Questions You Should Ask When Selecting The Right Home Based Business for You.

If you have been looking around for ideas on how to start running your own home based business, you may find the number of options available a bit overwhelming. To help you decide on the right business for you, here are some questions that we think you should ask. Having the answers to these should give your a more complete picture on how each business opportunity will suit you.

Will you get adequate training and support?
Do you need to have previous experience in the business?
Is there sufficient mentoring st startup and in the future?
What networking facilities are available? Are there meetings and conferences related to your business that you can attend?
Will you be able to work the hours that suit you for example in the mornings/evenings or at weekends?
What kind of start up payment is required?
What are the estimated running cost of the business?
Will your home business be still in demand in future years?
What kind of income are you likely to earn in a year?
When should you expect to start earning money?
Will you need to travel to run your business?
What changes will you need to make at home eg new computer, new car?

If you'e still not sure, try to speak to someone who is already running this type of business and ask them to share any other information they think helps. Good Luck!

Marketing Your New Home Based Business

If you’ve just made the leap from paid employment to operating a home based business – well done! The next step to think about is how to increase your sales or build your client base. There are many options available when it comes to marketing your business but the options you chose will depend on your products or services. We’ve compiled this list of methods that you might consider:

Networking
Get in touch with local business associations and other groups. Hand out your business cards at meetings and try to attend their functions and charity auctions.
Online Networking
If you have tried out Facebook and Twitter then now is a good time to consider it. Many business operators are using social networking online as a way to increase their business contacts and exchange information.
Newspaper
If you have a local newspaper, get in touch with them. If you are willing to purchase some advertising from them, they may consider running a story on your new business.
Website
No matter what business your in, a website is usually a “must” these days. Even if your sales approach is to contact your prospective clients directly, a good website gives you some credibility and is somewhere clients can find out more about you and your business.
Brochures
Create a brochure about your products and services and send it out to businesses or people who may require your services.
Google and Search Engines
If it is likely that people will search for your products or services online, then make sure your website is found easily. Consider a Google Adwords PPC (pay per click) campaign or have some Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work done on your website.
Directories
Make sure your business is listed in all industry directories especially those that list local businesses.
Ebooks
Consider writing an eBook or publishing a free information booklet so you can share some of your knowledge with prospective clients.
Magazine Advertisement
Are there traditional magazines or ezines related to your services? If so, consider taking out a small regular advertisement.
Introduce Yourself
If your services are in the B2B category, approach people who might use your services directly and introduce yourself.
Forums
Look for Internet forums related to your products or services and get involved. You may be able to answer people’s questions or bring up topics where you can be seen as an expert. Try not to overdo it when mentioning your business or you may get banned from the forum.

There's lots of other options available to you. Get online and do some research and speak to others in a business similar to you. Also try to measure your success when trying a new marketing option. That way you can work out which options are working the best for you and your business.

From The Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Benefits of Working from Home

The benefits of working from home may seem obvious to most people but you might be surprised at just how may advantages there really are. If you’re still not convinced that it’s right for you, have a look at some of the great reasons below why we think working from home can offer a wonderful lifestyle.

No more arriving home late from work after getting stuck in traffic
No more office politics or boring office functions.
Most people notice a huge decrease in stress levels when working from home
Save money by eating at home instead of buying lunches and snacks
Save money on your fuel bill or the cost of public travel
No more parking fees if you currently drive a car to work.
If you normally use a car to drive to work, you will reduce the wear and tear on your vehicle and the number of kilometers you travel each year. This will result in a reduction in cost for servicing the car
Think of all the tax benefits of running a business from your home. You may be able to claim a tax rebate so speak to your accountant.
With no time spent travelling to work, you’ll gain extra time to spend with your family or on hobbies
You can choose what you do and when you do it – if you need to put on the dinner in the middle of the afternoon, no problem. If you feel like doing some extra work before bed, no problem.
You’ll save on having to buy an office wardrobe or uniform

Of course, all this comes with a price. You will be responsible for your own work and how much you earn is very likely to depend on the quality of your efforts. Saying that, most people who decide to run a business from home find they are much more motivated to succeed when you’re income depends on it. It’s also easier to work in an environment where the hours are flexible and the boss is exceptionally nice!

From The Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Tips on how to Maintain the Privacy of Your Home

If you run a home based business, it’s very important to create some sort of separation between your working life and your private life.

It can often be quite difficult to maintain the privacy of your home and be accessible to clients at the same time. If you run a home business where clients can drop in easily, then this is even more difficult to maintain. Yet, you have to be available to your clients. So how do you find a balance between privacy and accessibility?

Exactly how much of your privacy that can be retained will depend in upon what type of business you are running. If you are selling goods you’re your customers need to collect, or you are a home based consultant, then you can’t avoid customers attending your residence, but you can certainly limit it.

A number of work from home people we have spoken to agree that having a separate designated work area in your house is the key to maintaining your home’s privacy. If it is possible, use a separate room for meetings etc. Theis way clients will not need to go into the main living area of your home. Once a client arrives, take them straight to the consultancy room or office.

We also recommend that you try to assign certain times in your day to work time. This way you’ll be able to control when your clients visit your home and when you are working against when you have family or free time. Setting a time during which items must be collected or appointments scheduled allows you to determine how many hours of the day you’ll keep private. If customers are used to dropping by unannounced, you might find that one or two persist in doing it after you’ve advised them of the change. If that’s the case, there are two ways to tackle the problem.

The first is to put a small sign on your door advising that items may only be collected during certain hours. For the customer who doesn’t seem to care and continues to turn up whenever it suits them, there’s a very simple but effective solution - not answering the door. Nobody likes a wasted trip and the chances are you’ll only have to do it once before they get the message.

The telephone can be just as intrusive especially mobile phones as you can receive calls even when you are not in your home. If you really need to control when you want to answer business calls then it might be worth investing in a separate telephone line or mobile phone. Don’t answer this phone before or after work hours. You can use message bank when you’re busy with a client or have a job to rush through and don’t want the interruptions.

As you probably already know, working at home has so many benefits attached to it but it’s also easy to overlook problem areas. Having privacy in your home and your free time to yourself is important. Your home is your private sanctuary and you’ll really start to miss that if you allow customers to invade your privacy at any hour. It doesn’t take much effort to maintain this privacy and we believe it will be well worth it.

From The Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Ideas for Decorating Your Home Office

Are you finally able to take that step and start working from home? If you are, you’re possibly about to experience one of the best times of your life. The freedom and control that working at home affords you is utter luxury if you’re accustomed to working for an employer. To ensure that your work from home experience gets off to a great start, it may be time to look at how you can improve your workspace. If you’re lucky enough to have a separate home office then that’s fantastic. Of course not everyone has the luxury of a spare room they can turn into an office, but whether you are taking over the guest room or using a corner in your garage, it’s important to make it your own. Here are some good reasons for this:

It’s important to have a defined work area so that when you are in that space, you are working and not getting easily distracted. Having a defined work area will help your productivity and you’ll be less likely to become distracted.
When working at home you’ll often need discipline to ensure you spend sufficient time working. It’s important to be able to close the door and block out any distractions.
Personalising your work area is psychologically beneficial! It becomes a reminder that you are in control and that this is your space and your business!
Feeling professional and well organised will help you work in a professional and organised manner. What better way to begin than with a well set out and pleasant looking office space. You’ll look forward to starting work every Monday!

Wherever your home office is situated, try to give your space a makeover that is practical, but also one you will enjoy daily. Consider:

Repainting the room. Giving the walls a new colour can completely change the feel or a room
Hanging your favourite artwork or personal framed certificates on walls
Using physical items relating to your business creatively for example if you work in the IT industry, the boards and chips from inside an old computer can make unusual nick-knacks
Selecting a funky fun phone
Purchasing new furniture that is ideal for your work. If your budget doesn’t stretch to this, look our for interesting second hand stuff
Labelling filing draws or shelves for that feeling of efficiency and organisation
Loading up a book shelf with relevant publications and interesting reading
Buying a trendy magazine rack to store your industry publications
Creating your own motivational sign to remind you of your goal. Place it somewhere you will see it everyday

Working from your home office will be the beginning of a new lifestyle for you and your family. Decorating your home office space should be an enjoyable part of this. It’s symbolic of the changes you are about to experience – out with the old and in with the new!

From The Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Family Time for Home-Based Workers

For many people who have decided to start a home based business, one of the main benefits is the desire to spend more time with family. Another major objective is often to create a flexible lifestyle that allows for more recreational and family activities. Once you start your new life working from home, it’s important not to lose sight of these objectives.

A home based business can be like any business in that the owner works very hard to build up the client base and increase the turnover. As the business owner, the desire to do well is significantly higher than when you are working for an employer. If you aren’t careful, your family members may soon be gently suggesting to you that you’re working longer hours than you were working before!

Here are some signs that you are working too many hours:

You’re eating meals in the study or at your desk and while you work
Your kids/partner have stopped asking you if you want to join in family activities
You’ve stopped complaining about the “rubbish your children watch on tv” as you no longer care
Your partner forgot to invite you to a barbecue at your house last weekend!
You recently turned down an invitation to something you’ve always enjoyed such as a game of golf, a free day spa treatment
You think about work last thing at night and first thing in the morning

If spending more time with your family was your primary objective in setting up your work from home operation, then you’ve got to make it work that way for you. Here are a few suggestions for keeping your work practices in line with your original objectives:

Have one or two days off where you do not do any work related activity – bliss!
Take extra time off when you can. You are the boss! It’s amazing how less urgent jobs become when you tell someone you are booked up for the next weel or so and cannot do it in the time frame they’re requesting
Plan family activities in advance and don’t cast them aside for work. Use a calendar to mark them on so that you won’t forget
Plan your work around your scheduled family activities rather than schedule your family activities around your work

If you work from home, the chances are you are a person who values time with family and want a more flexible lifestyle. Keep sight of that goal. Remember, when you’re working at home, there is nobody looking over your shoulder. Consider your family your most important client and put them first.

From The Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Best of Both Worlds

In our writings we cover a lot of practical issues about working in a home business. There is also another aspect. That of aspirations. What we want out of life. There is a lot of emphasis on goal setting when people start to get definite about what they want. However, it is not always easy to come up with specific goals until you are actually in the home business and experience its potential.

What we suggest as a starter in developing your goals is to look at what the term "Best of Both Worlds" conjures up for you. For some of us it is a safe job and lots of time with the family - because generally when we have a safe job we usually have to work long hours to make sure it is secure, hence little time left for the family. Others want to make a lot of money and have lots of free time to pursue their interests and hobbies. Again, unless we inherit or win the lottery, to consistently make a lot of money it takes lots of effort, time and total dedication with little time for anything else.

We came from a situation of having made very good money running a software business, then investing in others while we semi retired. It didn't work because we weren't actively monitoring the businesses or the people we invested in. So we looked at what we wanted, our "Best of Both Worlds" - is to be hands on again in something we enjoy and have the freedom of living like we are semi retired. That means having the freedom to take days off when we want, have the money to travel, be home after school and on school holidays for the children. So that's what we looked for. A business we could run from home, marketing products we could relate to and with the potential for travel and the structure to make multiple 6 figures per year with ultimate goal of making 7 figures.

With that in mind we searched for an internet business, followed up franchise opportunities in magazines, went to business exhibitions. We concluded that the best opportunity with our requirements was to learn to be network marketers. Robert Kyosaki sums it up best - network marketing is the only opportunity which has a very high upside, low entry point compared to brick and mortar or franchise businesses, and have the added advantage that the Company provides the product, packaging, warrant, guarantee, delivery, invoicing and most of all comprehensive training.Tony Robbins is also a great proponent of home based network marketing.

We have been in our network marketing home based business specialising in personal development for two years. All that Robert says turned out true for us. That is because we delivered our part of the bargain. We were prepared to learn new skills, we stay consistent in following the company training and system and we have been diligent in working our business to the best of our ability, never dropping the ball on quality and service.

So when you are considering looking for a new way to work, live and play, ask yourself what are the "Best of Both Worlds" that I'm or we are looking for.

From the Desk of

Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Home Based Business Mindset

Fundamentally the operation of a home based business is similar to a traditional bricks and mortar business. You need a product or service, communication skills and communication technology, computer, telephone, marketing, promotion and a great desire to achieve. That is the same in any business on the planet no matter if it is in the AMP tower overlooking Sydney Harbour, or a factory in Wollongong, or selling seconds out of a truck at a market.

The most significant difference about starting and successfully running a home based business is your mindset. Your personal belief system comes right to the fore. Why, mostly because you are the owner and the driving force of the business. The buck stop with you. That is why it is imperative that you choose a home business that you like the look and feel of, you like the products or service, use them yourself and promote them from a place of total integrity.

You mindset has to one of expecting others to see what you see. If you are into personal development and have seen or read The Secret then you will appreciate that we attract what we think about most. It is a long held view that we all grow to the level of expectation our parents imposed up on us. This has proven to be a good thing but at times has also been a disaster. However, when we set the expectation on ourselves and others we are driving towards our desired results.

If coming from a job there is a major shift in Mindset required. The mindset that makes a successful employee is not going work as well in a home business. An employee needs to be compliant, fit in, not rock the boat, work diligently towards the next promotion or payrise. Inevitably there is a lot of being used to accepting the boss, or the department head is right or must be followed.

In a home business you are the boss, you are the business owner. As long as you act ethically you are not obliged to follow other peoples agenda unless it suits you. You pick and choose your suppliers. You can filter your potential clients - not everyone is suitable for the things you are promoting. You choose your hours and how you promote yourself. You start to develop the mindset of an independant decision maker. Well and truly the buck stops with you. It can be a big jump for some of us.

It is a jump we must make, because we need to accept that we are in a serious business that can have a significant impact on our lives. Therefore we need to have a plan and then take action constantly, without being concerned what our "supervisor" thinks. For we have no supervisor.

When choosing a home based business it is important to enquire whether there is mindset and personal development training as well as product and marketing training. The wonderful about taking the step from employee to home business owner is that it will challenge you to become the best you can be, and then better again. As you get better at what you do and how you run your business then the business grows - and a growing business is a good barometer for how much you are improving handling the business and this spills over into your private life as well.

So if you are ready for change and challenges that will force you to grow as an individual then he right home business may be just what the doctor ordered. A good dose of "working from home"!!!!

From the desk of
Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Networking for the Home Business Owner

Networking can be an important marketing tool for any business, but it’s particularly important for the home-based business owner for two reasons.

The first reason is that as many business operators will tell you, a large portion of their work comes from personal referrals. Referrals don’t just come from people you’ve completed work for – they come from people you’ve met and handed your business cards to. When someone you’ve introduced yourself to hears someone say they are looking for a person with your skills, there’s a good chance they’ll say “I know someone who does that...I’ve got their card here”. Networking generates referrals!

Not everyone has a social nature. Certainly many people who choose to work from home rather than in an active workplace environment may not like the idea of attending functions to network. Even if you’re not inclined towards personal networking, you should attempt it. Joining a local small business association is a good start – you’ll meet some like minded people and you may even begin to enjoy networking!
Another good reason a home business operator should network is simply to get out and keep in touch. When you first switch from a traditional workplace environment to your home office, you might find it a little isolating. If you work alone all day you may feel you’re missing out on the chat and gossip at the office. If you’re used to an active and interesting workplace, you might find working alone quite boring. Another thing you may miss is the support and information previously provided by colleagues. Some of this can be replaced by networking.

Networking Options

Joining industry associations is a fabulous form of networking. Not only does it offer you contacts in your industry, it will also help you keep up with changes and trends. Most professional associations have electronic newsletters and you may also be able to access member discounts for products and services relevant to your business.

If you’re not comfortable with personal networking, you’ll find entire communities of people like yourself networking online. There are forums and online groups you can join and many of these are related to home business enterprises and groups. Among these, you’ll find forums and groups for affiliate marketers, work at home mums, marketing and website workers, writers, and many more. By joining one or two of these groups, you may be introduced to a great network of people that can answer questions when you get stuck, give you the benefit of their experience or simply have a chat when you need a break from your work.

You can combine “social networking” with business networking by signing up to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Sites like Twitter can also provide you with a wealth of information about the types of work people are doing from home and how they’re doing it. You can get to know your competition – and even chat to some of the friendly ones!

As a home business owner and operator, if you can make networking work to your advantage you might find you begin to enjoy it. Whatever options you choose, we wish you the best of luck!

From the desk of
Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards:

Take Total Control of your Life!

Do your family and friends often refer to you as a “control freak”? If the answer is yes, then it’s likely that you would find the idea of running a home based business very enticing. One of the biggest advantages of running your own business from home is that you are in charge of everything and you are in control.

Another reason to look at taking control of your life and work is if you’re a no-nonsense hard working individual and feel you would love to throw all your enthusiasm and energy into your own business. If you cannot abide office politics or colleagues who expend more effort avoiding a task than it would take to do it, then a home based business is the one for you.

No matter how appealing you find the idea, think long and hard before stepping out of your paid employment. Whilst the idea of total control is very appealing, the down side of running your own business is that you will also be solely responsible for every aspect of it. Your familiar job title will be a thing of the past. Unless you have significant financial resources and plan on outsourcing some tasks, you’ll be wearing all the hats.

If the thought of this makes you panic, relax and think about it a little more. Make a list of the skills you might need to operate your business. If you are lacking in any areas, go in search of the knowledge you’ll need. If you have no marketing knowledge, do some research and start looking at what other businesses are doing. You might even find you can enroll in a basic marketing course to learn a little about it and gain some confidence. If the service you will be offering from your business is one other businesses (such as an accountant) might use, why not offer them a service swap?

Once you decide that a home based business is for you, begin to plan ahead. Unless you have plenty of back up savings, don’t leave a paid job before you are ready and reasonably confident you can generate an income from home. If you are able to, start your home based business before leaving your employment, and work on building up your clientele part time. Alternatively, if you can afford to do so, consider dropping your employment to part time so you can start spending time on your new business. Decide exactly how you will approach building your home business up and make a plan, listing the steps you need to take to achieve you goals.

Having a home based business certainly gives you a great deal of control over your working day, your work environment and your life. You may have to work hard but just remember that even though you can end up doing tasks you don’t particularly enjoy, you’re in control!

From the desk of
Richard & Kerrianne Cartmer-Edwards: