How To Improve Your Home Business

With A Few Easy Ideas!

By Bill Fletcher

No matter your experience level with a home business, there are constantly new ideas coming around that could help boost your income.  There has never been a better time to establish a home business than now, but with any business it take time and effort.  Planning-4-Success is a site that offers suggestions and advice for anyone interested in building a home based business, affiliate business, network marketing and how to blog ideas.

While you are here, look around at the various articles and see if one gives you ideas or suggestions to help you in your business.

So let’s begin on “How To Improve Your Home Business With A Few Easy Ideas”

Beginning

When thinking of a home business many think of Network Marketing, or MLM.  Many people operate an Affiliate Marketing business from home and  a blogging business.  A good friend has a Internet Marketing business he operates from home and is very successful.  These are just a few that comes to mind.  A home business can take on many forms from hobbies to healthcare.  From weight  loss to water filters.

What Is A Home Based Business?

A home business is a small business that operates from the business owner’s home office. In addition to location, home businesses are usually defined by having a very small number of employees, usually all immediate family of the business owner, in which case it is also be a family business. …

 Home-Based Businesses

What do Apple Computer, Hershey’s, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and the Ford Motor Company have in common? These well-known corporations all started out as home-based businesses. In fact, more than half of all U.S. businesses are based out of an owner’s home.

Starting a home-based business has many rewards as well as challenges. This article provides some resources and advice that will help you learn more about working out of your house, starting a home-based business and managing your business within the law.

Before You Begin

Can you live and work in the same area? Find the answer by asking yourself the following questions: Where in the home will the business be located? What adjustments to living arrangements will be required? What will be the cost of changes? How will your family react? What will the neighbors think?

Home-Based Business….Is it For Me? Is working from home right for you? Learn about several factors you should consider when starting a home-based business. This is an SBA site.

Starting a Business in Your Home: Weighing the Pros and Cons. Have you thought about the characteristics and challenges that are most commonly involved in launching home-based businesses? View the pros and cons before you begin a home-based business.

Marketing a Home-Based Business

There are several ways to market your business and get in touch with your customers. Customers are a key component to businesses success. Learn how to successfully market your home-based business: Home-Based Business – Market Your Product.  This is an SBA site.

Part of your marketing mix is the social media programs.  You should be marketing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, Better Networker and a host of other social media program.  This will allow “branding” as well as finding prospects and customers for your business.

Tax Advantages

A home business does have some tax advantages.  As I’m not a tax expert, I advise you check with your tax adviser for to see what you may be able to deduct.  However, if you run a business out of your home, don’t miss out on tax deductions for office equipment.  If you buy a piece of equipment, such as a computer or desk, that is only or primarily used for business functions, you can claim 100% of the cost of that item as a tax deductible the year it was purchased.  Again, check with your tax adviser for the latest IRS rules.

Pay estimated taxes. For a home business owner, it is preferable to pay your taxes four times a year. Unless you want a shock when it’s tax time, contact the IRS and set up a payment process. Not only are you responsible for regular tax, you will have to pay self-employment tax.

Keep a record of your business related mileage. You can use this information to receive a tax break. They credit you per mile that you drive, which adds up to a nice sum at the end of the year. Create a spreadsheet to help you with this process and keep a copy in your car to remind you to write down your information at the end of a trip.

You are likely going to need additional insurance to cover your home business. Check with your insurance agent to learn if there is any insurance that is required by law or that will protect you from any kind of financial fall-out if anything negative was to happen. Your agent will be able to help you or send you to a company that can.

Then comes the question of structure.  Are you a S-Corp, Partnership, Corporation, LLC?  That is a topic in it’s self.  I will address that question in another article.

Location

Find an area in your home that is peaceful and quiet and make this area your designated work station. This should not be an area that already has a purpose, like the kitchen or your bedroom. Keep it private and free from things that will distract you from work.  I have an area called the “war room”.  My family knows that when I am in the “war room” I am working.

Now having said that, a close friend started his business in the kitchen.  Not the best place but it worked.  Since then, he bought a 5,000 sq foot home and has an office overlooking a lake and woods.

Telephone

Add an extra telephone line into your home office. By doing this, you alleviate the risk of having other family members (especially children) answer your phone. While your family members may have the best intentions at heart, they may not treat the important client phone call with the amount of professionalism that it truly needs.

Since your home is also your work place, make a point to get out of the house on a regular basis. Don’t isolate yourself for the sake of convenience. Go have lunch in the park, grab your coffee at a bookstore, etc. Just make sure you are out breathing fresh air at least once a day.  Take a weekend off or a week day to relax.  The worst thing you can do is to ignore the family or friends.

True story:  While building my Multi-level business or MLM, one of my mentors, Jan and Mike spent so much time at their business they forgot how to be a family.  Several years after I got to know them, they divorced.  Mike told me that they just grew apart and lost the “fun” in their marriage.

Blogging For Money

Marketing your services or products online is a great way to get your business known.  There are a number of free ways that you can make your business more visible, including article marketing, blogging and social networking.  All these methods will increase both your traffic and your profit margin.

Blogging to make money is fun, easy and can be very profitable.  However, blogging will take time.  The biggest mistake I see many armature bloggers make is to start their blogging business, work at it for several months and then become disappointed in the lack of responses and income.

Professional bloggers knows that it take months to start seeing any traffic to their blog.  Can blogging make money?  The answer is a diffident.. YES!  The question then is, “can I make money blogging?”  The answer is a little more difficult to answer.

A lot of factors goes into “can I make money blogging?”  Things like: are you disciplined enough to blog everyday?  What are your goals?  If you are trying to make money as a home based business or Internet business, can you set up a blog, autoresponder, payment forms, and other necessary requirements?

If not, may I suggest you spend $25 to learn more about blogging and an already set-up blog platform.  You can CLICK HERE to see a FREE VIDEO.

It’s important to advertise your home based business. This will bring you more customers which means more money for you and your business.  Free advertisement can be done by blogging about your products and/or services using a social media site like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Before starting any home business, be sure to research your market fully. If your product is something that your target market doesn’t want or need, you won’t make many sales. Rather than spending all your energy trying to force the market to buy your product, spend that energy designing and promoting a product the market wants or desires.

Anticipating your customers needs and questions will go a long way towards your success. Preparation is the key to staying on track and handling whatever comes your way. The more you know, the more your business can grow.

Thanks to the Small Business Administration for adding to this article.

Enjoy,

PS:  Setting up a blog and operating a blog may be difficult for some people.  Here is a program where all that is done for you.  Simple become a member..do a few personal set-ups and you’re in your very own business with a powerful blog.  Click here for a FREE video.