What I learnt from SOHO Forum 2009?

Hi folks! In this entry, I like to share what I have gained/learnt from SOHO Forum 2009 held by eHomemakers.

eHomemakers is a site I have been following since my college times when I stumbled upon the Working @ Home book from my aunt(published by eHomemakers, written by their founder, Ms. Chong Sheau Ching) and have been subscribing to their newsletter ever since then!

eHomemakers is South East Asia's only community network that promotes working from home, teleworking and the running of SOHO businesses through the use of information and communications technology. Our e-community promotes self-help, business partnerships and entrepreneurship development for those who want to balance work and home life. Our social profit is derived from a pro-poor project focusing on eco-baskets production and service provision to empower women to embark on social-economic self-reliance. (quoted from their site here)

I have always wanted to gain more insights into the actual or real world of teleworking, working from home and SOHO.

So when I found out about their forum, I immediately signed up for it!

Note: I was still breastfeeding Shone then and had to lunge along my breastfeeding gear to the full day forum!

Nevertheless, it was a real eye-opening workshop for me, being one who is not exactly fully aware what to be expected being a WAHM then. So it really helps to hear testimonial and tips from those who have taken the plunge, so to speak!

To summarize, here is what I learnt from SOHO 2009:

1. Work@ Home requires Aspiration, Bravery, Commitment, Discipline and Enthusiasm!
2. You should analyse how much is your minimum take home income per month and start saving up this "cushion income"(at least to survive for 3 months) before you take the plunge.
3. Work@ Home is never a bed of roses, but you must set your priorities and know the reason why you took the plunge.
4. Work@ Home will be most successful if you gather your support team/ally(namely husband/wife, maid, nanny, parents and YOURSELF!)
5. Start by knowing your strength and what you can do for working from home; whether is setting up an online business, selling cookies or provides consultancy services.

One thing to note, the age of your children, the nature of your Work at Home business and whether you have a supporting team(be it maid, nanny, parents, etc) whenever you need to be out delivering your products or meetings with clients does matters a lot!

So folks, if you are an inspiring WAHM like me, do your thorough research and homework and not to mention gather up enough COURAGE and SUPPORT team to get you through the earlier months being a WAHM/D!

Cheers!

This post is also published in Mombloggersplanet.com as part of my monthly contribution to their column :)

Do pay them a visit folks, if you are a passionate mommy blogger/reader too!

Happy reading and sharing!

Cheers!