Three Tips for Starting Your Own Business

Christine Perkett, who was featured in FOXBusiness.com’s Small Office Home Office profile series, founded PerkettPR out of her home in Marshfield, Mass., in 1998. The public relations firm with 20 employees from coast to coast provides interactive digital services and social marketing communications campaigns for B2B and B2C companies worldwide.

Perkett said once she opened shop she immediately saw the benefit to running a company virtually and allowing all employees to work from home, rather than pay pricey rents to have a communal space. And, she added, it has paid off – instead of spending money on office space, she could afford to spend the necessary capital on hiring senior people she considers some of the best talent in the nation. Working from home, she said, allows her employees to spend more time with their families, reduce the risk of burnout and helps them achieve a better overall work-life balance.

And the clients reap benefits too; Perkett said she uses money saved from not paying rent to undercut the big firms.

Here are three tips she has to offer others aspiring to start a business out of their home:

No. 1: Be prepared to mute the phone to answer the doorbell, and/or when the neighbor starts mowing his lawn or the dogs start barking, etc.

“After 13 years of working from home, I've learned a mute button on your headset is your best friend,” she said.

No. 2: Master the art of being a "duck on water.” That is, even if everything around you is chaos, keep your head cool, poised and professional.

No. 3: Never give up, never comprise your principles, treat people with sincerity and respect, and by all means, keep a sense of humor.