Part of the reason is that I’m from a family of five kids which makes me want my own space, my own supplies and as much privacy as possible. This site is called Working Naked, after all.

The other part is that too much of a good thing can be bad. You may adore your spouse but if you spend every day and night with him or her, you may drain the fun out of your business and your relationship.

If you’re still willing to work with your spouse, there are a few ways to keep the peace so no one considers hiring a hit man by closing time.

• Buy duplicate supplies. No one likes to reach for a stapler and realize it’s on someone else’s desk or in another room. Get creative and buy two sets of office supplies in different colors.

• Use separate equipment. There’s nothing wrong with cutting costs, but sharing a computer to save money will cost you in the long run. Whether you use a desktop and your spouse uses a laptop, each of you should have your own equipment. If neither one of you needs to print often, share a printer.

• Leave the room when you need to take a call. Unless you can talk quietly and not bother your spouse while he or she is in the office, leave the room. Anyway, it’s good to get away from your desk throughout the day.

• Use separate desks. Whether you install a long counter with two workspaces or use two desks, keep them away from each other.

• Stay in your own territory. If you and your spouse have different working styles, a neat freak spouse doesn’t want to find stacks of paper on his or her desk. Keep your piles to yourself. If you’re the pack rat spouse and like to work with papers piled everywhere, your picky spouse may drive you nuts when he or she tries to straighten the piles or convince you to toss everything.

• Compromise on the temperature. You may like the office to be as cold as a meat locker, but not everyone likes to wear three sweaters, a hat and gloves to work. Consider using a fan for your side of the room and keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature.

I’m a firm believer in everyone working together, but not always in the same space.

Guest post by Steve Anderson

Working from home was a dream long before it became a reality, and that’s because I needed plenty of time to convince myself that leaving the corporate office was not some crazy dream.

In hindsight, I’m sure I wasted too much time agonizing over the potential drawbacks. “I’m with a successful business, making great connections, challenging myself professionally. How do I leave this?”

It was good to ask those questions, but I needed to also ask myself another obvious question: “How much would I have to be offered to leave it all?” Could I leave for the same salary? Could I work from home for 10 percent less? or 20? or 30 percent?

Ask yourself that question, but before you answer it, answer this question: “How much money am I actually earning?”

“Easy,” you answer. “It’s right there on the paycheck, right?”

Is it? Have you ever calculated how much “real income” you pocket after all the payroll taxes, benefit deductions, and work-related expenses? I made the calculation (which shows that you don’t have to be a CPA) and it made my decision to move home infinitely easier.

In a nutshell, here’s how I did it:
I took my salary per week, then pulled the weekly deductions (dental, health, retirement, federal and state taxes). Then, I made columns for my expenses each week: fuel for my commute, eating out for lunch, dry cleaning … and anything else I wouldn’t have spent if I worked from home (like $400 on each of three new suits … shirts, ties, shoes, not included).

That gave me my “net.” Ouch. It was a huge eye opener to see how much I really pocketed at the end of a week. But I wasn’t done.

I then took that “net” and divided it by the real hours I was working each week in the office. I say “real hours,” because if you’re working 40 or 50 or 60 hours every week, you should know how much you’re earning for each of those hours – even if you arrive at a number that’s surprising and perhaps disappointing.

I’d suggest you go even further and calculate the total time you’re out of your home each day. (If you leave at 8:00 and get home at 6:00, that’s 10 hours a day or 50 hours per week.) Now, divide your “net” by that number … and feel free to wince.

Only when you’ve made your calculation should you compare your current salary to the income you’d make working from home. By looking deeply at the math, you may very well find that you could take a $5,000 or $10,000 cut at home, and still earn more per hour AND end up with the same net yearly income you’d make in a corporate office.

Naturally, results are certainly going to vary. Be sure to include self-employment tax and expenses such as health insurance and a retirement fund. (Insurance through your spouse is a huge cost saver.)

But when it’s all said and done, you might find that’s easier to go home than you ever imagined.

Steve Anderson is the Word Guy at pounce.com, a full-service boutique specializing in creative and strategic planning for print and Web marketing.

Do you know how your business looks to the outside world? As your client base grows and your business gets busier, you may start to ignore the basics. Take time to look at your business from an outsider’s point of view.

• Analyze your Web site. Does it reflect the tone and style of your business today?  Your product photos and blog should be up-to-date. You don’t need to blog every day but a few times a week is ideal. If you want honest feedback about your site, ask for it. Six months ago I sent a short survey to friends, acquaintances and clients to get their input and insight. Their feedback helped me make a few changes to improve my site.

• Read a few of your outgoing messages. If you were supposed to attach a document, did you? Are there typos? Spell check will catch misspelled words but it can’t tell you automatically whether you’re using the right version of a word.

• Listen to your voice mail message. Can you hear your kids or spouse in the background? Make sure that your voice is clear and easy to understand.  Don’t forget to ask the caller to leave a detailed message that includes their phone number and the best time to return their call.

• Check to make sure the contact information on your business card is current. Business cards are cheap. Instead of crossing out an old phone number, order new cards. Also, make sure that your card is easy to read. A business card I saw last week had a light background, which made the white type hard to read.

Sometimes the image you have of your business can be a bit distorted. Make sure that what others see is a true reflection.

My first rappel down a waterfall...scary, but amazing!

A few weeks ago I spent a week in Costa Rica where I saw incredible plants and wildlife, and took part in more extreme sports (at least they were to me) than I ever have in my entire life. First I sailed across a zip line through the rainforest, then I jet skied across the ocean (note: choppy ocean) and then I went canyoning (in this case, rappelling down four waterfalls and one rock wall) in the rainforest.

Thinking back to my trip made me realize how running a home-based business is like rappelling down a waterfall.

• You’re out of your comfort zone. Just as it’s unnatural to hang onto a rope, push yourself away from the wall and plunge many feet below, starting a new business is unnatural. The way I felt rappelling down the first waterfall seemed as overwhelming as starting my first home-based business. Now that I’m on my third business, starting a new business feels more comfortable.

• You have to trust the experts. I had to trust that our guides at the top of the waterfall had attached the rope to me before they gave me a thumbs up to jump. When you’re running a home-based business, you have to trust that your CPA, attorney, marketing person, Webmaster and anyone else you hire to help you run your business, knows what they’re doing.

• You need to take risks. As I looked over the first waterfall, I questioned whether the risk of jumping off the wall backwards was worth the benefit. (Also, I kept asking myself what in the hell I was doing!) When you’re running your own business, you may think the same thing. If you don’t go out on a limb and start the business you’ve always dreamed of owning, you’ll never know whether or not you could have succeeded. Risks aren’t always worth the benefit but then again, many times they are.

• It’s important to take time to look around you and celebrate your successes. During the first descent, all I could think about was not slamming into the wall. By the last rappel, I looked around and noticed how cool the rocks and water gushing over the side looked. When my feet touched the ground, I was proud of myself for mastering (or at least trying to master) all five rappels. When you own your own business, it’s easy to focus on what’s not working and forgetting to celebrate your successes. They’re there. You just have to look for them.

We ran out of time before we could take on another extreme sport. But there’s always next time.

Here’s the deal: just because we’re working from home doesn’t mean that we’re available to wait for repair calls, UPS deliveries, or to pick up a friend’s kids from school when that friend can’t leave work.  Of course when it’s an emergency, there’s no question whether you should help out. But there’s a point where others can take advantage of you.

One woman in Zaslow’s article who was asked constantly for help from friends and neighbors, turned errand requests into a job.  She works part-time for a new online company called taskrabbit, that matches “senders” (people who need someone to do an errand for them) with “runners” (people who will handle the errand).  Now she’s paid for her time.

The bottom line is that someone who works from home is no different from her corporate counterpart except for having a more flexible schedule, dressing casually (if at all) and being available to handle last-minute emergencies.  She also has the freedom to say no to requests for favors when she’s doing what the person asking for the favor is doing, which is working.

Business: Cute Beltz, a line of belts and accessories for children 12 months to 6 years young.

Motivation: No existing product was available. “I could never find a belt for my two-year old. My sister had the same issue while shopping for her son. The items I did find were a nuisance as I had to add notches in the belt or use safety pins, which are dangerous for kids,” says designer and founder, Kristen Ford-Stevens.

Outcome:  CuteBeltz was founded and thriving online in a matter of months. “The response I’ve received from parents has been an ecstatic sigh of relief. They are witnessing their child’s self confidence heighten each time they put on Cute Beltz,” says Ford-Stevens.

Business:

Motivation: A need for privacy. “One day my four-year-old daughter came to me with an intimate item that I thought was hidden quite well in my nightstand.  At that point I realized that I truly needed some discreet storage so I began looking online for something I could keep on my nightstand or dresser.  Everything I found had a padlock or required a small key for access, and in that fruitless search, my idea for ToiBocks was born,” says Dawn Tulman, President of ToiBocks.

Outcome: Sales of Toibocks continue to increase and their fan base grows daily. They encourage their Facebook friends to answer the question: “What do you store in your ToiBock?” which brings out a few interesting responses.

• Learn some stealth moves. If you decide to leave the room during the call, make sure it’s during a time when no one will notice. When you’re the next one on the agenda, it’ll be fairly obvious to everyone on the call that you’ve left your computer.

• Don’t post messages on Facebook during the call. When co-workers have access to your Facebook account, they’ll know whether you’re spending more time on your wall than on the call. They may even point it out to everyone during the call, as in “Did you just post something on your wall?” which can be a bit embarrassing.

• If you have a dog, put him outside, send him to a neighbor’s house or give him a Kong filled with peanut butter to keep him busy and quiet. No one wants to talk over a barking dog, especially when the dog barks as loud as mine.

• When you’re waiting for everyone to connect to the online call, make sure others can’t hear you talking on your cell phone. Maybe I’m being picky but I don’t want to hear about what you’re wearing or what you want your spouse to wear (or in some cases not wear) later that evening. Some icky things you hear, just can’t be erased from your mind.

The final thing I learned during the call is that I like audio chats better than video chats. The best part is that I can sit at my desk in jeans and a t-shirt (makeup optional) while I know that the corporate execs on the other end of the line are dressed for work. When you work from home, every day is Casual Friday!

Unlike Duff Goldman and the Charm City Cakes team of friends I described in another post, not every business works when you hire friends.  Before you hire a friend to join your business team, consider these comments from business owners who no longer hire friends.

When I started my home-based business, I hired friends to help me. Doing this was a huge mistake. You do not get the quality of work or respect from friends that you do from hiring previously unknown employees or contractors to work for you. It is very difficult to work with a friend when there is now a boss/employee relationship. I had to fire my friends who worked with me due to poor performance. This of course led to me losing my friendship with those people.

—Peter Geisheker, CEO, The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm

I have learned that friendship has little to do with whether someone is a good employee. Regardless of being friends, someone either has what it takes to be successful in their role or not. I have been sued by a friend that worked with me and I have established a long-term, trusting work partnership with another. I have hired one friend into a role where they were highly successful and another into the same role that failed. Being friends had little to do with their success or failure.

—Randy Mitchelson, Owner, National Web Leads, LLC

Several of my friends are in the PR business, as am I. Having seen some of their work and work habits, I would not hire my friends. In one case, the writing skills are less than optimal. In another, the attention to detail is so meticulous, deadlines may be missed.

—Reese A. Nank, APR, Reputations PR and Marketing

The decision of whether or not to hire friends may boil down to a choice between your business and your friendship.  Would you hire a friend to work for you?

Between the orange walls (Benjamin Moore Soft Glow) and paw prints climbing up the walls and across the ceiling, this isn’t your typical home office.  But don’t be fooled by the whimsical look of this space.  If you look closely, you’ll find plenty of organizing systems in place (yes, I tend to look at that first).

Dwight’s desk holds a laptop and two monitors, while his printer is off to the side and in the corner (the best place to put a printer because it’s out of the way but still accessible). His open hutch has room for a hanging file rack, books and personal photos. These items are within reach but aren’t cluttering his desk.  The two-drawer file cabinet gives him additional storage space on top.

There’s even room in his home office for a “junior” work area complete with a small desk and a laptop for his kids to use. A tiger rug and tiger-striped draperies finish off the zoo-themed look.

Who needs a traditional home office when you can bring out your wild side and run a business from home?

One day I realized that my drive to succeed was creating one unhappy employee: me.  That’s the day I made a few changes.  Consider these tips for making it easier to work for you, the boss.

Take time for lunch. Whether you take 15 or 30 minutes, leave your home office and eat lunch. Time away from your computer and your home office can be a welcome break.

Set a specific quitting time every day and try to stick to it. During my “boss from hell” days, quitting time was 6 pm every day (including weekends!) and then I went back to my home office after dinner to work a few more hours. Now (most of the time) quitting time is late afternoon and I don’t go back into my home office until the next morning.

Take off one afternoon a week. Go to a movie, spend time with your spouse or make plans with a friend.  If possible, shut the door to your home office and don’t go back until the next morning.

Give yourself extra padding for deadlines.  Projects usually take twice as long as you think they will. Add as much time as you can to any deadline, without annoying your client.  When you finish earlier than expected, your client will be grateful, thrilled and may even do the happy dance.

Stop answering your phone after normal business hours. If you babysit your phone (many of us do), it’s hard to ignore an incoming call from a client after hours. Unless you know your client can’t wait until the next day to talk with you, take the call.  Otherwise you’ll train your clients to call you 24/7 and you can say goodbye to your personal life.

My changes have paid off. I’m more productive, more excited about working every day and best of all, I like my boss.