Running a business out of your home can be an isolating experience. "Can" being the operative word. It’s up to you to make it otherwise.

The more you get out and network with others, the more you allow your business to flourish. Now I’m not saying that going to the mall or running to the drug store constitutes networking. I mean hard-core, intentional work-related mingling. Join professional associations or other business-oriented groups.

Here’s a for-instance. Last year, I joined the local Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce here in Massachusetts. I signed up mostly for the health benefits the organization offers small business owners. But once I was in the office, the administrator hooked me into all the great services they offer.

The first thing I signed up for was small business counseling. I met with an advisor to go over how to keep the books for a home-based business. The first bit of advice he gave me was to upgrade my current accounting program to QuickBooks Premier, which has features designed for professional services such as consulting. Among those features, job costing and time-tracking. Both are useful in determining rates for your clients. It also has a forecasting feature that lets you predict whether you’re going to sink or swim based on revenue you’ve already generated.

The advisor also helped me get a glimpse of what my tax situation was going to be like for the year and gave me questions to ask my tax advisor, including how I could put money in a Self-Employment IRA (which I just did and highly recommend). He explained how to pay quarterly taxes and other useful information about doing business in Massachusetts. Finally, he encouraged me to redo my budget frequently to make sure expenses and revenue were in line.

Last month, I attended a member breakfast held by the Chamber of Commerce. It focused on legislative issues pertaining to our geographic area - which is a high-tech corridor. A good mix of our state and federal representatives attended, as well as more than 100 local business owners. We discussed everything from improving the rail system to our area to education initiatives. As members of the community, these are critical issues for small business/home business owners.

The breakfast was designed as a networking opportunity, as well. One woman at our table insisted we all exchange business cards and introduce ourselves. We then chatted for a while about why we were there. By the end, I had a good stack of contacts - including several for a local bank, always useful - and a healthy knowledge of the important issues facing the area.