If you want your home business to succeed, the first thing you have to realize is that this is not a hobby. It is a job, a career, and a vocation. No one else will take it seriously if you do not.

To start with, you must have regular hours of business. Granted, you are the one who sets the hours, but set them you must and don't allow other people to think that they can be changed at a moment's notice without good reason. If you want to have different hours on Tuesdays then you do on other day, that's fine. If you want to work in the early morning or late at night because one of them suits your personality or your family's needs better, that's fine too. But you cannot just fit your work into the nooks and crannies of someone else's life or when you can grab a moment here and there. Your business will not succeed that way.

For instance, if one of the reasons that you are working from home is because you don't want your child raised in a day care center, that's a good motivation. But you must schedule your day so that you have the best chance of working without interruption for the time that you need. Give this some thought and figure out what works best for you: If there are two adults in the home, figure out who will be responsible for child care when. If you are a single parent, you may need to do your most intense work in the evening when your child is asleep or, in the case of an older child, when he or she is at school. Sometimes another parent will be glad to trade off time for your two children to have "play dates ? at one house or the other so that each of you can have some time that you need for your own work. You will need to be creative about this, but if you are serious about it yourself your family will soon learn that work time is work time for you.

Also, it is important that you do not think that you can just use a corner of the kitchen table as your workspace, in among the peanut butter jars and the flowerpots. This type of atmosphere is not conducive to serious work. You can set up your workspace wherever it is best for you, but consider finding, if you can, space that can be separate from the family's living quarters - even if that means a decorative screen around your computer area. Psychologically, this will mean a great deal to you in terms of your ability to put yourself in a "work mind set ? when you settle down to your home based business. Make the area pleasant and well lighted and set up your workspace so that you can readily reach the tools that you need.

Occasionally take inventory of the things that you use most and make sure that you have a good supply on hand and don't have to dash around looking for something just when things are popping. Again, make sure that your family realizes that this is your work space and that the success of your home based business is important in their lives too, so that they will be less inclined to snitch pens, paper or other items that you depend on finding at hand when you reach for them.

We repeat - others will take your business as seriously as you take it. You are the one to set the tone for success in your work from home business. Take charge of it!

In part two we will look at the different programs available to help you maintain the focus you need to succeed as a home business owner.