People have very different viewpoints on what it takes to be successful in starting, maintaining and operating a home business. There are a variety of factors that one needs to consider when looking into a home business venture. This article is filled with a variety of tips that can aid you in your research and planning.
Keep accurate and complete financial records for your business. If you are ever audited by the IRS or local revenue authorities, you will need to show proof of your business income and expenses. Keeping good records also helps you keep track of how well, your business is doing from one month to another.
If you don't like people, then a home business is for you. Seriously! There are many choices, which require next to no human interaction, like programming or editing or transcription. You can get the project done, hand it over to the client, and wait for them to send you some more work.
A great tip for your home business is to make sure that you include your company's website URL along with all email that is sent out. This will make for an easy transition from email to your website if the customer finds something that they like in the message they are reading.
Celebrate your successes with your home business to keep yourself excited and engaged. You may have a long-term business plan you are working towards, but take the time to enjoy the small milestones along the way. Whether it is a target number of customers or a big sale, celebrating smaller successes is just as important as acknowledging bigger successes.
Set milestones and celebrate when they are reached. Even if you are going at your home business as the sole member, you want to celebrate your milestones as you would within a large business with others. You want to give yourself the credit that is due so you can motivate yourself towards greater achievements.
A great home business tip is to make sure you have the proper mindset when you're working. It can be hard to work an at home because there are always distractions. Staying focused is key when running a home business. Setting daily goals can help you stay focused.
When starting a home business, be sure that you can align yourself with a product's benefits and values. It is not only difficult to pitch a product you have no confidence in, but it is also morally questionable. You should be confident that your product will benefit your customers as it will help you build a trustworthy brand.
Set working hours. You might want to work through the night, but that will lead to burnout sooner or later. Give yourself specific times to work so you can be constant and know what to expect in your day. If work time is over at 6pm, don't stay until 8pm. Respect yourself to obey your own boundaries.
Again, the tips outlined in this article focus on the things that are important during your research and planning stages for starting, maintaining and operating home businesses. Any combination of these tips can bring you closer to your goals and also act as a building block for your future venture.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
IT Consulting: Search for Sweet Spot Clients
There are some clues that will tell you if a prospect will make a good sweet spot client for your IT consulting business. In this article, learn some of the tip-offs that a prospect is a good fit.
Does the Company Have a Website?
A prospect's website is important because you can search for it. Go to Google and put in the name of the town where you are, your zip code, your postal code area codes, prefixes and get a list of businesses in your area. Start to look around for potential clients for IT consulting.
Can You Meet The Leaders of the Company?
If you look on their company information or about page, you may decide they are a good prospect for your IT consulting business. Does the company belong to a local or regional Chamber of Commerce organization? You can join the organization to meet with them or go as a guest to some of them.
Make sure, though, you know the right way to get the most out of your time and financial investments for networking expenses. You need to measure and track every minute and you can justify every dollar you spend. You want to get the maximum return on your investment to grow your IT consulting business.
Where Else Can You Find the Company?
Does the company attend local B to B Expos? If so, you can attend expos to network with those sweet spot IT consulting clients.
Does the company get covered in the local newspapers, local papers, business journals, regional business journals, and magazines? You can subscribe to those or read back issues at the library or online.
By studying up on a company, you can find out how much experience they have, how many employees, and their annual revenue. You can also find out if they are about to open another office.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Business Computer Consulting .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Does the Company Have a Website?
A prospect's website is important because you can search for it. Go to Google and put in the name of the town where you are, your zip code, your postal code area codes, prefixes and get a list of businesses in your area. Start to look around for potential clients for IT consulting.
Can You Meet The Leaders of the Company?
If you look on their company information or about page, you may decide they are a good prospect for your IT consulting business. Does the company belong to a local or regional Chamber of Commerce organization? You can join the organization to meet with them or go as a guest to some of them.
Make sure, though, you know the right way to get the most out of your time and financial investments for networking expenses. You need to measure and track every minute and you can justify every dollar you spend. You want to get the maximum return on your investment to grow your IT consulting business.
Where Else Can You Find the Company?
Does the company attend local B to B Expos? If so, you can attend expos to network with those sweet spot IT consulting clients.
Does the company get covered in the local newspapers, local papers, business journals, regional business journals, and magazines? You can subscribe to those or read back issues at the library or online.
By studying up on a company, you can find out how much experience they have, how many employees, and their annual revenue. You can also find out if they are about to open another office.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Business Computer Consulting .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Phone Sales not Ready to Yeild to the Internet
There is no question that the internet has revolutionized business. Many people are not only paying their bills online, but also ordering products and services at an ever expanding rate as well. Businesses with a web presence have opened themselves up to new market where many consumers take advantage of the ease of shopping from pages visually no different from a catalog. Despite all that has changed in the last ten years, most companies that do business over distance and do not rely on local storefronts still see a large majority of their business come from the telephone. Several years ago, many business forecasters were predicting that the internet would have eclipsed the phone as the marketplace of choice by now. So why hasn't that been the case?
There are two primary reasons why the telephone will always be necessary to consumer sales oriented businesses. The first is that while it is getting harder and harder to find a person who does not have a personal computer at their disposal, either at work or at home; it is practically impossible to find a person without a telephone. The second is about human interaction. Many people prefer to order from a person over the telephone. That issue in itself may have to do with perceived notions of security and fraud risk, personalized and efficient customer service, or simply the desire for human confirmation that a transaction has taken place. In any case, some businesses have gone to great lengths in recent years to become a major presence in their industry on the world wide web while neglecting to update their antiquated phone systems. What companies need to realize is that while web based business will result in an overall sales increase as a result of consumers who use the internet as their primary marketplace, it will not do so at the loss of phone business if a capable phone system is in place. Keeping a phone system up to date and ready to handle customer volume should be a top priority for any business.
There are two primary reasons why the telephone will always be necessary to consumer sales oriented businesses. The first is that while it is getting harder and harder to find a person who does not have a personal computer at their disposal, either at work or at home; it is practically impossible to find a person without a telephone. The second is about human interaction. Many people prefer to order from a person over the telephone. That issue in itself may have to do with perceived notions of security and fraud risk, personalized and efficient customer service, or simply the desire for human confirmation that a transaction has taken place. In any case, some businesses have gone to great lengths in recent years to become a major presence in their industry on the world wide web while neglecting to update their antiquated phone systems. What companies need to realize is that while web based business will result in an overall sales increase as a result of consumers who use the internet as their primary marketplace, it will not do so at the loss of phone business if a capable phone system is in place. Keeping a phone system up to date and ready to handle customer volume should be a top priority for any business.
Home Based Business Insurance Do I Need It?
Well, that all depends If you have insurance, you probably won t
use it. If you don t have it, you ll probably be sorry.
Insurance is just one of those necessary evils. Keep the
following points in mind when you consider whether or not you
need home based business insurance.
First, will you be obtaining a business license of any kind? If
so, you will need to check the licensing requirements. Some
local governments require that you maintain a certain level of
liability insurance especially if people will be coming to your
home during the course of your business. If your local
government doesn t require home based business insurance, then
you must look at your individual situation and make that call.
You may want to consult a licensed insurance agent to advise you
of possible affordable options.
Will you keep an inventory in your home? In that case, you will
probably want to insure it against a potential loss. Most
homeowners insurance policies do not cover the loss of business
supplies so check with your local insurance agent to find out
the best option for your home based business insurance needs.
If you will use your car consistently in your business, you will
probably need to contact your auto insurance agent. Premiums
usually increase when you drive your car for regular business
use. One thing to keep in mind is that business use of a car is
often tax deductible so this can help defray the added home
based business insurance cost.
Many people run their businesses without any type of insurance
sort of under the table if you will. This is probably fine if
you run a fairly small operation and don t mind replacing any
materials that you lose. However, if you anticipate people
coming to your home or maintain a significant inventory,
wouldn t you rather be safe than sorry? Starting a business is
hard enough without risking the loss of all of your hard work
because you didn t invest in home based business insurance.
use it. If you don t have it, you ll probably be sorry.
Insurance is just one of those necessary evils. Keep the
following points in mind when you consider whether or not you
need home based business insurance.
First, will you be obtaining a business license of any kind? If
so, you will need to check the licensing requirements. Some
local governments require that you maintain a certain level of
liability insurance especially if people will be coming to your
home during the course of your business. If your local
government doesn t require home based business insurance, then
you must look at your individual situation and make that call.
You may want to consult a licensed insurance agent to advise you
of possible affordable options.
Will you keep an inventory in your home? In that case, you will
probably want to insure it against a potential loss. Most
homeowners insurance policies do not cover the loss of business
supplies so check with your local insurance agent to find out
the best option for your home based business insurance needs.
If you will use your car consistently in your business, you will
probably need to contact your auto insurance agent. Premiums
usually increase when you drive your car for regular business
use. One thing to keep in mind is that business use of a car is
often tax deductible so this can help defray the added home
based business insurance cost.
Many people run their businesses without any type of insurance
sort of under the table if you will. This is probably fine if
you run a fairly small operation and don t mind replacing any
materials that you lose. However, if you anticipate people
coming to your home or maintain a significant inventory,
wouldn t you rather be safe than sorry? Starting a business is
hard enough without risking the loss of all of your hard work
because you didn t invest in home based business insurance.
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