I never slog around in pajamas, grubbies, or underwear. I’m up, dressed, bed made, ready for the day, and working — seven days a week. I can say with perfect confidence that the same thing is true of my self-employed next door neighbor. To anyone who thinks for one moment that being self-employed or an entrepreneur means you can sit around like a slob all day because there’s no one to see you, my advice is, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Maybe Landers sees a lot of unsuccessful would-be entrepreneurs who spend all day in their pajamas or underwear, and hasn’t considered this a clue as to why those entrepreneurs aren’t doing so well. Or possibly, since Landers confesses on page 124 that he’s terrified of speaking in public, he may use “that thing where you think of everyone in their underwear before you do a presentation” and has gotten stuck in it.
I am unquestionably one of Landers’ “Lifestyle Gurus,” and I run a small publishing company, so I never meet “clients.” Nevertheless, if I got a phone call and needed to meet someone important within twenty minutes, rest assured that I would not have to get dressed first. The kind of internalized professional attitude that is mandatory for entrepreneurs can’t be selectively applied. You live your life that way, and you become an entrepreneur because your standards are higher than those of anyone who would hire you. I won’t even get into the importance of self-discipline and consistent routines for health and morale, both absolutely essential for a self-employed person to maintain. If you seriously want to work from home, no conference calls in jammies for you!
Having gotten that out of my system, let me say that The Home Office from Hell Cure is a highly entertaining book and packed with good information and advice. The whole “Nexpert” section will be familiar ground for anyone whose business is small publishing, but its suggestions and tips are excellent. I would recommend much more emphasis on exploiting Internet resources, but Landers may plan to cover that in his sequel.
Landers is honest about the fact that he manages services to help small businesses locate office space and contract with virtual assistants. He makes a convincing case for both “Growth Mavens” and “Lifestyle Gurus” needing professional office space and people to whom work can be delegated. However, his premises don’t cover all situations. In my case, for example, I really do not need office space — rented, shared, virtual or otherwise. What I do need, and am still perfecting, is a “touring kit.” That is, I need the equipment and the ability to set up in absolutely any environment, from a small hotel function room to a table at the state expo, pull off a perfect presentation, talk, reading or book signing, and function as comfortably as though I’d done the same thing in that same location every day for a year. I also am approaching the point where I could really use access to studio space, or at least a sound-proofed practice room for audio recording work. So, I would apply Lander’s steps toward those goals, rather than office space that I don’t need — and readers whose businesses have similar specialized requirements should do the same.
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