Home Based Business

Ah a new decade is upon us. Have you taken sometime this week to consider what your goals will be for 2010?

I can’t believe we are already in a new decade. It just seems like not that long ago we were all concerned with Y2K and the impending computer crashes that actually never happened. But as you look back, are you happy with your results? Some are, but I predict many are not satisfied and probably unhappy in their current situation. So what went so wrong? Any ideas? Maybe part of the problem is how you approached the past decade. Did you make any short and long term goals? Again some did but most probably didn’t.

Its time to sit down and write out some of your goals. Now, don’t make pie in the sky goals that you know you will not achieve. I think you should stretch yourself to the point it hurts, but not so much that you give up prior to even getting started. I see it time and time again, a new year, big dreams that just seem to fizzle out for various reasons.

Here’s some tips to getting off the new decade and new year in the right way:

Decide what you want to accomplish. For example, are you looking to make an extra $500, 1000 or perhaps even a few thousand dollars by the end of the year. Great, but what will you actually do to achieve that. Don’t be vague about it either. If you are in network marketing, then you know based on the compensation plan, what it will take for you to make a part time extra income or full time.

If you are doing organic keyword search results, then you need to plan out the next year on what types of keywords you are going after and whether its a short term or long term goal. The reason for that, is depending on which keywords you target, they will take a little time or perhaps even a couple of years.

I read recently that too many people focus on the big categories, while leaving the low lying easy to pick fruit near the ground with little to no competition. So just be aware of what you want to accomplish and more importantly how will you actually get there.

Are you prioritizing your work activities?

Hmmm, time to get going because the single biggest obstacle to achieving your results this year will be you. Don’t blame it on someone else if you don’t get to where you want to be. Nope, the road to success can and often times is a lonely one travelled. I never said its not worth it, but its time intensive.

If you work a full time job, which most of us probably do, then you need to carve out some time at night and on the weekends. Sorry, but the truth is the truth. Making money no matter what you do takes time, patience and most importantly consistency. Keep doing alittle each day and before long, you will start to see some progress.

What is your Why for doing what you are doing in your home based business. Too often we look at some guy or gal on stage showing how much they made, but worse yet they make it seem so easy. The truth is that the individual on stage has some battle scars to prove how difficult it has been for them. What I mean by that is they probably have been involved in various home businesses before, so in one sense, yes its been easier for them, but getting to that pivatol point was not easy.

Sit down this week and really think about what you want this year.

Well, enough said, its time to get back to being productive and making some money in my home based business opportunity.

Cheers

I was reading the morning news and noticed one article from the news paper complaining about the national unemployment rate hitting 10.2 percent in the US. Most economists have predicted that despite the stimulus spending, job growth will always lag behind economic growth. Makes sense – right?

The systemic problem that I continue to see as a major hurdle is a reliance on people looking for a job instead of investing in their own future. Part of that problem seems to be apathy. People are fed up and upset because the government didn’t give them a job. News flash, nobody owes you a job or a living. You are responsible for your life, not someone else. Governments can create incentives for companies to want to do business in a particular country, state or local city. The idea that somehow my government is responsible is ridiculous.

The good news is that as the economy tanked in the past year, home based business ideas are flourishing. Would you like to know why? It’s because you get to control your future and not some be left to stress about having a job next week. Oh sure, starting a home based business is not for most people, but why not? It certainly could be if you took the necessary time to educate yourself about the basics in having a home based business.

Being involved in home businesses for the last 15 years, I certainly have learned my fair share of hard valuable lessons along the way. I had made plenty of mistakes as well.

Here’s a few things that I have learned to assist you in making an informed decision when looking for the right home based business opportunity.

The Company – how stable is the particular company that you are thinking about getting involved in? In other words, has the company just started up operations or have then been around for a few years. Most start-ups by the way won’t last in this industry due to competition.

Products or services – are they unique or in high demand? Most people checking out a company’s products or services don’t spend enough time really thinking about the market potential in my opinion. They sometimes get pressured to make a decision. I agree if you are thinking about getting involved in a business that costs less than $100, it’s not a big deal in my mind to go for it, if you have done some preliminary homework on the business model etc. If the price is significantly higher, then certainly you need to invest more time in getting your questions answered.

Management – how seasoned is the management team? I have seen many instances in which a company gets started only to fail in the first couple of years due to a lack of experience in the corporate office. To have stability and long term viability in any business, requires experience management period. Don’t short cut this process if you are starting a business. Make sure you base your decision to hire someone based on their experience. After all, if you are investing any significant money, you need to be prudent.

Training and Support – this is a huge and critically important area to make everything work. Without front office support and proper training, individuals trying to start a home based business opportunity will find it next to impossible to succeed. I have seen way too many companies fail in this one area and only to see thousands of individuals dreams and aspirations destroyed because of greedy owners. We are talking about people’s lives here, so pay attention owners. Give the proper training and support. In return, you will have a long term viable business.

With the internet becoming such a prominent role in most home businesses to make money, it’s absolutely important to have the proper IT structure in place. I remember one company that has been around for over 20 years utilizing out of date technology for many years. In the past few years, this company, which I won’t mention has turned around the IT foundation to become one of the leading companies in state of the art technology. They are constantly updating and investing in new equipment. In fact, this company has probably invested over 40 million dollars in just the past 3 years. This is an example of what to look out for when checking out companies.

I only go with companies that have the necessary equipment and technology in place, because I like utilizing the internet as the main way to promote any home based business.

Upline Support – Leadership – who is going to be your coach? We all need coaches or mentors in life. Part of the building process that I learned many years ago is to ensure one has a coach or mentor to assist them. Without one, you are on a uphill battle. Whatever company you ultimately decide, make sure you have good support from the leaders above you. Work daily with your coach.

Can you build your business via the internet? You would be surprised, but there are still many companies that do not allow direct advertising of their businesses. Part of the problem is a failure by the affiliate member making exaggerated claims on making money. The FTC has new rules in place and you better know up front that the old days of making exaggerated claims is gone. If you do and they find out, they will shut you down. If you live in another country, they can still go after your host provider or the company directly if they are in the US. So do yourself a favor now and don’t be a noob in making false claims.

Bottom line, if any company doesn’t allow you to utilize the power of the internet, I won’t even look at doing business with them. I don’t care how great there products or services are. I use the internet and it’s the way I do business. Many people like the other approaches like personal contacts, having 1 on 1 meetings. I find it archaic to build a business with so much great technology available today. I do see more companies having better videos that you can upload to your personal website and more companies are being forced to go this route if they wish to stay competitive.

Those companies that don’t adapt and change, will be left in the dust. Entrepreneurs have become busy savvy and demand much more from companies.

Compensation Plans – what type and how much are they paying out? This is probably the most problematic for most companies. Paying out a reasonable amount to stay competitive, yet being able to make a decent profit. Based on figures, it would seem that around 50 percent is a reasonable amount for both the affiliate member and company owners. After all, they took the risk and set up the infrastructure for your benefit. If a company states they will pay out anything about 50 percent, you really need to examine that, because in my opinion anything above 60 percent is a danger point for you and the company to stay viable long term.

So after you decide to go with a company, now what?

In other words, you need to formulate a plan of attack on how you will build your actual business. Like I stated above, I use the internet because I have the expertise to do so. Other’s may not be comfortable or have the necessary knowledge and will do it other ways like calling up their friends, family or buying leads. This is where the real work starts. Everything else you have done up to this point is gathering information, learning about the company and products.

The number one priority of any business is prospecting. It’s all a numbers game. Those that expose their business to the most people win. Plan and simple. People tend to over complicate this important and critical part of the process. They discuss at length, about saying this or that and what happens if the person sez this, what do I counter with.

The only way to get really good at prospecting is by actually doing it. Don’t try and shortcut this process, cause it will be an expensive and time consuming experiment if you do. Trust me, been there and done that. I got really good at prospecting because I have talked to literally thousands of people on the phone over the years. I never said having financial independence was easy, but it’s worthwhile.

If you don’t like the old fashion ways of building a business, like talking to friends and family or buy leads, then have a look at some other home based business ideas within a team environment

Click Here

Home Based Business Ideas

If you are considering another source of income, there are literally thousands of home based business ideas. And with the condition of the global economy, many people are taking this route with the hope of earning extra income. Some people are actually being forced into this because they have lost their jobs. There are many different types of businesses that one could start and a good place to look for the right one is the Internet. Many people who start a business of their own usually will know something about the product or service they will be offering. However, many people will get involved in a business and have very little knowledge about their product.

Sometimes we think we know more than we actually do. Not in the sense of being arrogant, but because we have been involved in a certain occupation for a number of years. For example if you were a construction worker you might start a construction business because that is what you know. Just because you were a great construction worker does not mean you will be a great owner of a construction business. It requires a different set of skills. Most often, when people start a construction business they don’t treat it like a real business, they treat it like a JOB. They were use to coming to work and doing what they are told. Now they are the owner (the boss) and this requires them to do different things in different ways.

This is what happens with people that start their own home based business. They have some background but fail to realize that they really don’t have the specialized skills to run a business. Studies indicate that 97% of all home based businesses fail. I don’t agree with that. I believe they just stop trying to build a business; they just gave up because they couldn’t stand the heat, so “they got out of the kitchen”, so to speak. They didn’t treat their business like a business, but a hobby. You have to realize that a home based business is “serious business” and requires your full attention and hard work.

The fact that there are so many home based business ideas available seems to give people the idea that having such a business is not really difficult. The industry has painted this picture so that people have the impression that a home business is very different from the traditional store front business. They also talk about the big money you can make. Then people come in and expect to make $50,000 in 3 days because that is what they were told, which is an out and out lie! Come on now, think about it and use common sense. There are no free rides in this world. You have to do it the old fashioned way by working. Folks, there are not shortcuts. Building any business online or offline takes time.
You can and you will make money on the Internet with a home based business, if you treat your business like a real business and continue to learn the new skills that are required of you in your business.

People have to realize that just about any business opportunity will require hard work and dedication. The fact the you run it out of your home or even on the computer does not mean it is any easier. This is one of the reasons why so many people quit most MLM companies. They didn’t realize how much work was involved. People make the assumption that it is easy and are disappointed when reality hits them. Rather than work hard they simply give up and quit.

As mentioned, many home based business ideas are centered around the Internet, and most of these are related to multi level marketing. However, again people think that it is all too easy. Like anything you want to be successful with, you have to be committed. The Internet is evolving at a fast pace, so continued learning is an absolute must. Get your creative juices flowing and you can think of a business in something you love to do and have the necessary expertise. Also, search the Internet for home based business ideas that fit what you enjoy doing. In other words, perform due diligence until you find the perfect fit for you.

Learn About a Unique Opportunity

Jed Tooke