Barry, what did you do before you started your professional organizing business
from home?
I had another home-based business in south Florida. It was an absentee home and
condo care/pet sitting service.
What was your biggest challenge in starting your home business?
I had just moved to Austin and needed to not only learn my way around, but also to
build my network.
What has been your biggest challenge staying in business?
Making sure that I do enough marketing to ensure that there will be a steady stream of
clients. So far, so good.
What do you love about working from home?
I love the freedom and flexibility it affords me and it is far more economical. I’m out
on the roads less and not only save the time commuting, but also spend lots less on
gas.
What do you dislike about it?
There is truly nothing that I dislike about working from home, except having such
easy access to the refrigerator!
How do you do to inspire or motivate yourself everyday?
I love what I do, so it’s easy to inspire and motivate myself on a daily basis. My
biggest challenge is prioritizing and forcing myself to do the things I don’t like as well
to make sure they get done in a timely fashion.
How do you separate home life from your work life?
It is difficult to establish boundaries and even more so to stick to them. I’m sure
I could improve at this. However, by working from my home, I have the added
convenience of working late if I want to and having everything I need right there. Since
I tend to be a night owl, I much prefer to work late into the evening and then sleep
later in the morning if I don’t have a client scheduled.
How do you keep family/home/work all in balance?
I juggle all of these responsibilities like anyone else. Some days I do better than others,
but when I’m through for the day, it’s easy to shut it off.
Where is your office in your home?
The downstairs level of a two-story home.
What is your daily routine?
The time that I get up varies. Since I have a tendency to work late hours, I have the
luxury of getting up later when I don’t have clients. I usually drink my coffee, briefly
check e-mail and read the paper. Then, I head downstairs and begin my day with
client and prospect follow-up calls.
What is your biggest (or proudest) achievement so far?
I have broken all financial records for my business and continue to earn more each
year. I have accomplished this while serving the past four years as president of my
national association called the National Association of Professional Organizers
(NAPO).
What are you working on right now to grow your business?
I am revamping my web site and then I will create a marketing
piece for the speaking aspect of my career. I also plan to hire
a PR firm in the near future.
What advice can you give about starting a home business?
While working from home can be the best thing in the world,
it can also be a person’s ruination if they are not motivated,
organized and directed. There are lots of distractions around
when you work from home and it’s easy to succumb to them if you’re not careful. You
must stay focused and plan your day even more than when you worked in an office
environment.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do (or not do)?
There is very little that I would change as I have been very pleased with the growth of
my business. I most definitely would have started promoting my book more earnestly
when it came out two years ago. My publisher promised me the world, but did not
deliver, so it has been up to me to do the bulk of my own promotion.
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I love to travel and have traveled extensively in North and South America, as well as
Europe and Asia. Some of my favorite destinations are Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro,
Barcelona and Innsbruck. I also love to take cruises and recently complete a cruise
through the Baltic Sea. I often kid people and say that “work is just something I do to
pass the time between vacations!”
Click here to read more Home Office Weekly Profiles
Would you like a Home Office Weekly
Profile written about you and your
business? Write to the editor:
MarciaDuffy@HomeOfficeWeekly.com
from home?
I had another home-based business in south Florida. It was an absentee home and
condo care/pet sitting service.
What was your biggest challenge in starting your home business?
I had just moved to Austin and needed to not only learn my way around, but also to
build my network.
What has been your biggest challenge staying in business?
Making sure that I do enough marketing to ensure that there will be a steady stream of
clients. So far, so good.
What do you love about working from home?
I love the freedom and flexibility it affords me and it is far more economical. I’m out
on the roads less and not only save the time commuting, but also spend lots less on
gas.
What do you dislike about it?
There is truly nothing that I dislike about working from home, except having such
easy access to the refrigerator!
How do you do to inspire or motivate yourself everyday?
I love what I do, so it’s easy to inspire and motivate myself on a daily basis. My
biggest challenge is prioritizing and forcing myself to do the things I don’t like as well
to make sure they get done in a timely fashion.
How do you separate home life from your work life?
It is difficult to establish boundaries and even more so to stick to them. I’m sure
I could improve at this. However, by working from my home, I have the added
convenience of working late if I want to and having everything I need right there. Since
I tend to be a night owl, I much prefer to work late into the evening and then sleep
later in the morning if I don’t have a client scheduled.
How do you keep family/home/work all in balance?
I juggle all of these responsibilities like anyone else. Some days I do better than others,
but when I’m through for the day, it’s easy to shut it off.
Where is your office in your home?
The downstairs level of a two-story home.
What is your daily routine?
The time that I get up varies. Since I have a tendency to work late hours, I have the
luxury of getting up later when I don’t have clients. I usually drink my coffee, briefly
check e-mail and read the paper. Then, I head downstairs and begin my day with
client and prospect follow-up calls.
What is your biggest (or proudest) achievement so far?
I have broken all financial records for my business and continue to earn more each
year. I have accomplished this while serving the past four years as president of my
national association called the National Association of Professional Organizers
(NAPO).
What are you working on right now to grow your business?
I am revamping my web site and then I will create a marketing
piece for the speaking aspect of my career. I also plan to hire
a PR firm in the near future.
What advice can you give about starting a home business?
While working from home can be the best thing in the world,
it can also be a person’s ruination if they are not motivated,
organized and directed. There are lots of distractions around
when you work from home and it’s easy to succumb to them if you’re not careful. You
must stay focused and plan your day even more than when you worked in an office
environment.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do (or not do)?
There is very little that I would change as I have been very pleased with the growth of
my business. I most definitely would have started promoting my book more earnestly
when it came out two years ago. My publisher promised me the world, but did not
deliver, so it has been up to me to do the bulk of my own promotion.
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I love to travel and have traveled extensively in North and South America, as well as
Europe and Asia. Some of my favorite destinations are Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro,
Barcelona and Innsbruck. I also love to take cruises and recently complete a cruise
through the Baltic Sea. I often kid people and say that “work is just something I do to
pass the time between vacations!”
Click here to read more Home Office Weekly Profiles
Would you like a Home Office Weekly
Profile written about you and your
business? Write to the editor:
MarciaDuffy@HomeOfficeWeekly.com
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Home Office Weekly is a BackPorch Publishing site Marcia Passos Duffy, Publisher & Editor Author of Be Your Own Boss 301 Moved Permanently |
| HOW Profile: Barry Izsak, Professional Organizer |
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Barry Izsak email
Arranging It All
Austin, Texas
Professional Organizer
Year started home business: 1996
Hours per week: 50
Happy at home index: 10
Success at home index: 9
Arranging It All
Austin, Texas
Professional Organizer
Year started home business: 1996
Hours per week: 50
Happy at home index: 10
Success at home index: 9
