Most people that work from home find the job quite a lonely existence. Many of us home business owners, never meet our clients, our suppliers, or sometimes even our staff. This lonely existence can be more than just isolating; it can be exhausting, even having an effect on your health, and therefore your productivity.
Working for yourself like this can often mean having to be good at more than just your own job. Running a business from home often requires you to have a professional standard of competence in sales, marketing, management, accounts, book keeping, financing, copywriting and these days all aspects of information technology.
n the ideal work from home situation, your home business would allow you to focus on what you are best at whilst still functioning effectively.
ONE: Training
Top training is how we learn to be better at what we do. But professional level training is often very costly and usually not within the budget of the average home business.
Training is essential to the success of your business and keeping your skills, sector and product knowledge up to date is even more essential. If you don’t have the opportunity to stay ahead of the game, or at least keep up with your competitors, how will you be able to compete in the market?
With the highest quality of training, you’ll find that you start making general improvements in your working practices. But most of us need specific training to improve our weak areas and strengthen the areas in which we are already excelling.
Is it possible to have all of this, whilst working at home without breaking the bank? It is. Keep reading.
TWO: Follow Up/Sales
Following up interest or leads can be daunting. It often means approaching people by letter, email, phone and in person. This can cause most people to give up at the idea. Sales or converting leads is not for everyone. Many people see it as confrontational, pushing or pressuring someone into buying something that they do not want.
Instead, a good sales person shows the potential customer how they would benefit greatly from the product or service and although they do use techniques designed to get the person to do what they want, it’s no more manipulative than your average television advertisement. Sales is about offering someone an opportunity to benefit from what you have and share that benefit with them. If they can imagine themselves in the position of benefiting, you increase your chances of making the sale.
In most home businesses, you not only have to provide the service or make the product, but you also need to become an effective sales person for your own business. Many people do not possess this skill and end up doing their excellent business idea a disservice.
Can your business afford not to make sales? Do you have the necessary skills to convert your prospects into sales? Can you afford to add sales staff to your home business at this stage? What if an opportunity existed that didn’t require you to sell ANYTHING? What if you could work to your strengths and benefit from the combined endeavours of a team all working together?
THREE: Marketing/Advertising
What would it be like to have professional marketers and advertising experts working with you? How much would it cost to have that expertise working for you and your home business? Could you benefit from someone to work with you on your Internet Marketing strategy? Do you know what goes into a Marketing Mix? You can run a successful home business with all of this support. How? Read on.
FOUR: Organising
Good management is an absolutely essential element of any successful business. But do you have an MBA from a fantastic business school? If not, you’ll have to learn everything on the job, which could mean making a lot of mistakes before you find your successful management style.
Management isn’t for everyone. You wouldn’t put a quiet loner with no self-confidence straight into a management role, they’d be defeated by it. Instead, you want an experienced coordinator, who understands your business sector and the product or service that you provide. Buying-in this support could seriously bash your budget.
FIVE: Good with Numbers
Not everyone is numerically gifted, some people hate numbers. If you’re running a successful home business, you need to be great with figures. From keeping your books and accounting to working out sales conversions or discount percentages – you need someone on your team who is excellent with numbers and figures.
The cost of employing a bookkeeper and an accountant sometimes forces small businesses to tackle the tricky issues of financial accountability and record keeping alone. This can be a stressful and an additional hat that the small business owner must wear. When you work at home as part of a team, you get the support that you need, when you need it.
SIX: Financing
When you start a new business, where do you find the money that you need? Do you struggle to secure a business loan from increasingly lending-shy financial institutions? Do you wade through the plethora of business grants only to discover that you don’t fit the criteria?
Business financing can make all the difference to the success or failure of your home business. But where does the money come from? Do you have the skills and knowledge to attain the level of funding that you need? Could you use a hand with preparing an application for a grant or loan? That help is available. Want to know where to look?
SEVEN: Business Mentorship
An excellent mentor helps you achieve your aims whilst walking you through your training - communicating with you regularly and pointing you in the right direction. A great mentor allows you lots of freedom, but saves you each time you are about to make a costly error. A personal business mentor provides you with a constant supply of great advice based on their own experiences. This is great for helping you to spot in advance some of the problems that you might not have considered because you lack the experience.
Wouldn’t it be great if it were possible for you to have a successful home business, yet still work with a team of professionals who are each working to their strengths? Well, it’s possible! It’s possible to earn a great income, whilst working with people whose expertise you’ll learn to rely on. You’re in this together. When you invest, you make more than a financial commitment; you invest your expertise in a team, a team that strives to succeed together. By joining the community of people working together, you’ll benefit from the strengths of your team, develop your own skills and start earning money from your combined efforts.
Share your skills in an effective team, building your business together by visiting www.OccupytheCity.com/102
Author: AndrewMcKinnon
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Is It Possible To Create An Impossible Business?
Consultants, coaches, and other service professionals often start a business believing that all they need to do is charge a "reasonable" fee and sell "enough" of their time. Consultants hope to get an edge by claiming to be the fastest, best, or most experienced.
Tired superlatives in proposal include: Most, Superior, Best, Maximum, Optimal, Minimum, Fastest, Unsurpassed, Shortest, Unrivaled, Easiest, Highest, Least, Unique, clients routinely ignore such claims as unproven hype.
Nothing is intrinsically wrong with any of the preceding words, and we all use them in spoken and written communication (for example, "This is the fastest way to do that.") But in proposals, they are suspect, and you should use them sparingly, if at all. It's easy to think that any business can be successful if you work hard enough, but there are many situations where this just isn't so. But unless you do the math to prove or disprove your assumptions, you may be creating a business that can never succeed. Here's what can happen:
*Impossible Business #1 *Nancy was selling her services as an image consultant to individuals who wanted an updated or more professional look. She charged $75 per hour, which she thought was the most anyone would realistically pay to work with her. In most cases, she traveled to a client's home or went shopping with her client.
Including travel time and lunch meant that Nancy could only make two appointments in one day. The average appointment was two hours long. So the maximum amount Nancy could earn in one day turned out to be $300. But in order to earn that amount five days per week, Nancy would have to schedule ten different clients, all of whose schedules were able to adapt to whatever times she had available.
This was hopelessly unrealistic. Even if Nancy had been able to make the scheduling work, when would she have had the time to do the marketing required to land that many clients? It turned out that the maximum Nancy could really earn using this model was about $750 per week. After paying her taxes, she couldn't even cover her monthly living expenses
*Impossible Business #2 *Tom is a student who works as a software consultant for midsize company._ _ . He typically charged $80 per hour, and when he landed a contract, it often consisted of 25-100 billable hours.
Because Tom's earning capacity was so high and he disliked marketing, he spent a lot of money on marketing himself indirectly. He purchased display ads in industry journals and directories, mailed expensive brochures to large lists of prospects, paid to exhibit at trade shows, and hired a telemarketer to prospect for him. Tom also worked on contracts that came through agencies, who often took 25-35% of his earnings as their percentage.
Tom is earning as much as $90,000 per year, but he was losing about $15,000 per year in agency commissions, and spending $25,000 per year on marketing. In return for all his hard work, he was earning considerably less than he had at his last job.
*Making the Impossible Possible *New consultants, coaches, and other professionals almost always overestimate how much they can earn and underestimate the amount of time and money required to successfully market themselves. They also forget that they will have to cover not only their living costs and business expenses, but pay self-employment tax, buy their own health insurance, provide for their own retirement, and allow for unpaid vacation and sick time.
If Nancy or Tom had taken the time to sit down with a calculator before starting out in business, they would have quickly discovered that they were on the wrong track. But both of these businesses were able to be rescued.
Molly began selling her time by the day instead of by the hour. She offered her clients a full-day package that consisted of a wardrobe review and consultation in the morning and a shopping trip in the afternoon. By charging $400 per day and scheduling three clients per week, she could earn more than double than she did previously.
She also began offering a monthly one-day image workshop as a way of bringing in more income while giving prospective clients a chance to experience her work. The workshop became her main source of new clients, and marketing the workshop turned out to be easier than marketing her personal services.
Tom learned how to market himself less expensively through networking, speaking, and writing articles. Instead of buying booths at trade shows, he was showcased there as a presenter, and spent time networking with the other attendees. The same publications where he used to run ads now ran his articles. Rather than paying a telemarketer, he started picking up the lunch tab for people he thought could refer him some business.
As a result, his expenses for marketing and commissions dropped from $35,000 per year to $15,000. At the same time, his income rose to $125,000 per year, because as his visibility and reputation grew, his services were more in demand and he could command higher rates.
If earning a decent living as a self-employed professional sometimes seems impossible to you, start asking how it could be possible. What can you change about how you are marketing yourself, how much you are charging, and how you are packaging your services? While it could be that success will come if you just work a little harder, it's more likely that you first need to start working a little differently
About The Author
Jonathan Haryanto is owner of http://SpeedyOnlineProfit.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jonathan recommends you visit: http://www.SpeedyOnlineProfit.com
Tired superlatives in proposal include: Most, Superior, Best, Maximum, Optimal, Minimum, Fastest, Unsurpassed, Shortest, Unrivaled, Easiest, Highest, Least, Unique, clients routinely ignore such claims as unproven hype.
Nothing is intrinsically wrong with any of the preceding words, and we all use them in spoken and written communication (for example, "This is the fastest way to do that.") But in proposals, they are suspect, and you should use them sparingly, if at all. It's easy to think that any business can be successful if you work hard enough, but there are many situations where this just isn't so. But unless you do the math to prove or disprove your assumptions, you may be creating a business that can never succeed. Here's what can happen:
*Impossible Business #1 *Nancy was selling her services as an image consultant to individuals who wanted an updated or more professional look. She charged $75 per hour, which she thought was the most anyone would realistically pay to work with her. In most cases, she traveled to a client's home or went shopping with her client.
Including travel time and lunch meant that Nancy could only make two appointments in one day. The average appointment was two hours long. So the maximum amount Nancy could earn in one day turned out to be $300. But in order to earn that amount five days per week, Nancy would have to schedule ten different clients, all of whose schedules were able to adapt to whatever times she had available.
This was hopelessly unrealistic. Even if Nancy had been able to make the scheduling work, when would she have had the time to do the marketing required to land that many clients? It turned out that the maximum Nancy could really earn using this model was about $750 per week. After paying her taxes, she couldn't even cover her monthly living expenses
*Impossible Business #2 *Tom is a student who works as a software consultant for midsize company._ _ . He typically charged $80 per hour, and when he landed a contract, it often consisted of 25-100 billable hours.
Because Tom's earning capacity was so high and he disliked marketing, he spent a lot of money on marketing himself indirectly. He purchased display ads in industry journals and directories, mailed expensive brochures to large lists of prospects, paid to exhibit at trade shows, and hired a telemarketer to prospect for him. Tom also worked on contracts that came through agencies, who often took 25-35% of his earnings as their percentage.
Tom is earning as much as $90,000 per year, but he was losing about $15,000 per year in agency commissions, and spending $25,000 per year on marketing. In return for all his hard work, he was earning considerably less than he had at his last job.
*Making the Impossible Possible *New consultants, coaches, and other professionals almost always overestimate how much they can earn and underestimate the amount of time and money required to successfully market themselves. They also forget that they will have to cover not only their living costs and business expenses, but pay self-employment tax, buy their own health insurance, provide for their own retirement, and allow for unpaid vacation and sick time.
If Nancy or Tom had taken the time to sit down with a calculator before starting out in business, they would have quickly discovered that they were on the wrong track. But both of these businesses were able to be rescued.
Molly began selling her time by the day instead of by the hour. She offered her clients a full-day package that consisted of a wardrobe review and consultation in the morning and a shopping trip in the afternoon. By charging $400 per day and scheduling three clients per week, she could earn more than double than she did previously.
She also began offering a monthly one-day image workshop as a way of bringing in more income while giving prospective clients a chance to experience her work. The workshop became her main source of new clients, and marketing the workshop turned out to be easier than marketing her personal services.
Tom learned how to market himself less expensively through networking, speaking, and writing articles. Instead of buying booths at trade shows, he was showcased there as a presenter, and spent time networking with the other attendees. The same publications where he used to run ads now ran his articles. Rather than paying a telemarketer, he started picking up the lunch tab for people he thought could refer him some business.
As a result, his expenses for marketing and commissions dropped from $35,000 per year to $15,000. At the same time, his income rose to $125,000 per year, because as his visibility and reputation grew, his services were more in demand and he could command higher rates.
If earning a decent living as a self-employed professional sometimes seems impossible to you, start asking how it could be possible. What can you change about how you are marketing yourself, how much you are charging, and how you are packaging your services? While it could be that success will come if you just work a little harder, it's more likely that you first need to start working a little differently
About The Author
Jonathan Haryanto is owner of http://SpeedyOnlineProfit.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jonathan recommends you visit: http://www.SpeedyOnlineProfit.com
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Purpose Driven Business
By John Jantsch
I’d like to start this article off with a question. What’s the purpose of a business? Or, perhaps more specifically, what’s the purpose of your business? Do you ever think about that throughout the course of the day? Or, does it only haunt you at night or when you are trying to clear a jam in the copier?
Ten years ago I would have gone with Peter Drucker’s answer – The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Today, after 25 years of business ownership and asking several hundred small business owners this very question, I would have to say that the real purpose of a business is to give the owner of that business more life, more freedom.
In all my years though, I have never had a small business owner give me that answer. Many business owners instinctively go into business with the goal of achieving something that fulfills their dreams, but the making it, fixing it, shipping it quickly consumes. The phone rings and business owner reacts without thought to the demand on the other end.
At some point this wonderful vision of freedom and expression that you had for you business became just the opposite--The monster that methodically took the life right out of you. Has anyone come to realize that your business can rob you of your life it you are willing to let it?
So, what’s the answer?
I think the answer to this puzzle comes down to two things – focus and connection.
Focus involves a discovery, or at least rediscovery, of what you want most out of your life. That knowledge then must become the focus of your thoughts and the basis for your business decision-making. See, unless you know and focus on what more life and more freedom really means to you and only you then you will never be able to go about building a business that delivers it.
Connection is the systematic application of your purpose in life to the day-to-day function of your business. There has been so much written about the need to “leave one’s business behind at the end of the day” and I think that’s part of the problem. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, you can’t leave it so all you do is wrestle with it. Better to find a way to connect your business to your life. Now, in some cases, that may mean making dramatic changes in the way you go about your business, what your business does and who your business serves.
I can’t give you all the answers to life’s most persistent questions in the span of this article, but I can tell you this – Wake up or else. I’m not going to dwell on the “or else” as I suspect you may have already experienced it in some fashion.
I will however leave you with this paraphrased thought from an Ogden Nash poem titled “Portrait Of An Artist As Prematurely Old Man” – Most of will regret our sins of omission, the things we didn’t’ do, far more than the sins of commission, the things we did do. See the full text here.
Find what you want out of life, find what you are willing to leave behind in order to get it and then connect that purpose every single day with what you do and you just may actually catch a glimpse of the magic that owning a small business can bring.
Copyright 2004 John Jantsch
About The Author
John Jantsch is a marketing coach, speaker and best-selling coauthor of Wake Up . . . Live the Life You Love featuring contributions from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Mark Victor Hansen. You can find out more by visiting http://www.JohnJantsch.com.
I’d like to start this article off with a question. What’s the purpose of a business? Or, perhaps more specifically, what’s the purpose of your business? Do you ever think about that throughout the course of the day? Or, does it only haunt you at night or when you are trying to clear a jam in the copier?
Ten years ago I would have gone with Peter Drucker’s answer – The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Today, after 25 years of business ownership and asking several hundred small business owners this very question, I would have to say that the real purpose of a business is to give the owner of that business more life, more freedom.
In all my years though, I have never had a small business owner give me that answer. Many business owners instinctively go into business with the goal of achieving something that fulfills their dreams, but the making it, fixing it, shipping it quickly consumes. The phone rings and business owner reacts without thought to the demand on the other end.
At some point this wonderful vision of freedom and expression that you had for you business became just the opposite--The monster that methodically took the life right out of you. Has anyone come to realize that your business can rob you of your life it you are willing to let it?
So, what’s the answer?
I think the answer to this puzzle comes down to two things – focus and connection.
Focus involves a discovery, or at least rediscovery, of what you want most out of your life. That knowledge then must become the focus of your thoughts and the basis for your business decision-making. See, unless you know and focus on what more life and more freedom really means to you and only you then you will never be able to go about building a business that delivers it.
Connection is the systematic application of your purpose in life to the day-to-day function of your business. There has been so much written about the need to “leave one’s business behind at the end of the day” and I think that’s part of the problem. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, you can’t leave it so all you do is wrestle with it. Better to find a way to connect your business to your life. Now, in some cases, that may mean making dramatic changes in the way you go about your business, what your business does and who your business serves.
I can’t give you all the answers to life’s most persistent questions in the span of this article, but I can tell you this – Wake up or else. I’m not going to dwell on the “or else” as I suspect you may have already experienced it in some fashion.
I will however leave you with this paraphrased thought from an Ogden Nash poem titled “Portrait Of An Artist As Prematurely Old Man” – Most of will regret our sins of omission, the things we didn’t’ do, far more than the sins of commission, the things we did do. See the full text here.
Find what you want out of life, find what you are willing to leave behind in order to get it and then connect that purpose every single day with what you do and you just may actually catch a glimpse of the magic that owning a small business can bring.
Copyright 2004 John Jantsch
About The Author
John Jantsch is a marketing coach, speaker and best-selling coauthor of Wake Up . . . Live the Life You Love featuring contributions from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Mark Victor Hansen. You can find out more by visiting http://www.JohnJantsch.com.
How To Succeed In Your Work At Home Business
Work-at-home business is becoming very popular among the people. It is providing employment for many people especially for household moms. Work-at-home business opportunity offers significant benefits to many parents, because they can earn money by doing their household work.
Although finding a legitimate work at home work can be a bit difficult task, the idea of working from home can be very tempting. There are many work-at-home opportunities, but you must be unique in choosing the right one. There are several ways you can find the best opportunities, the only thing you need is an idea.
Part time jobs are becoming very popular among the people, because they can earn extra income in addition to their regular job. This kind of job offers more flexibility than any other jobs. But the only thing you need is the ability to manage your time and you have to put some efforts to succeed. Your new work at home business requires a serious and it will encourage time and with great undertaking efforts to continue.
So before you try to find a work at home opportunity for yourself, you must be prepared with some of the fundamental issues such as a computer, Internet, and a number of informative books for reference and much patience and time management. If you put all these, then you're ready to go with your new work at home opportunity.
Work-at-home opportunities offers a great benefit to many people, there will be nobody to go about your boss. But while you have to work very hard and spent enough time for the money hatching of a successful business. If you want to succeed in your new work-at-home opportunity, you should know the basics about it and so familiar with it.
So if you're willing to work from your own then start by doing some research on the Internet and finding a perfect work at home opportunity. There are several ways you can find the best opportunities, the only thing you need is an idea. And at the same time you have to be very careful while you work on the Internet, because they are many scams goes around the Internet. So with good coaching and some effort you can certainly succeed in your work-at-home job.
About infoyogis Arthur Maxwell is a business entrepreneur and a author of an e-book. He specializes in showing people how to find a legitimate job from big companies. So sign up today at www.GetARealJobToday.com and get a FREE 10 Days Course on The Ez Way to earn $30 an hour.
Although finding a legitimate work at home work can be a bit difficult task, the idea of working from home can be very tempting. There are many work-at-home opportunities, but you must be unique in choosing the right one. There are several ways you can find the best opportunities, the only thing you need is an idea.
Part time jobs are becoming very popular among the people, because they can earn extra income in addition to their regular job. This kind of job offers more flexibility than any other jobs. But the only thing you need is the ability to manage your time and you have to put some efforts to succeed. Your new work at home business requires a serious and it will encourage time and with great undertaking efforts to continue.
So before you try to find a work at home opportunity for yourself, you must be prepared with some of the fundamental issues such as a computer, Internet, and a number of informative books for reference and much patience and time management. If you put all these, then you're ready to go with your new work at home opportunity.
Work-at-home opportunities offers a great benefit to many people, there will be nobody to go about your boss. But while you have to work very hard and spent enough time for the money hatching of a successful business. If you want to succeed in your new work-at-home opportunity, you should know the basics about it and so familiar with it.
So if you're willing to work from your own then start by doing some research on the Internet and finding a perfect work at home opportunity. There are several ways you can find the best opportunities, the only thing you need is an idea. And at the same time you have to be very careful while you work on the Internet, because they are many scams goes around the Internet. So with good coaching and some effort you can certainly succeed in your work-at-home job.
About infoyogis Arthur Maxwell is a business entrepreneur and a author of an e-book. He specializes in showing people how to find a legitimate job from big companies. So sign up today at www.GetARealJobToday.com and get a FREE 10 Days Course on The Ez Way to earn $30 an hour.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Internet Business Really A Good Business?
Whether you started in internet marketing? If you try to do a little more money each month? Where were you try to get a job you hated and work for you full time as I have been?
How it works for you? If you're like most people in this market, you do not achieve your goals. You could not even be enough to cover your expenses each month.
If so, there is something you need to think about ...
Do you see this as a money maker or as a business?
It might seem there is much difference but there is a subtle but important.
You see, a manufacturer of money is something that can make a little money. It might even make you a lot of money. But there is no security in it. It could all come down around you if something will change one day.
Just ask everyone who went to thousands of dollars in AdSense every month to do nothing when Google shook down on all my spam automatically generated "portal" Web sites.
A company, on the other hand, can be a money maker, but it is built with a solid foundation. It is more that some trick to get your site and for some time.
You provide useful information, products or services to your customers. You should be proud to be associated with what you propose, instead hide your identity because you do not want anyone to know all these ugly websites are yours.
Your company is an asset. If you wanted, you could sell it because you can show it has value. All that this value depends on the amount of time and effort you make it a success.
Quit hunting and the dream of passing a new technique to another. Start building a business. Focusing on something of value and work like the devil until it is successful or you know you've done your utmost to make it happen.
If you did everything you can and it still does not work, do not despair. Learn from your efforts and move to another strategy until you find one that works.
Believe me, you do a lot more money in the long run a successful company you have successfully completed a manufacturer of money.
Have you found this article useful? For more tips & tricks, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques and ideas for a Google ad sense, do please consult for more information on our website: -- [Http://www.adsense.reprintarticlesite.com] (link: Http: / / www.adsense-income-exposed.com)
How it works for you? If you're like most people in this market, you do not achieve your goals. You could not even be enough to cover your expenses each month.
If so, there is something you need to think about ...
Do you see this as a money maker or as a business?
It might seem there is much difference but there is a subtle but important.
You see, a manufacturer of money is something that can make a little money. It might even make you a lot of money. But there is no security in it. It could all come down around you if something will change one day.
Just ask everyone who went to thousands of dollars in AdSense every month to do nothing when Google shook down on all my spam automatically generated "portal" Web sites.
A company, on the other hand, can be a money maker, but it is built with a solid foundation. It is more that some trick to get your site and for some time.
You provide useful information, products or services to your customers. You should be proud to be associated with what you propose, instead hide your identity because you do not want anyone to know all these ugly websites are yours.
Your company is an asset. If you wanted, you could sell it because you can show it has value. All that this value depends on the amount of time and effort you make it a success.
Quit hunting and the dream of passing a new technique to another. Start building a business. Focusing on something of value and work like the devil until it is successful or you know you've done your utmost to make it happen.
If you did everything you can and it still does not work, do not despair. Learn from your efforts and move to another strategy until you find one that works.
Believe me, you do a lot more money in the long run a successful company you have successfully completed a manufacturer of money.
Have you found this article useful? For more tips & tricks, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques and ideas for a Google ad sense, do please consult for more information on our website: -- [Http://www.adsense.reprintarticlesite.com] (link: Http: / / www.adsense-income-exposed.com)
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