Work at Home Based Business

Archive for the ‘Home Based Business’ Category

When I used to drag myself to someone else’s office five days a week I used to dream of working at home! The thought of not having to get dressed, not having to rush to get out the door, not to having to sit in traffic was enormously appealing to me.

The reality, as so often in life, is a little different. There are the slight annoyances – suddenly the bill for toilet paper and coffee goes through the roof – but is probably off-set by the savings on lunches and snacks at work. There is the fact that you are the one that gets the door-to-door salesmen and the telephone survey “opportunities”.

The single biggest issue I had, working from home and working online, was health. Basically building my own business was hugely absorbing and I could work for hours and hours and not get up from the computer – in fact barely change position. My body hurt – I didn’t have full-blown RSI but I would certainly have developed it had I not noticed and changed my keyboard and mouse positions around to stop myself hunching over the keyboard quite badly.

I got lonely too – although I have always vowed loudly and often that I didn’t go to work just to meet people – not going to work I certainly found quite isolating. My poor partner came through the door every afternoon to a barrage of chat as I practiced using my voice again! That only lasted about a month or so and I got used to it though. It was tougher for me because I was living overseas at the time, but then I am also quite self-contained so I don’t need to have social contact every day. If you do I seriously suggest you think twice about working from home – it is a very different environment than working in an office.

Then one day you look up and find you don’t fit your jeans anymore. Even if you don’t currently walk or cycle to work, even driving involves a few more calories moving between car and buildings than moving from bed to home office, and all too often, via the fridge. If you don’t want to put on weight when you start working from home you really are going to have to make an effort to exercise. I am lucking that I take ballroom dancing lessons three days a week. Dancing to me is all the fun parts of exercise without any of the boring bits – and thats the key you need to find something physical which you enjoy doing to get you away from the computer and active. The human body is not designed to sit inactive in front of a screen for hours on end. If you don’t plan to get some exercise into each day your working from home lifestyle will be far from healthy.

Lis Sowerbutts is passionate about ballroom dancing and has competed for over 10 years with her partner. She has tried just about every form of partner dancing from salsa to tango to rock and rolls so she decided to start a website all about dancing in Wellington, New Zealand her home town.

This is a difficult moment for the US automotive industry, but an exclusive franchise business opportunity study by Franchise Direct (www.franchisedirect.com) has shown that automotive franchises are doing well regardless. Franchise Direct examined the Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD’s) of 30 automotive franchises and found that more drivers are turning to franchise businesses to keep their car on the road.

The serious problems in America’s car industry are common knowledge. Yet Franchise Direct has learned that the serious crisis in the automotive industry, taking place alongside America’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, has actually created some business opportunities for aftermarket and car rental and sales franchises.

The truth is Americans are not buying new cars as often as they used to. The Franchise Direct automotive franchise study states that the projected new car sales for 2009 are 9.7 million units. This represents a 40% decline over the last 3 years. But America’s love affair with the automobile is undiminished. Because of the recession, more drivers are becoming reliant on services offered by automotive franchises as they need to get more miles out of their vehicle.

Aftermarket automotive franchise businesses are most likely to succeed from this trend, as consumers seek essential maintenance and repairs with greater need. They most likely turn to a company with a trusted reputation. Used car and rental franchise opportunities will also thrive from this new thriftiness.

Exciting new niche markets are also emerging for franchised businesses to exploit. In recent years, drivers have embraced automobiles with elaborate technology. This might mean evolved engine control, microprocessors and high-tech safety and entertainment equipment. There has also been a switch towards ‘green’ technology in automotive manufacturing. With these technologies become more and more prevalent, a new franchise business market is forming to suit these tastes. Drivers now lack the know-how to perform such complicated automotive work and instead turn to trusted franchise brands.

It is ironic that the global recession and the collapse of Detroit’s auto industry have created the conditions for the recent success of automotive franchises. America’s love affair with the automobile is still strong, but American attitudes towards car buying have radically altered. Franchise Direct’s research shows that consumers are relying on automotive franchises to keep their cars running. With the government’s stimulus plan providing some economic optimism, Franchise Direct believes that this is a rewarding time to consider franchise business opportunities in the automotive sector.

I get asked all the time in comments on my various blogs, in forums I moderate, and through email — What the quickest and easiest way to start a successful online business is? That’s not an easy question to answer because everyone’s situation and skill level are different, and there are so many ways to make money online that what is great for one person may not be good at all for another.

There’s really no perfect solution that everyone can use to start a successful online business, without first putting in a reasonable amount of time and effort. If there were then everyone would do it! However, I have found something that might be quite useful for the majority of people looking to make money online.

My friends at the Internet Marketing Center contacted me recently to let me know they have just released the next generation of their simple, automated tool that will help you start an online business and have you making money as quickly as possible. It’s called “BeBiz” and it’s really pretty darn cool if you ask me.

BeBiz Review

To start, I want to say that I’ve never seen another all-in-one tool like this on the internet that can help you build an income generating online business this easily.

I do have plenty of online business experience but I really don’t think it would matter if you had no business experience or had even the slightest clue what you were doing. Since you are reading this right now then you most likely have what it takes to get started with this cool tool right now. Then just “point and click” your way to making money online.

You are writing a BeBiz review but what is it anyway?

Basically it’s an easy to use “point and click” tool that quickly guides you through every step of getting started on your own successful online business, beginning at square one.

It has an automatic wizard-based system that seems to have been designed so that pretty much anyone can use it to start an online business. You don’t need business experience, technical skills, or even an idea what you should be doing online to make money.

Before I even checked it out I asked the guys at the internet marketing center why people would want this tool and they gave me a list why you should use BeBiz to start your online business. Here’s that list…

* Avoid the costly and time-consuming mistakes that most beginners make when getting started online.

* Start making money almost immediately, and then build on your early success to generate a secure, independent income over time.

* Use the skills and knowledge you acquire building your first online business to create multiple profitable websites into the future.

* Make money online even if you have no technical abilities or previous business experience.

* You can start building your business today, even if you have no idea what to sell, or any ideas for a market or website.

After checking it out myself, I’d have to say that I agree with this list for the most part. Also, I am sure you want to know how it works. It’s really simple, there are 5 steps to the BeBiz process and they have made it so freakin’ easy it almost doesn’t seem fair…

1) Identify profitable markets ready to buy whatever you offer them.

2) Find hot products to sell on your website that your market will love.

3) Instantly create a professional looking website that’s designed to make money.

4) Easily create compelling salescopy that will give you the maximum return on turning visitors into paying customers.

5) Start accepting payments on your website instantly.

Once your site is live and you start getting traffic and making money, you can keep using BeBiz to manage your entire online business, virtually on autopilot.

Yes, you will still have to do some work. This is a turnkey system that takes out a lot of the headaches for you, but you can’t just expect to sit back and do nothing. If there was a way to make money without doing anything we’d all be rich!

If you want to see how it all works, the internet marketing center crew has put up a free video that demonstrates exactly how BeBiz walks you through the five simple stages of creating a new website. Everything from finding a lucrative niche market to getting qualified traffic, and much more.

After the video, you’ll have the chance to try out this highly useful online business building tool, and use it for the next month to start your own business website from scratch.

I strongly recommend you at least give this tool a try and see how you like it. It could be the difference between struggling on your own to make money online without getting anywhere, and having a complete online business earning income for years to come.

To watch the video demonstration, and download your trial, just click here.

That does it for my Review of BeBiz. You can take my word for it or go check it out for yourself and see if it might be a good way for you to start an online business, or expand your current one.

There’s a misperception among many would-be home based business owners that all they have to do is build a website, buy a stack of shipping boxes from UPS, and before too long those  homemade crafts and trinkets that are all the rage with their friends and family will suddenly make them rich.  I’m sure that there are a handful of lucky people out there who do occasionally find such success despite having zero business sense and absolutely no plan, but for those of you who are serious about increasing your odds of becoming a profitable enterprise I’d like to share some advice.  I happen to operate an ecommerce site, so these tips come from my own observations and mistakes.  I make and ship game-related products, so for the purpose of this article I’ll focus on home businesses that take orders via a website and produce a tangible product.

First and perhaps foremost, if you don’t have a whole lot of startup capital then it should be common sense that you need to pick a product that you can begin to make without the need for expensive machinery, computer upgrades, or a large storage space.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the truth is that no matter how well you plan ahead of time, there is still a chance your business will fail at some point down the road.  Better to fail and have your bank account intact than to fail and still owe the credit card companies thousands of dollars because you went nuts and bought all kinds of machines and gear during the startup phase.  Your product should ideally be something that you’ve already made from the comfort of home and that you fully understand.

Second, I would highly recommend that you focus your efforts on a product that is easy to replicate and does not rely on customization.  If you have to customize something per the customer’s request for every single order then it will slow you down beyond belief.  I’m not saying that customization-based businesses are necessarily doomed to failure.  They can, in fact, be very lucrative, but the energy expended on this kind of business model is huge.  I’m sorry, but I’m just not interested in exchanging seven emails and having three phone calls with each of my customers to make sure that their custom embroidered pillow looks just the way they want it.  Better to have a product that can be mass-produced quickly and efficiently.  This will also cut down massively on the number of returns and exchanges you have to deal with after shipment.

Speaking of shipping, you’d be wise to choose a product that can be easily and cheaply shipped without a high risk of damage.  The products that I ship are small, compact, and virtually unbreakable.  They are small because I don’t want to have to rent out a huge warehouse to make room for my product – I’d rather do it from my basement.  The size also makes it much easier to pack and ship.  The fact that my product is highly resistant to breakage or damage during shipment is a huge benefit.  I had to learn this one the hard way.  I used to make and ship a product that was huge, heavy, and susceptible to damage.  This became a major hassle because ridiculous amounts of time and energy were expended during the packing phase, and it turned out that no matter how well it was packed it still sometimes arrived damaged because of its properties.  This then led to dealing with sometimes irate customers, and it meant doing a long-distance exchange in each circumstance.  Needless to say, I learned pretty quickly that I needed to eliminate this particular product, and this move streamlined the business in a major way.

Finally, it would be a good idea to follow the advice of Warren Buffett by creating a business that offers you a distinct “competitive advantage”.  In other words, how could your particular situation or your particular skill set give you an advantage over potential competitors?  Perhaps you have a family connection who can provide you with cheaper materials than anyone else.  Or maybe you’ve spent a lifetime perfecting a talent or skill that few others can match as far as speed or quality is concerned.  Or maybe your marketing skills are so remarkable that your conversion ratio is through the roof.  The bottom line is that you need to find a way to get a permanent leg-up on the competition so that you have better flexibility with pricing and a better chance of eventually dominating your niche.

These are just a few things to think about before you launch an internet-based store from home.  As you can see, just a little bit of forethought and planning prior to startup can mean the difference between a business that bombs and a business that spits off cash like it’s nobody’s business.  Good business ideas are a dime a dozen, and the shrewd home-based entrepreneur understands that even good ideas can fail if not executed with an intelligent strategy in place.

Jeff Hester is the creator of the Killer Small Business Ideas Blog.