Who doesn’t want their home business to do better? It may be more income, more website visitors, more sales, more something, but most of us want more from our home business. The hard part is getting it.

If you want things to change, the key is to not keep doing everything the same way. You have to change something. You aren’t going to get different results for doing the same old thing.

It’s time to do something about it. Time to figure out which skill you need to master for your business that will help it to grow.

It may be as simple as learning to do keyword research better. I’ve been having a blast lately using Market Samurai for keyword research, and it does a lot more too. The keyword research tools alone are great, however. I’ve found some great new ones for some niches I’ve been in for a while. I have plans for them too…

Marketing skills are always a good choice for improvement. Just pick the type of marketing you wish you could do better and find out what you need to learn to do it. Where are the customers you’d like to get in front of, but haven’t reached yet? Figure out what might reach them and learn to do it.

Making videos has become very popular, but it’s a tough skill for many people to master. If you haven’t done a lot of video in the past, you’re likely to be rather self conscious about the whole matter (I know I am!). The one way to get past that feeling or at least learn to manage it is to start making videos. You may not feel like distributing your first efforts, but they’ll help you gain confidence.

Another area to focus on is that of customer or website visitor retention. Repeat business is wonderful stuff. How are you going to keep people coming back?

A blog or newsletter is the classic choice, but don’t neglect currently popular options such as setting up a Facebook page for your business. Maintain it, use it to communicate about special deals, and it may become a great resource for your business.

If you’re offering a product or service, maybe it’s time to add in something new to the mix. What more would your customers like you to offer them? Is it something you can manage? Would it make your current offerings even more appealing?

The point is to keep learning and testing to find out what works for you. Don’t just stick with your comfort zone, but don’t abandon it either. Add in new skills as you continue to use the old.

One of the big temptations when you have a home business is to work every day of the week. You really want to get things moving, and the temptation is great when you desperately need the money as so many families do.

Working seven days a week may not make you as productive as you think, however. You need time to relax and time for your family and friends.

Ideally, it’s nice to take two days off a week, such as the standard weekend you get with some jobs. But it’s not too unreasonable to want to work that sixth day a week for extra income or because you love what you do. Particularly when you have kids in the house, having a work day where someone else can handle them is really nice.

Except when you really have to, I don’t recommend a seven day work week, especially not full days. There are times when it’s necessary – there’s a reason why many home business owners talk about the long hours they put in to get things going at first. But as soon as possible, return more balance to your lifestyle and have time for family and friends.

In the challenge of running a home business, it’s easy to overlook time for yourself and those you care about. You’re doing it for them, after all. But that’s really not enough.

At the same time, if you really want to get your business going, you should be committed to working at least five days a week on your business. Working just a day or two a week is not enough, not if you’re serious about it and don’t have another job limiting your availability. Putting in more time means you’ll see results of one sort or another from your business all the sooner.

Your days off from working on your home business shouldn’t be the only time you spend with family, especially if you are working six days a week. Eat meals together. Relax for a while with family in the evenings.

That’s about what I do personally. I work one weekend day a week when I can, because it’s the one time I can really dedicate a lot of hours to working. Otherwise, it’s the hours I can get during the day, plus whatever hours I can manage after the kids are in bed. One weekend day a week is family time. I’ll check for anything urgent, but that’s it.

Work out your schedule based on what you need to get accomplished with your business. You may sometimes need to work the full weekend or other time you’d rather have for family, but don’t make it a habit. A part of working from home is usually about being there for family. Don’t forget that part.

It’s wonderful when the kids reach school age and you’re working at home. Suddenly you have all this time to work on your job or home business. But then winter comes, and sometimes that means you get hit by a snow day.

Unlike regular school holidays and weekends, you don’t always get much warning for a snow day. The weather gives you some hints as to what may happen, but you don’t know until you check in the morning. If snow days are a normal part of your student’s school year, you need to have plans in place so you don’t lose more work time than you’re willing to give up. You might want to play in the snow too, time permitting.

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead for snow day activities will help you to cut down on lost productivity. What can the kids do when they aren’t at school on a day you’d normally be working? How much can you reasonably expect to get done?

Have several activities planned that the kids can do. They probably won’t want to play in the snow all day, although that may take up a part of the day.

Snow days are special to kids, so keep it fun for the most part. You may get some great ideas for things the kids can do when its snowing just by asking them in advance what they would like to do when it has snowed too much for them to go to school.

Remember the television and computer for the kids too. They may be quite content to take it as a day to veg out. Just make it a special day without the usual limits on screen time if you like. An occasional day of too much television probably won’t hurt them.

Get Help

If the snow is bad enough that your spouse is home, enlist some help in caring for the kids. There’s no rule saying you have to do it all just because you’re the one who’s usually home with them. If your spouse has an extra day off because he or she can’t get to work, make sure they understand that you are at your work and need to work, so they get to deal with the kids. Tell the kids the same.

If you have local enough family or friends who would be willing to take the kids for the day, that’s another option. This may not be possible if the snow is severe enough, of course.

You may also want to invite a friend over for your kids. So long as the situation doesn’t cause a lot of arguments, having an extra kid over can actually help. It keeps the kids from asking you for things to do.

Consider Taking the Day Off

If the kids are going to interfere too much with productivity, consider taking the day off. You may be able to make it up over the weekend, or just think of it as a plain old day off. Especially if you’re working for yourself and don’t have any immediate deadlines, there’s no reason to not enjoy the day a bit yourself.

Don’t take it off if it’s going to make things too hard for you later. Sometimes you really need to work. If that’s the case, find a way to make it happen.

This may include taking the daytime off, but staying up and working into the night. For some people that’s the better work option anyhow, but if that’s not your habit it can be a tough choice to make.