to invest in a career versus raising a family.
Those who have spent time and money achieving a college education don't want to risk losing their skills or knowledge if they quit working in favor of staying home full time. Others marry later in life and thus have invested many years in a career before having children. And for others, due to the high cost of living in our society, staying home full time and living on one income is simply not financially feasible.
Or are you one of the thousands who has been laid off or whose job has been outsourced to a foreign country? According to the McKinney Global Institute, $57 billion worth of Information Technology (IT) and professional service jobs (e.g., accounting work) will be exported to India or other countries by 2008 (BusinessWeek, December 8, 2003).
Why not create your own job security by going out on your own? Many people who are laid off later claim that the experience was "the best thing that could've happened" to them. Or maybe you're just looking for a way out of the corporate rat race. In any case, there is a growing trend among women to shun the traditional "9 to 5" work model and do something more flexible on their own.
Full-Time Woman, Part-Time Career offers women options, viable professional and technical careers they can start out of their house, and offers a compromise for those who don't want to give up their career completely in order to stay home. The book explores available professional career options for women who want to go into business for themselves, and features tips and advice for getting started and building a business, regardless of what field you are in.
Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with six successful women - all "full-time women" with children and very busy lives who were able to make this work - from a wide range of fields who escaped the corporate work world and now have flexible schedules because they started their own business. All offer their invaluable wisdom, insights, and advice to other women who want to create a more flexible lifestyle while raising a family. Their stories are included to inspire others and to demonstrate that having a "part-time career" is truly an attainable goal.
