Many caregivers must balance job commitments with responsibility for their family member.  What happens when these two areas…caregiving and work…conflict?  What happens when the home business owner has employees who develop caregiving responsibilities…whether for a child, spouse or parent?

As caregiving becomes more of a major issue to those with jobs, employers and employees are facing a situation that wasn’t so critical years ago.  How can a business keep going when employees aren’t there for long periods or need flexible schedules? 

*Some employers are handling this by enabling employees to work from home…at least parttime, if their job is one that can be done off premises. 

*Some caregivers are leaving their jobs and developing home businesses.

*State and federal lawmakers have begun to look toward legislation to find answers.

*Some employees are turning to litigation when an employer indicates they must be replaced by someone who can be on the job fulltime.

Two recent articles concerning this: Family-Leave Values in the New York Times Magazine. Work Life Balance Lawsuits Surging at the JDBliss blog.

There are legitimate concerns on both sides…the caregiver needs time to care for their family member and the employer needs employees who can fulfill his/her responsibilities for the business to stay in business. 

More compromises are being worked out, but sometimes compromise is difficult because of the requirements of the job or the demands of caregiving.  This is an issue that will require more thought and action in the coming months and years.

If you’re a home business owner with employees, have you run into any of these situations yet?  Have you found a solution to a caregiving versus job commitment you can share with us?

Also, you may be someone who has begun to work at home, either at your own business or telecommuting for your employer.  I’d enjoy hearing your story, too.

Whether one collects sales tax for mail order and Internet sales often presents a quandry for the home business owner. 

*What if you live in a no tax state but sell to customers in a state where there is a sales tax?

*What if you have a sales tax in your state and sell to someone in another sales tax state?

*What happens when you and your customer both live in the same state that has a sales tax?

*Do you collect sales tax if you visit another state to teach a workshop or give presentations and sell items while there?

These and other scenarios raise questions.

So….visit Kelly, the Taxgirl.  She has a great post about this topic, Ask the Taxgirl: Internet Sales.  Here Kelly will answer some of the questions you may have about the sales tax issue.

E-cards or postcards proved a handy way to send a greeting or thank-you to online customers or those with e-mail.  However, business owners have become increasingly wary of using them, as Des Walsh explains at Thinking Home Business in his post, Email Greeting Cards R.I.P.

Because spammers have begun using e-cards or postcards, business owners as well as the general public have become wary of this great way to remember friends, relative, and customers.

“Sadly, I suspect that the days of sending and receiving email cards might be numbered,” states Des, then goes on to explain why.

I realized, after I read Des’s post, that the e-mail cards I once received from friends have become minimal.  In fact, because of warnings, I don’t open e-cards or postcards unless I know the sender.    What about you?

Eleanor Burns, the quilter who started Quilt in a Day, the home business that has grown into an internationally recognized one, is featured in a story in the NC Times of San Marcos, CA, Quilt in a day owner builds business piece by piece.

“Although Quilt in a Day started out as a way for Eleanor Burns to support her family, it has evolved into a multimillion-dollar corporation in nearly 30 years.”

She writes quilting books, produces videos and has a show on PBS.  Quilters will enjoy reading her fascinating story (link above).

However, home business owners may find inspiration and ideas in Eleanor Burns’ story they can apply to their home business, whether it involves quiltmaking or something else.  It’s always encouraging to read the success stories of other home business owners.

Some of you may desire only a small home business while others may want to expand as Eleanor has. 

Here are some of her books:

You’re fed up with your regular job…or you need to earn some extra money, so you’re considering a home business.  What should you do?  Where should you start>

Do you have a hobby or special talent you can develop into a business?  When our daughter was small, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but we needed some extra income beyond what my husband was making.

My writing career was in the beginning stages in the days before computers and Internet.  But I could sew!  I’d been making my clothes, my mom’s and sister’s since I was a pre-teen and in 4-H.  So I started getting the word out that I would do dressmaking and alterations.  This eventually evolved into a quiltmaking business when someone requested I make a quilt from my dressmaking scraps.  Then I began writing about quiltmaking and quilt businesses, similar to what I do at Quilting and Patchwork.

But you don’t sew.  Look to other talents you have. 

You still need ideas?

Here’s a list of 25 possibilities I discovered at Entrepreneur.com, in an article by Carla Goodman, 25 Part-Time Business Ideas.  You may find something here that sounds interesting and decide to explore the possibilities further.

Laura Spencer, at Work from Home Momma, mentions my previous article, Will Increased Minimum Wage Affect Your Home Business?, and gives additional information she’s researched for The Minimum Wage Increase and the Work-at-Home-Mom (WAHM).

One interesting question Laura poses…Will the WAHM, who is working at home to earn specific amount of money (Laura uses $500/month) have to go back to work because minimum wage increases will cause the cost of living to rise and she now needs $700?  As I mentioned in my post, when expenses go up (and wages are expenses),  businesses (including home businesses) have to raise prices for goods and services or go out of business.  Unless they can cut expenses in some other area.

I think you’ll find the additional information in Laura’s article interesting.

Often you can create themes for your home business promotions around special events and occasions.  Christmas in July, the latter part of this month, has become one that some businesses focus on.  This would be especially true if you have a business that sells holiday items and supplies. 

Over at b5media’s Arts and Design Channel, we’re featuring an Artists Showcase based on the Christmas in July theme.  At my Quilting and Patchwork blog, I discuss Quilters Think Christmas Thoughts in July, with suggestions for getting started on those holiday projects.

Can you take advantage of various themes…holidays, occasions nationally as well as in your community, group business events, theme months (National “whatever” month or day), etc. to call attention to your business and help your customers/clients?  You also can select a theme relating to your business and develop an event around it.  Use your creativity and make these fun events for everyone.

Have you held Theme Day events you’d like to tell us about?

A family farm actually is a type of home business, one often involving many family members working together to make it succeed.  I grew up on a family farm which was our home and business.

However, family farms are disappearing from the scene, like the one of my childhood.  This wasn’t because my father failed to plan.  The area of the country where the farm was located, for economic and zoning reasons, became less condusive to farming.

However, many family farms go out of existence because of tax and financial burdens when the principal owner dies.  Why not plan for future ownership while all owners are still alive…something we humans often are reluctant to do.

“We make year to year cropping plans,” says Stu Ellis, blogger  at The Farm Gate in the article, Will Your Farm Be Operating as a Family Business After You Are Gone?  “Why not make generation to generation farm business plans?”

You may want to check out the strategies for planning, he suggests, whether it’s making your farm succeed financially, as a retirement vehicle, or transitioning it to future generations. 

b5media’s Business Channel featured a Summer Business Day with a grand array of articles from its bloggers.  I discussed Taking Care of Your Home Business Customers and the importance of the promotional practices you use.

Some of the topics: honesty and ethics in business, free services, building a large blog audience at MySpace, the stress of being late, “Big Brother,” dealing with risk, and other interesting ideas and good advice.

I hope you’ll check them out and leave your comments.

If you have employees and pay minimum wage, you’ll definitely find yourself paying more due to the new law, going into effect today, July 24.  The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 begins by increasing the current $5.15 to $5.85 per hour.  Then the minimum wage will increase over increments until it reaches $7.25 hourly as of July 24, 2009.

Also, states vary regarding the increments.  Some will increase the minimum wage faster than decreed by the Federal Government.

If you have employees at different wage levels and at least one  is at minimum wage, how do you handle the increase?  Do you give the minimum wage employee the required raise but leave the others where they are?  Should all employees receive a raise because minimum wage ones do? It leaves the employer in a quandry.

Raising any wages will increase the business owner’s expenses.  So how does the business owner compensate?  Raising prices for products and services?  However, there’s just so much of an increase some items will bear and consumers will stop purchasing. 

This could affect the supplies you purchase for your business.  Those businesses, if they hire minimum wage employees, may have to raise their prices to compensate and stay in business.  For it isn’t only the raise in wage.  It’s the related expenses that are based on wage, such as social security, unemployment tax, sometimes workmen’s compensation insurance, etc.

Another consideration…if minimum wage employees receive an automatic, mandatory increase in pay, should they attempt to become more productive to balance out the situation?

This is not to say whether or not employees should receive an automatic increase.  It gives the home business owner some considerations about how this new law could affect him/her even if there are no employees.

What are your thoughts on the mandatory increase in minimum wage?