Get a Grip! 5 tips to make your homebased startup journey a smooth one

Starting any business can be difficult, but starting yourbusiness from home can be seriously overwhelming. From establishingyour business to setting work/life parameters, there's a lot todo and very little time to relax. Carol Anne Carroll, author ofStart Your Own Home Business . . . In NoTime, provides tips on how to stay sane-and profit,too.

• Make a plan. "If you have a road map in front ofyou saying, 'Here's what I want to do in my firstyear,' that really relieves a lot of the [feeling of being]overwhelmed," says Carroll.

• Prioritize your tasks. For example, notes Carroll,"You always have things in your house you could work on, butyou can't do it all at once. [Likewise,] in business, you haveto understand there are a lot of things you want to do, but youdon't have to do them all at once." You can't, forinstance, go to 20 networking events in one week--you need tonarrow it down to the top four or five where you're likely tomake the biggest impact.

• Get an outside perspective. If you're not sure howto prioritize what's most important in your particularbusiness, talk to a few trusted advisors, and find out what othersin your industry have done.

• Don't commit quickly. Before setting appointmentsand projects, review your current list. Will you have enough timefor that event, including the preparation as well as the eventitself? Carroll says, "It's a matter of being very awareof what you've already committed to and making sure you meetthose commitments, and not adding anything until you've lookedat your to-do list."

• Take it step by step. It may seem like simple advice,but entrepreneurs are often overflowing with ideas on how to grow,move forward, change, etc. Keep your ideas organized, and don'ttry to do everything at once.