Featured

Location Independence

11.22.2011 by Jon // Leave a Comment

I’m sitting in a comfy chair in a corner of a library, waiting for my next appointment & typing this article on my smartphone. Over the past few years this has been common, not just for me, but for thousands of other location independent people. I’ve worked in restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, and parks.

When we talk about location independence, we understand that with most ventures there will be some limitation on where you can be at some point in time, but the goal is that you can be productive while you wait, while you go to the bathroom, in the time between appointments.

When I arrived at this library I walked around looking at the chair options & observing what people are doing. Several people have laptops, one person was pitching another on a business. A few were on the public computers & one was asleep. All could be doing productive work to help achieve their goals & all could be wasting their time.

If you have goals there are three fundamental things you need to be location independent.

Plan
Tools
Ability

1. Plan

This could be detailed or mostly abstract. When I arrived here I had an idea of what I would do (write on location independence & take a picture or two) and the time I needed to leave but that was about it. Once I complete this plan talk I’ll need another.

2. Tools

My wonderful smartphone provides me lots of functionality. I can take pix, write an article & post both to any website I manage. The website systems are tools in this case.

3. Ability

There are several parts to ability, like skills, but two I want to point out are time & energy.

When I am exhausted I cannot produce. Exhaustion might be due to a need for sleep, food, rest or exercise. You have to take care of yourself, or the location does not matter.

Time is the one resource that you have in an absolute limit.

If you don’t have any time to work, it does not matter the level of independence of location,nothing will be accomplished.

With location independence as a goal, because when taking care of children the ability to work where you are should increase your productivity, we will look for information & systems that can help you where you are.

SAHceo 1 – Top Priorities

11.18.2011 by Jon // Leave a Comment

With this first episode of Stay At Home CEO show we present look at priorities & share some of ours.

[audio:http://www.stayathomeceo.com/sahceo0001.mp3]
[mp3 – 14:48]

Priorities?

What are priorities vs vision vs goals?
Can priorities change?
Are they really so important to have them as a major topic of an episode?

Finding Your Priorities

Figuring out your priorities can take time. There are different methods, but most come down to a combination of:
– what brings you energy – you work towards something or with someone and are more energized then when you started
– what are you naturally great at
– what makes your stronger – giving you more ability to do more in the future
– what are your responsibilities?

Priorities of Stay At Home CEO

Support & Educate two main target groups:
– Stay At Home Parents who want to build one or more revenue streams, either into a self employment venture or business.
– Stay At Home Dads

Do You Want to Help?

Threre are three simple ways:
1. share StayAtHomeCEO with people who want to be a stay at home parent with a business

2. Provide feedback – comments, email, posts on walls – even if it’s a simple “This is great” or “I disagree with X” Simply getting people to post, or reply is a dramatic help.

3. RT, Like, +1 & comment on those social networks if we do something great.

[ image by Ray Devlin ]

General Business Ideas for Stay At Home CEOs

11.14.2011 by Jon // Leave a Comment

I was texting with a coaching client about Stay At Home CEO and she said:

That sounds awesome. How can you find these people? What skills or services would they offer?

I started to reply, but realized that where I had a quick answer, a longer one would be better. Limited to the length of a text here is what I had to say:

Have to find them one at a time & in packs/tribes. Services: I see three types: 1. build a biz 2. hourly 3. goods

Finding and networking with people who take care of their children, but also want to build some revenue stream is another long topic. Instead of tackling both, here is some types of businesses I expect are great for Stay At Home Dads and Stay At Home Moms.

What do Stay At Home CEO’s offer?

There are three primary types of businesses ideas one might want to pursue based on your passion, time, and other resources:

Self-standing Business
Consultants & Professional Services
Makers, Artists & Craftsmen

3. Makers, Artists & Craftsmen

A number of my friends make goods and sell them. Might be a cross-stitching, woodworking, painting, or other talent based production. They might start for fun, in the spare moments or while watching tv, but end up wanting to sell more to more people. There is a limit to doing this one and some will want to move into building it into a business. Others would just like easier ways to reach a larger market.

With this you are trading a combination of resources, but ultimately what you produce for money. There can be more to it then just making a widget, in networking, marketing, and other administrative tasks if you want to make more money.

2. Consultants & Professional Services

It is clear and easy in many industries for an individual to go out on their own and start a one man service business. I coach business leaders. I do stuff with websites; all of which can be done from anywhere my smartphone has reception. Virtual Assistants, Customer Care Representatives, Accountants, Lawyers, and many other consultants, coaches, and other professionals can easily do the same. All working whenever their kids allow & from wherever they want with the right tools, processes and systems.

In all cases, you are trading your time for money, or doing a hybrid of this and the other two activities.

1. Self-standing Business

A business owner is someone who could walk away from their business for a period of time & it continues to grow. They had a major hand in getting it started. They might or might not be needed for it to continue to evolve in a major way, but the organization is at a point (normally this was an intentional milestone) where to keep going & growing at some rate the owner is unnecessary.

Some of the types of businesses that I expect to find people & help people do include Real Estate Investing, Websites, Apps, programs, games, books, networks, and more traditional businesses.

Supporting The Dreams

Some are happy being like the friend of mine who has an embroidery machine & makes custom stuff for friends. Others are like a friend who started making camping gear. He is now setting up a business to produce the gear and a second business to market the gear to the masses.

Stay At Home CEO will support both extremes, those who want a small side project that makes some income to those who want a full on business by helping with connections, information, and inspiration.

[ image by rvaphotodude ]