Home Business Hospitality

Many people don't think about hospitality and business working together. After all, when you walk into a local store, no one offers you refreshments... you just do your shopping, pay, and leave. You may have a brief conversation with a friendly check-out person or you may have a disgruntled check out person but, in most cases, you don't walk away feeling like anyone special.

A home business, at least in my mind, is different. When a client comes to me for a Wee Folk Toracles reading, I want to make sure that the time they spend with me is memorable. I want them to feel important, somewhat pampered, and to know that I've enjoyed their company. This means purchasing some extras, but I believe it is well worth it to do so.

If you don't own a coffee pot, now is the time to purchase one. You can get a decent, cheap one at Dollar General for about $15.00. You'll need coffee filters and coffee too, of course. My coffee of choice is Maxwell House as it seems to have a more robust flavor than Folgers, but this is your choice. Purchasing some type of powdered creamer is a good idea too. Also sugar - either in sugar packets or cubes - or just have some sugar in a small bowl near where a client will be making their coffee. Oh yes, don't forget some plastic spoons or stir sticks to allow them to mix the creamer and sugar in their coffee.

Cups are necessary too. If you don't have any coffee cups because you are not a coffee drinker, I would suggest going to the Salvation Army or Good Will. You'll want a heavier type cup as it is not as easy to spill - stoneware or ceramic cups are awesome. You don't want to go with Styrofoam as Styrofoam cups are very light weight and you might end up with your Wee Folk Toracles cards covered in coffee from an accidental spill.

I also have a variety of teas available for those clients who don't care for coffee, but do like hot tea and I make sure to have hot chocolate packets on hand as well. Also, bottled water. 

Since I am an avid coffee drinker and always have a cup by my side, I offer my clients their choice as soon as they are seated. I don't want to be guzzling coffee while they have nothing in front of them. Sometimes, clients will bring their own beverage too as they don't expect "hospitality" from a business. They'll be pleasantly surprised that you have gone the extra distance to accommodate what they might need. Make sure you escort your client to where they can get their beverage, pointing out their options. Allow them to make their own coffee, tea, or hot chocolate as these are all beverages that people make differently. You don't want them trying to choke down coffee that has too much or too little sugar... you get the idea.

I do get up from a reading to re-fill my cup if I need to and that gives me the opportunity to see if my client needs a re-fill or, if they chose not to partake when you asked the first time, they can change their minds and request something. Asking more than once at a convenient time during the reading is a good practice. This also aids in making sure that your client does not go into the light trance state I talk about in the "Become a Skilled Card Reader - Featuring the Wee Folk Toracles Deck Ecourse". Movement and a change in subject matter brings the mind back into focus and this will allow your client to retain more of their reading.

I also try to have a small, healthy snack on hand - sitting on the reading table. This might be strawberries, grapes, a cheese variety - basically, non-messy snacks - but napkins are always good to have in close reach as well. Be sure you let your client know that they are welcome to snack during the reading.

If your client should inquire about using the restroom, don't just wave your arm in the direction of the facilities or tell them to go down the hall to the fifth door on the right. Escort your client to the restroom, then go back to the reading table. Escorting them makes them feel less unsure about where they are going and less self-conscious about walking through someone else's home. They'll be pleased that you took the time with them.

You can go as far as you'd like with hospitality for your home business. What I have suggested here are those things that I have found my clients really appreciate. Most repeat clients, once they have been to you two or three times, will feel comfortable enough to head straight for the coffee pot or beverage of their choice as you have made them feel at home. THIS is what you want them to feel - comfortable and trusting. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising method and going the extra mile for your clients will have them sharing good things about you, the readings you do, and what a wonderful hostess/host you are.

Your Card Reading Home Business Image

Image is a tough thing for most of us, especially women. It isn't just about putting on make-up, throwing on some clothes and heading out. It's about "who we want to be". There is a method of madness to the clothes we choose, the hairstyles we get, and the make up we use, even if it's totally subconscious. Our personalities (and pocket book) dictate how we present ourselves to the world.

I've always been a very "plain" individual - jeans and shirt/sweatshirt kind of person. This is not who I really wanted to be, but I did this for my children when they were growing up. If I had dressed the way I truly wanted to, I would have embarrassed them as my style would have been more flowing and "witchy". Kind of like Endora on the old television show "Bewitched". This style really appeals to me. I still dress in jeans and shirt/sweatshirt even though my children are grown and living on their own. I have, however, adopted the hat you see me in on my YouTube videos. My husband bought me this and I really do love it. It allows me to be myself, yet feel more true to myself.

When considering your home business as a Wee Folk Toracles card reader, you need to decide "who you want to be". How do you want your clients to "know you"? This is the perfect business to become the person you've always wanted to be, so if you are attracted to the "old ways" with herbs growing, crystals lying around, candles of all shapes and colors sitting about, unique styled furniture, bottles of essential oils on display and so on, you can do this. It makes for an amazing atmosphere for clients who have the secret desire to do exactly what you are doing and who might love to bask in the atmosphere you provide. If you've had a job where you have been required to dress up professionally (suit style or dress), you can decide to wear "comfy" clothes for your business. The greatest thing about this is... you have the FREEDOM to decide for yourself.

Whatever you choose, your clients will get used to it. Your personality won't change - just your look and if your look changes, your surroundings will eventually change to match that look. It may happen gradually, but it will happen. When you become true to yourself, amazing things happen!

So, take the time to search within. Don't worry that what you choose might be "too weird" or "not mystic enough" or "too professional" or "not professional enough". This is YOUR business and it should reflect YOU - whoever that person is. As I said, your clients will get used to it and if you are a phenomenal Wee Folk Toracles reader, they won't care what you look like anyway. They'll just be thrilled that you are there to offer them a course of action on their life journey.

The point is, if you have been working for the man and are now considering a home business, you should take advantage of the freedom it offers you. Have fun with it - allow yourself to be creative and use your imagination - MAKE IT YOUR OWN. And, if you work at it (and yes, there is work involved), clients will eventually come. Remember, if you love yourself - and you will, if you can finally truly be who you want to be - your clients will love you too.

Home Business Versus Working for the Man

I'm going to do some comparisons here... kind of weighing the pros and cons of having your own home business or working for someone else. If you've been to my homepage at Land of Wee Folk.com, you may have seen the income comparison chart. If not, here's a quick breakdown.

If you work for someone else making $20 per hour at 40 hours per week, you are making $38,400 per year BEFORE taxes, health insurance, medicaid and social security are taken out.

If you have your own home business reading Wee Folk Toracles, you will make exactly the same amount per year if you have 4 clients each day and charge a low end price of $40 per reading. If each reading takes one hour, you will be working only 20 hours per week doing readings for the same amount of money as you made working for someone else for 40 hours each week.

Now, if you are working outside the home and make less than $20 per hour at your job, you do the math. Also, depending on where you live, you can charge more than $40 per reading per person if your area supports that. Of course, this makes owning a home business sound quite awesome, but there are still things you need to consider before charging ahead.

You need to be disciplined enough to work from home. You need to be able to get up in the morning. You need to let people know that you have a business. You need to put away tax money (whatever your state requires per quarter) from each reading you do. You need to put away re-investing money for your business from each reading you do for such things as advertising, business cards and hospitality needs. Hopefully your spouse (or other half) carries the health insurance... if so, you are in good shape.

With a home business, you would spend very little on gas, you could decide how many clients you wanted to read for each day and, depending on the state you live in, there are tax breaks for such things as electric, heat, phone, mortgage and so on for home businesses. If you have children, you might even be able to cut your daycare expense somewhat if you arrange your hours accordingly. There are many perks to having a home business.

My suggestion is that you write out the pros and cons for yourself before jumping in with both feet. From my vantage point, since I have not worked for anyone else for nearly 30 years, the home business aspect is the only one for me, but it may not be for everyone. You might consider starting a home business while you keep your day job, so there is a buffer there for you. When your home business becomes known and you start gaining clients regularly, you'll know when it's safe to stop working elsewhere. And, remember, you don't have to start a home business, but can use the Wee Folk Toracles cards to just make extra money reading cards in various places locally. Your imagination is the limit.

The money from a home business can be really great, but you have to build your business first, so keep that in mind. It starts, of course, with learning a skill that can be useful to other people... something you can offer them to help them deal with what life sends their way. The Wee Folk Toracles card readings can offer amazing help, giving your clients a course of action to take now concerning various issues they may have. Maybe learning this skill needs to be your first step. The training is free... you just need to purchase the Wee Folk Toracles cards. It's a hell of a deal you'll be glad you took advantage of. Head over to Land of Wee Folk and get started now!

Home Business Cleanliness

If you are fortunate enough to have a card reading area separate from your living area which includes a separate entrance, then the cleanliness part of things will be quite easy for you. However, if you are just starting out in your home business and what you have available to you is the kitchen table or living room for your Wee Folk Toracles card readings, then keeping things clean could be a little more difficult. Let's face it... some of the cleaning jobs are quite thankless, needing to be done over and over and over again such as dishes.

I already covered "De-cluttering Your Home/Business Space", but the de-cluttering process is only a small part of creating your home business space. Chances are, most of your clients will be women, and women notice things that men don't, especially bathrooms, because in most cases women are the ones doing the majority of the cleaning in their own homes. This tends to bring forth the "scrutinizing eye" when visiting other places.

So, this article is about passing the "scrutinizing eye" test. Let's start with the space where you'll be doing your Wee Folk Toracles card reading with your client. If you are using your kitchen/dining table, obviously you won't be booking any appointments until meals are complete. You certainly don't want your client showing up to dirty dishes still sitting on the table. The point here is, make sure that you give yourself time to set up your reading space BEFORE your client arrives. This might mean adding a table cloth, some candles, some crystals, fresh flowers or whatever you want to make that table look warm and welcoming. The client knows that the space is where you and your family eat their meals, but there should be no indication of this when they arrive.

Consider any pets you might have as well. If you have a cat that likes to lie on the seats of your table chairs, make sure you wipe these off before your client arrives. The same goes for your living room couch or chairs if you'll be doing readings there.You have no idea what type of outfit your client will be wearing and it would be horrifying if they wore black slacks and left your home with their butts covered in cat or dog hair.  It's a good idea to vacuum at least once a day anyway if you have pets because you never know if you'll have a client with allergies. You don't want them tearing up or having respiratory distress while you are doing their card readings. 

Smell is another factor. Garbage and cat litter boxes have to be the worst smells to encounter in someone's home. I actually use old coffee containers (with lids) to put egg shells, raw food garbage such as orange peels, and anything else that might stink up the garbage before garbage day comes. On the morning of garbage pick up, I empty the coffee containers into a plastic bag, tie it up, put it in the outdoor garbage and wash the coffee container for its next collecting job. Our garbage, then, is mostly paper. Coffee grounds go down the drain and any cans, milk jugs, or cartons are rinsed thoroughly before going in the garbage. There is never a smell emanating from our garbage.

As for the cat litter box, make sure you keep it super clean or find some kind of miracle litter that never allows the smell to escape (good luck). If you keep the cat litter box in the bathroom, you might consider finding another room to put it in, even if it's tucked somewhat out of sight because, no matter what, there is always a smell of some sort.

This segues neatly into bathroom cleanliness. Since your clients will likely be using your bathroom, you should do a decent cleaning each day. I know... what a pain, right? Yes, but a clean versus dirty bathroom CAN make a difference on whether or not your client returns no matter how awesome your reading is. This means wiping down the toilet (including the base), wiping down the counters and the sink, and making sure the bathtub/shower looks clean if the inside of it can be easily seen. Do a quick vacuum or mop job too. Don't forget the corners where all dirt accumulates. Then, make sure there is toilet paper (and a spare roll easily reached), a container of soap for washing hands and a hand towel or paper towels for drying (and a garbage can that is not overflowing). A pleasant smelling candle or scentsy warmer might be nice too, but choose something mild like vanilla or apple pie that is not so overwhelming that it gives your client a headache.

If your kitchen can be seen, make sure that you don't have piles of dishes stacked up with dried food on them or pieces of food scattered about the floor. If you have a young child that requires a high chair, make sure that is clean too. Sweep up, do your dishes, wipe your counters and make it appear as clean as you can. Pet dishes, if they sit in your kitchen, should be clean too.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it really is worth the time because, in most cases, women really do respect cleanliness. It won't be long before you have a cleaning routine that works for you and you'll be thrilled that your house looks and smells awesome every day.

De-cluttering Your Home/ Business Space

Opening your own home business is a wonderful excuse to get rid of those things that no longer serve you and to organize those things that do. You want to make sure that there is a non-cluttered path from where your client enters your home to the table or room where you will do their Wee Folk Toracles card reading and to the bathroom should your client need to use the facilities.

Right now, I want you to stand by your entry door and see what you can see. I want you to look at it as though you were a client coming in for the first time. What do you see that you might trip over, knock over, or see that a client might wrinkle up their nose and wonder how you could live with that kind of mess? Now I know I told you in the "Home Business Card Reading Space" article that if you give a warm welcome, are "present", and give a good reading, your client isn't going to care about your "space", and that is true - to a degree. Good service can help a client overlook other areas that might need tending. However, the less cluttered your space is, the less cluttered your mind is AND it never hurts to make a good first impression.

If you have a hundred pairs of shoes in your entry area, then you know that needs to be brought down to a manageable level because shoes tend to have a knack for tangling under our feet no matter how they are lined up. If you have mounds of papers on your table or somewhere in the vicinity that your client will be able to see, you need to go through the papers, toss what you don't need, and file in a box or filing cabinet what you feel you need to keep. If your kitchen can be seen by your client and your counters are cluttered, you might consider going through your cabinets and drawers, removing items that you don't use or need, rearranging as you go, so that some of what is on the counters might fit in the drawers or cupboards. If there are tons of toys strewn about, whether from children or pets, you may want to find a box to put them in and set it out of the way and start working with your children to help you by picking up their own toys if they're old enough. You're going to be a busy person, so any and all family help will be greatly appreciated by you.

It might be beneficial also to have a "family meeting" to explain to those living with you what you need from them, so that you don't have to keep going back and de-cluttering areas you have already taken care of.

It might take a bit of ingenuity if you live in a really small place, but it is possible to make any "space" clean and warm feeling without having to spend a lot of money to do so. Don't underestimate the value of a shoe box or the space under your bed. Remember, too, you don't need to make your "space" look Spartan - in other words, it can look "lived in" - you're just clearing out the clutter and making what you do want to keep look as though it belongs there instead of being hidden underneath all the things you no longer really need.

Your Home Business Card Reading Space

Fancy is not the name of the game here. When you are first starting out your home business, it is not necessary to spend tons of money to offer the ultimate experience to your clients, so if you have been waiting to get started until you have the money, have the room, or can fulfill your "mind image" of what your business will be, it's time to stop waiting. As your business grows, you can invest some of the money to make the changes you want to make, but that won't happen unless you get a move on.

So, opening up a home business as a Wee Folk Toracles Card Reader... what do you actually need? A table, two chairs, and a light to see by. Chances are, you already have a table and, if you don't have a table, you may have a coffee table in your living room area that sits in front of your couch. The bottom line is, you need a flat surface, a place for you and your client to sit, and decent enough overhead light or lamp to see your Wee Folk Toracles cards. That's it.

Though it would be wonderful to have a kind of "magical" place to do your card readings, you don't need that to get started. If you have taken the time to hone your skills reading the Wee Folk Toracles through the "Become a Skilled Card Reader" ecourse and/or video series, are warm and welcoming, and are "present", your client won't care about their surroundings... they'll be focused on the reading. After all, they came to you for insight, not a lesson in home decorating.

Let me share a quick story with you to illustrate how important your client's feelings about your space can either make or break your business.

Once in awhile, I like to get out and do some card readings elsewhere. My husband told me about a new metaphysical shop that had opened up about 40 minutes from where we live, so we took a drive one day to check it out. The outside of the building was unique in its shape, creating instant curiosity, and it had a good sized parking lot. My first thought was that the owner had chosen a great place to set up. We parked and went inside.

Instead of walking directly into the "store" area, we found ourselves in a curved hallway having no idea how to enter. There were no signs saying "enter here" or any indication that there was anything beyond where we stood. Apparently, something alerted the people inside that we were there because we heard a weak voice tell us to "open the door and come in".

Upon entering, we could see a display of varied types of incense and sage ahead of us and, turning left, we entered a small room that had crystals of every variety and shape on the counter space, and other small items hanging or lying about. It was colorful, but not yet "aesthetically pleasing", though you could tell a lot of work had gone into setting it up to get the place open.

At the opposite end of this small, oblong room was another very small room and we could see the owner lying in a reclining chair with a child's playpen next to her. The room she was in was only large enough to fit the chair and playpen. The child was 18 months old and clearly unhappy to be cooped up in that small space. When I went to speak with the owner, she did not rise to greet us, but continued lying in her recliner so I was actually speaking to her as she looked at me upside down.

Another woman came to greet us as well and she began speaking at a rate of 500 miles per hour about classes they were offering and a mini metaphysical fair coming up in just a few weeks. I pulled out my Wee Folk Toracles cards when they asked what I did. The owner took them from me, opened up the small bag they were in, barely glanced at the cards and began to exclaim over the crocheted bag. She was still talking to me from the recliner. Did I make the bag? Would I be willing to make more that she could sell in her store? Could I sell her a few decks of the cards for wholesale? I made no promises. She put the cards back into the bag and handed them back. The child was now fussing quite loudly and the sound echoed.

The entire time I was there - about 30 minutes - it was easy to see that these two women were not at all interested in me as they didn't really hear what I said. This was obvious when the woman giving me a tour of the rest of the building asked me four separate times what I did. In the meantime, the child was screaming and fussing due to being cooped up in that tiny room and could be heard throughout the building.

Needless to say, when I left the building, I had already decided against reading there. The women were not interested in creating any kind of rapport which was made obvious when they "looked through me" instead of at me as I spoke and gave sales pitch after sales pitch instead of listening to determine whether or not they should offer something specific to me.

Such a shame. Curiosity about the building alone could bring in many customers, but the people inside had no idea how to make the people who came feel welcome. It was not a place that I wanted to stay. In fact, escape was first and foremost in my mind.

The point here is that it doesn't matter how small or how large the space is where you set up your business. It doesn't matter how fancy your space is. What matters is how your client feels upon entering and how they feel while they are there with you that will determine if they will ever come back or whether they will recommend you to their friends and family.