The hosts of The CWAHM Network are taking on your questions! We want to dialogue about what's going on in the work-at-home world and we want to answer your questions about working from home.
Q: I am a farm wife & mother of 4 children. I have home educated all four, and our youngest is now 14. Our second son helps my husband farm, and he along with the 14-year-old take care of the cattle, so there isn't much left for me to do other than the bookkeeping. So I have been praying about doing something at home. I have been considering either medical transcriptioning or coding. I am taking a medical terminology class, which I enjoy very much. My husband is concerned about my stress level, as I have fibromylgia and chronic fatigue. I am leaning toward the coding, at this point, but I am still pretty open to any suggestions on how to proceed. Thank you very much!
A: Congratulations on taking the medical terminology class. That's awesome. That's something that a lot of virtual assistants provide and do very well. With both the terminology and coding, you should be able to work it so that you have more leaway with your schedule. Even the type of doctors you go after will make a difference. For example, some heart surgeons might need next day or 48 hour service. However, say you target chiropractors or therapist who requires 3 days or longer to get the work back.
Also, think about what other tasks you could do. For example, some doctor offices might need help not only with their transcription but their social networking or sending out cards. Things that wouldn't require a 24 hour turnaround. So when you think of your business, think of things you can add to your services that wouldn't require 24 hour service.
I think if you consider some of those, you'll be fine with the fibro and chronic fatigue. One big advantage of doing this is that you can stop when you need. You can even take a power nap in the afternoon when needed. Often you might have to make up for it in the evening, but it's so nice to be able to not work until exhaustion such as at the office where you needed to work 8 to 5.
Hope this helps!
- Diana Ennen (VA of 25 years!)
May the Lord give you success,
and may he give you and your children success.c
Psalm 115:14 (NCV
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Until next week ....
Jill Hart of CWAHM.com & Diana Ennen of VirtualWordPublishing.com, co-authors of So You Want to Be a Work-At-Home Mom.