Daddy’s Home!

Andrew Morrison, 41, had reached a level of entrepreneurial success that would make even the most accomplished businessperson envious.

Having started a direct-mail marketing company right after graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1988, Morrison saw annual revenues of his company, NIA Direct, reach $3.5 million; his take-home salary reached $250,000 by 1998. With offices in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, the Brooklyn native was a media darling. He was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a “young millionaire,” in the Wall Street Journal, and in BLACK ENTERPRISE.

But his business hit a rough patch in 2001. “[That] was my watershed year. I was experiencing tremendous financial setbacks,” says Morrison. “The company became very capital intensive. I had nine employees, overhead of $50,000 a month. Even though we were profitable, I could not finance the company’s growth, and we were cash flow negative.” The married father of one has since become a stay-at-home dad who draws on his nearly 20 years of entrepreneurial experience to run his Small Business Camp, a series of training seminars for entrepreneurs.

Morrison has become a “dadpreneur” — a father who runs a home-based business while handling most or many of the _parenting responsibilities traditionally associated with mothers. Given the demands of modern life — long commutes and endless workdays — some men seek to spend more time with their kids by working from home. According to surveys conducted by CareerBuilder.com, 44% of working fathers say they are willing to take a pay cut in order to spend more time with their children. While there are no hard figures available on the actual number of work-at-home dads, according to the 2002 U.S. Census report, there were 8.2 million home-based _businesses, of which 4.5 _million were run by men. Though not all fathers would opt for dadpreneurship, here are some men who’ve done it successfully.

GETTING STARTED
Like many people do when they’re confronted with life’s _challenges, Morrison began to rethink his priorities. “I was very _fortunate to have good mentors,” he says. “They were all men who were 50, 60 years old and very successful, extremely wealthy. When I asked them about their regrets, they all said the exact same thing, ‘Andrew, I wish I had spent more time with my kids when they were growing up.’ That’s when I did some soul searching. I told myself that I should really look to build a new business that supports my lifestyle as opposed to the other way around.”

With this insight, Morrison scaled back his business and went to work at home, giving him an opportunity not only to _refashion his business model but to spend time with his then 4-year-old daughter, Morgan. Although operating a home-based business allows for more time with one’s children, it does have its _challenges. CareerBuilder.com offers the following advice:

Consider the type of business you want to have. If it calls for travel or face-to-face meetings, working from home might not be the best choice.

Keep in mind the age of your children. Infants and toddlers might need more attention than older children.

Ask yourself if you’ll need support staff; think through how that will work without an office.

Starting out with less than $1,000 for equipment and office _supplies, Morrison leveraged his extensive marketing _experience by pursuing work as a direct marketing consultant to some of his former direct-mail clients, such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, _Grolier Books, and Columbia House Music. “I had a golden Rolodex and results that I could turn into cash. By my eighth call, I found someone who would pay me $5,000 a month,” he recalls. He did this for two years.

Like many fathers who work from home, Morrison saw his relationship with his daughter grow. “As soon as I started working from home, I realized a quality of life increase,” says Morrison. “My greatest joy is being able to take my daughter to the bus stop, being able to pick her up from school. And she knows that Daddy’s always home.”

Morrison also benefited from having a supportive wife who earned enough money to support him in the ups and downs of his business. “She’s my biggest cheerleader,” says Morrison. His wife, Lynne, an emergency room physician, acknowledges that having him home during the day has improved the overall _quality of their relationship. “It’s great for Morgan to see Daddy playing and Daddy working,” says Lynne, “because she pretty much sees Mommy working.”

SOCIETY SAYS…
In spite of societal changes, there is still a bit of a stigma attached to dads who work from home. “There are people who say with disdain, ‘Oh, you work from home?'” says Jeff Zbar, a veteran dadpreneur for more than 18 years and an expert on the subject. “There’s a perception that you can’t be efficient or that you’re a corporate dropout who couldn’t cut it.” Zbar runs ChiefHomeOfficer.com, a site dedicated to home-based entrepreneurship, and is currently writing his fifth book on the subject.

Inspired to support others in their entrepreneurial endeavors, Morrison in 2003 launched the Small Business Camp, which hosts weekend seminars five times a year for about 20 attendees per class. In 2006, the camp had revenues of $500,000, and _Morrison had a salary of $150,000. His monthly overhead is now only $3,000 compared with the $50,000 his direct-mail business required, and he has no employees.

Nevertheless, Morrison admits that working from home does present its challenges. “It’s a home, and what you’re doing now is engaging in business activities

like conference calls that are_ foreign to your family.” Morrison also acknowledges that his family had to adjust to his working at home in the evenings. “You’re physically present, but emotionally you’re not.”

Experts maintain that communication is crucial. “Have a _candid discussion with your family about what to expect once you start working at home,” advises Michael Erwin of CareerBuilder.com, “and keep those discussions going throughout the first year until you have a good system in place.”

Though he earns less than he did before, Morrison feels that he is now living his calling.

CHANGING GEARS
John Applewhite, 38, missed having a father in his adolescence; his father died when John was just 10 years old. So when Applewhite was laid off from his job as general manager at Design Stream, a division of Atlanta-based Johnson Research & Development, in May 2003 as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, he saw a great opportunity to branch out on his own and also to spend more quality time with his wife and three sons, now 13, 11, and 7.

When he first started at Johnson, Applewhite (who co-invented and developed many of the popular Super Soaker water guns and Nerf Blaster toys) worked regular nine-to-five hours. “But as Super Soaker sales skyrocketed, the job started demanding more all-nighters and traveling to Hong Kong. My wife, who had left the workforce to take care of our kids, might not see me for three days straight or three to four weeks when overseas,” says Applewhite. “I caught a lot of flack.”

Armed with an M.B.A. from Georgia State University and using skills he’d honed at Johnson , where he’d worked since graduating from Georgia Tech in 1992 with a degree in industrial design, Applewhite launched the BBG Group the day after he was laid off in 2003. This home-based business design consulting firm specializes in working with startup and established companies to create and execute new brands, products, and services including Website development, graphics, and logos.

“I wanted to devote more time to my kids,” says Applewhite. “I said, ‘OK, I’m going to survive here. I can cover
my expenses with my real estate investments, so let’s kind of reinvent myself and really find out where I want to go and what I want to do.”

MEETING CHALLENGES HEAD-ON
Yet, like any budding entrepreneur, Applewhite had to adjust to the travails of being his own man. “The biggest transition for me was being responsible for everything — from taxes, cold calls, and writing proposals, to tracking receipts and managing bank accounts.”

The Applewhites also adjusted to a significant decrease in income. “At the end of my tenure at Johnson, I was making over $100,000 in salary plus bonuses of up to $20,000,” he says. “My first two years on my own I made only about $60,000 from my consulting services and real estate investments.”

The income decrease brought about lifestyle changes. “We didn’t spend lavishly on a house and cars when I worked for Johnson,” says Applewhite, “but we could take the kids on little vacations whenever we wanted, and we enjoyed eating out.” His wife, Genene, adds, “Our eating out bill was over $600 a month. We especially enjoyed going out on Sundays after church.” Now, Applewhite cooks a big Sunday breakfast for his family. “We sometimes have church in our pajamas with ‘Dad’s Big Breakfast,'” he boasts, “and the kids enjoy it.”

But like Morrison, Applewhite has found that being a dadpreneur has unique challenges. “When you’re working from home, and your kids and wife are home you don’t get anything done,” he laments. Applewhite finds that he’s most productive in the early morning or late night hours when his family is asleep.

“We [the kids and I] saw the house as our territory,” says Genene, a part-time real estate agent for Prudential Georgia Realty. “And the boys are cowboys. They’re loud and rambunctious. They had to adjust to Daddy being home, so anytime the phone rang they had to be quiet or go outside. He really interrupted our routine.”

Zbar suggests setting clear boundaries with your family. “And you must have a door that closes,” he insists. “I like boundaries, but at the same time I like the fact that my sons can come ask me whatever, whenever,” says Applewhite, “because I don’t have that anymore. I can’t pick up the phone and call my dad. So anytime I have to spend a moment with them is more precious than setting a boundary; they may be asking me the most important question of their lives.”

Sharing work space with his wife and kids initially put a strain on family relationships. Asked whether or not she sometimes wishes John would go back to corporate America, Genene says, “Yes, yes, yes, but I understand him better now.” The Applewhites also assert that learning how to clear the hurdles has strengthened the family.

This year, in addition to his consulting services, Applewhite has ventured with a partner into financing and developing commercial real estate and recently closed on a multimillion-dollar investment. But even “big deals” present no guarantees. “You really just have to have the stomach for working for yourself and the perseverance and faith to stand and endure,” he says.

In spite of the entrepreneurial grind, Applewhite feels that spending time with his children is worth the sweat, and he has no plans to work for anyone else anytime soon. In August, he launched a new company, Winning Inventing (www.winninginventing.com) , to help other inventors get their products to market. “So many people really want to know the truth about inventing and how to do it for themselves so they can be financially independent and home with their kids. I’ve been blessed with a gift and the experience to help them.”

And he has even introduced his boys to the entrepreneurial game. “They have their own business called Three J’s Neighborhood Services; they cut lawns and wash cars for people in the neighborhood,” says Applewhite. “I’m teaching them to work and build something together as a family. That was instilled in me as a child. And that’s what other cultures do. This is my passion.”

PRODUCTIVITY TIPS FOR THOSE WORKING FROM HOME

• Keep to the same schedule — Get up early, change your clothes, maintain a normal morning routine.
• Location, location, location — Choose a quiet, structured location where you can complete your projects.
• Plan out your day — List specific goals for the day and cross them off as you complete them.
• Take a lunch hour — Designate time for personal calls, errands, housework, exercise, and other activities.
• Take short breaks — Play with your children, eat a snack, or walk the dog. Such interruptions will not sink the ship.

SOURCE: CAREERBUILDER.COM

DADPRENEUR TIPS

• How can I hold conference calls that won’t be _interrupted by noise? Talk to family members and impress on them the need for silence during business calls. Alternatively, go into a room with a door and close it or schedule conference calls when the children are at school or asleep. Also, invest in a phone or headset with a mute button.
• Should I hold business meetings at home or at a restaurant? Holding business meetings at home, whether with clients or business partners, presents a variety of concerns. First, many cities don’t allow such meetings at a residence; check code enforcement to see what your city allows. Second, is your home appropriate for on-site meetings? It might not have the seating or comforts needed to host a meeting. Third, and most important, allowing strangers into your home, no matter how professional they may seem, could be risky. Instead, schedule meetings at a nearby hotel lobby bar, the local library, your attorney’s conference room, a coffee shop, executive suite, or business center.
• Should I stay in touch with former colleagues? Many home-based entrepreneurs suffer from isolation. To avoid that, join the chamber of commerce’s home or small-business committee, become a member of an online user group of work-at-home parents, or create a network of fellow work-at-home parents — either online or in your neighborhood. They’re out there; you just have to find them.

SOURCE: JEFF ZBAR, CHIEFHOMEOFFICER.COM