It might be one of the most exciting moments of your life... the moment that you decide to start your own business. You dream about how you'll be your own boss with no one to answer to. You'll never have to put up with a critical boss again in your life!  It will be great!

And it will.

But protect your business from the potentially deadly attitude that just because you have your own home based business and you're your own boss you can sacrifice some of the professionalism and take a more casual attitude toward your work.

The reality is that for many people with home based businesses, they need to work more professionally at home, not less. Instead of having a critical boss, now your home based business will have critical customers. If you don't make the right impression on your customers they won't buy from you. If they don't buy from you, you can say good-bye to your wonderful home based business and all of the many lifestyle advantages that it brought you.

People with home based businesses are wise to follow these Top Five Rules of professionalism:

• Always use the most professional, top of the line tools to create the right impressions for your business. This includes profession telephone equipment, business forms and company stationery. If having a prestigious business address is not one of your company's advantages, make sure that at least your forms and communication tools are the absolute top of the line and create a very professional impression.
  
  
• If you have your own home based business, do not allow other family members to answer your business phone line(s). If family members do answer your business phone(s) on occasion, be sure they are fully trained to take a message or place the caller on hold and that they are absolutely professional. Children should never answer business phone calls.
  
  
• Always keep your committments. Home based businesses that don't keep their promises quickly create the impression that they are not reliable.
  
  
• Dress professionally. It's true that when you work at home you can work in your pajamas, but if you'll be working with other people by phone, mail or email, you'll feel and act far more professional if you're fully groomed and properly dressed when you begin work. Even if you don't have to, don't start work until you're fully showered and dressed so that you feel and act professional. And by all means, if you're meeting with customers outside your home office, dress very professionally!
  
  
• Home based businesses shouldn't take short cuts. As much as posssible, keep doing your job exactly the way you used to do it in the office or the same way or better than your competitors do it. Shortcuts on communication, methods or paperwork may give the impression that you're not taking your work seriously.
  
  

Above all, remember that your home based business is still a job. The fastest way to lose your home based business is to view it as anything less than a serious job. You may be working at home and getting high on your new freedom, but if you want to keep that freedom be sure you are absolutely professional at all times.