It’s important when running a business to make yourself available to clients and customers. Having things like basic contact information on your company website for all to see is just basic good business practice, and not having it makes you look unprofessional and less trustworthy as a business entity. So what happens when your business contact information is also your home contact information, because you work from home? Here are a few tips to help protect your privacy as a home business owner:

• Never use your personal email address for business use where you’ll be giving it away to strangers (especially of the potentially angry customer variety). Set up a separate email account for business purposes. Ideally, set it up on your own hosting account with your business website’s domain name instead of using a free email host (which look unprofessional and untrustworthy in and of themselves).
• If you’re worried about posting your home address on the Web or business correspondence, get a virtual address or PO box set up for your business.
• Set up a separate phone line in your home (if possible) for business use, or set up a virtual phone number (many are free or inexpensive – such as Skype or Aim Phoneline), where you can give out the phone number publicly, and either take calls through your computer or simply have the numbers lead to included voicemail services, where you’ll return the calls later.

These tips will help you get started in protecting your privacy as a home business owner. If you have other tips for protecting your privacy while working at home, feel free to share your suggestions.

One of the biggest reasons many home businesses fail is that the home business owner faces home office distractions not necessarily present in other work environments, from kids to pets to their kitchen. If you find yourself struggling or not working as productively as you need to because of home office distractions, developing a regular work routine might help.

Planning and organization in general can increase productivity, also increasing your chances of keeping your business afloat. I personally started using all of the tools below when I felt like I simply wasn’t getting enough done in a day, and they can really help:

• Calendars – Keeping an oversized wall calendar is great for having a constant reminder of upcoming important deadlines.
• Planners – Planners are great for more detailed calendars on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis. I find that it can help to plan not only work tasks but personal appointments as well (like doctor’s appointments or even scheduling in your workouts).
• To-Do Lists – Personally, I’m a to-do list junkie. I have daily to-do lists, weekly to-do lists, blogging to-do lists, and master to-do lists (just things that need to get done and be scheduled in general). I take a little bit of time in the evening to update them, and they really do help to keep my focus where it belongs in most cases. I keep some in composition books, others on large note cards, and others on large whiteboards. Do what works for you.
• Goal Sheets – Make a list of your goals – how much money you want to make in a month or year, how many products you want to sell this month, how many blog posts you want to write this week, etc. They can help you work more productively by reminding you why you need to get your work done in the first place. You can ask yourself at the end of each day whether or not you’ve done anything to get you closer to reaching your goals.

I’ve always personally preferred hand-written calendars, lists, and notes. You can certainly do this on your computer, PDA, or similar device. The “how” isn’t important. What’s important is that you get yourself into a regular routine, which these tools can help you do. Once you get yourself into actual “habits” with your work, you’ll feel much less inclined to push projects aside for a fridge run or day in the sun.

Working from a home office isn’t all fun and games. There’s more to it than having extra flexibility with your time (like being able to sleep in) and not having to dress up for work. Working from home poses a series of problems, or home office distractions, that can keep a home-based business owner from their work, hurting their productivity. In order to overcome home office distractions, you need to understand what they are so you can plan your own ways to come when you’re working in your home office. Here are some common home office distractions:

Family – Whether you have a spouse who can’t understand the boundaries of your home office and time at work, or children that demand attention, you have to be prepared to say “no.” It’s often difficult to say no to family, but to run a successful home business you have to know when it’s OK to be distracted and when it’s not. If it’s a quiet afternoon in your office, and the kids want to go to the park, it may be alright from time to time. But if you’re in the middle of a client project and on a tight deadline, you’ll likely have to say no and stick to your work schedule.

Friends and Neighbors – It can be hard for others to understand what it’s like to work from home. Friends who don’t work might stop by expecting you to be able to socialize at a moment’s notice. Again, you have to know when to say no. Some people really won’t understand what your days are like and how important your commitments are until you explain it to them, and others honestly won’t care. You’ll always run into the occasional person who doesn’t consider working at home to be “real work,” making it hard for them to take respecting your boundaries seriously. It’s up to you to enforce them.

Pets – If you have attention-demanding pets, you may want to find a way to keep them out of your home office, whether that be simply shutting a door or letting your dog stay outside while you’re taking an important phone call. Having a cat walking across your desk or keyboard can be a bad enough distraction, but it can be worse. Imagine being on a call with your largest client with a barking dog next to you. It screams unprofessionalism. However, if your best are exceptionally well-behaved, they might be comforting company in your home office. If not, you can always spend time with them during lunch or a quick break if they act up when they feel neglected.

Home Phone – It can be hard to ignore the home phone when you’re working in your home office, but you have office hours that you should do your best to stick to. Leave personal calls for personal time. If you’re able to, have a separate phone line installed for business calls, and keep the home phone away from your office space.

Refrigerator – Your fridge can be a huge distraction when working in a home office. It’s all too tempting (and too easy) to get up, go to the kitchen, and grab a snack. Try to make it a rule to stay out of your kitchen during your work time, other than a meal break. Take a piece of fruit and bottled water with you when you start to work in the morning to keep the hunger pangs away. You’ll be less distracted, and healthier all at once.

Nice Weather – When you’re working for a full-time employer, you don’t have the luxury of being able to pick up and head to a park or go for a walk when the weather’s nice. When working from a home office, there’s little stopping you. One of the biggest benefits of working at home is the ability to pick up and go out if and when you need to. If you’re having a slump in your day, a 10 minute walk outdoors might be just what you need to perk back up and get back to work. Just don’t let yourself be distracted every time the sun comes out, where you spend your afternoons outside instead of working. It’s easy to let the time get away from you.