You are contemplating trying your hand at working online. You’ve researched some ideas and there a couple that seem like they would work for your skills and interests. What’s next?

Start with asking yourself questions such as:  Does this business goal conflict with my family, or is it compatible?  Do I need to modify my original ideas?  Do I know enough about my business idea to make it work?  What information or training do I need?  Write your questions down and then answer them.  Think about them.Once you have completed this part of the goal setting process and arrived at your decisions, then you are ready for the next step.  Your business goals require both short and long-term goals.  Setting short-term goals will help keep you on track toward your long-term goals. 

Effective goal setting means that you will write your goals down.  Next, prioritize them.  Set a deadline for achieving each goal and put a date on it.  You also need to list the obstacles you may face in achieving each goal.  Some of them will obviously overlap, but that is to your advantage because you will also need to list your solutions to the obstacles.  Often one solution will take care of multiple obstacles.

Make a list of your support systems.  Everyone needs the support of others to succeed.  This is true of women in business, especially working mothers.  Many things have changed in the business world in the last thirty years. However, there is still a bias toward men in business.  Just like men, women also need support systems and perhaps more so.

The next step in goal setting is to list your marketable skills and knowledge.  Again, ask yourself questions.  Do you already know everything you need to know to succeed in your chosen field?  If not, then where can you go to find the knowledge or answers you need?