I have this uncle. We’ll call him Sam.

The 15th of every month, Sam wants a little scratch — whether I’m at my home office in South Florida, or playing road warrior somewhere along the Eastern Seaboard. Sam doesn’t really ask for his money. He doesn’t have to. I know to pay him — or else he’ll sic his business-suited henchmen on me. I’ll get a letter saying, “Mr. Zbar, You’re Delinquent.” The mere thought of raising his suspicions is enough to make any home office worker toe a very straight line.

Truth be told, I try to be a stickler about the money owed me, too. I want my money so I can pay myself, my vendors — and the Good Uncle.

Thus, making these two spokes in the money wheel of business spin in sync are core to running a successful enterprise.

Collections are no laughing matter. And tax payments are nothing to mess around with. And just because I’ll be on the road for three weeks doesn’t mean Uncle Sam won’t expect his estimated payroll tax payment, or I won’t expect my clients to pay me. Read More »

Alex Johnson is an ardent shedworker. From his home in St. Albans in England, Alex works from a shed — and blogs about the shedworking concept on Shedworking. He’s even written about it in the forthcoming book, Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution.

So when Alex and I got to talking about Home Office Highway, he commented on his summers spent working virtually at his in-laws place in Spain (those Europeans are SO cosmopolitan. I’m trying to have a little cosmo-mojo rub off on me by writing about Alex’s exploits).

I asked Alex to share his thoughts. Here’s what he had to say… Read More »