ckbidms.info

Working from home has many advantages – and, just about as many disadvantages. This article, the sixth in the series on working from home, explores those advantages and disadvantages.ADVANTAGES Of Working At Home:Flexible Work Schedule – subject only to communication needs with people in different time zones, you can work just about when you want to, or when schedule permits.Short Commute – from your bedroom to wherever your home workplace is going to be. And think of the reduction in commuting costs – you save money as well as time.No Handicap or Travel Restrictions – working from home is ideal for someone who is disabled or partially disabled and who may have difficulty getting to and from work, or in the workplace. Also travel, required in many jobs, is never a factor, so someone like a single mom with children to care for, does not have to deal with that problem.Tax Deduction For Use Of A Home Office – for many people who work at home, this can be a big one. You are allowed to deduct expenses for that portion of your home that you use for business. But be cautious, deduction for business use of the home can be a red flag for tax auditors. To make sure you are deducting only those expenses you are entitled to see IRS publication 587. For more information go to business.gov and look for “Business Use Of Home.”You’re The BOSS – you no longer work for an demanding insensitive (and sometimes stupid) individual. Now you’re the big cheese, you make the decisions, you set the schedule. One of the most common answers I hear when I ask why did you leave your job is “I couldn’t get along with my boss.”DISADVANTAGES OF WORKING AT HOME:You’re The BOSS – wait, you say “I thought that was an advantage?” Yes, but as one of my mentors, Michael Gerber, used to say “Be careful about going into business for yourself. You may go from working for a demanding insensitive and sometimes stupid boss, to find yourself working for a dithering idiot.” And, when you begin to feel the pressure of cash flow, decision making, scheduling, and seeing all the hats you will have to wear as an entrepreneur, you may find this all too true.Lack of Benefits – paid vacation, paid holidays, sick days, health insurance – all gone. You’re on your own now and you suddenly realize just how much those benefits were worth.Flexible Schedule – a flexible schedule can be both an advantage (as described above) or a disadvantage. When you control the schedule there is nothing to stop you from scheduling things that are not priorities. Let’s take me for example; I started this Article right after lunch today. Worked fairly steady for about an hour and then decided to take a break and go to the store and pick up some stuff I needed (I could set my own schedule – right?). Came back, opened the mail and made the mistake of opening my emails. Of course you know what happened, and here I am at 7:45 in the evening just getting started on the Article again.Distractions – Demands of Others – imagine you are a work at home mom, trying to finish a project for a demanding client who needs it in the AM. Your oldest child “Mom, there is someone at the door.” Ten minutes later, your youngest child “Mom, Jimmy hit me.” – Jimmy “But mom, she spilled juice on my game.” Twenty minutes later, “Mom, I’m hungry.” and so it goes until your husband comes home and says “what’s for dinner.”Clutter – unless you are a master at space planning and organizing, and have a lot of space to store and file, you won’t believe the amount of clutter a home business can generate. I said in a prior Article in this series, that I had six piles of paper on the floor of my home office connected with unfinished projects that I was unable (or unwilling) to put away. Guess what, they are still there.Lack of Social Interaction (& support) – don’t think you will miss inter-acting with co-workers every day? Unless you are a very anti-social person, you better think again. When you work from home almost all your communication with anyone other than your immediate family is on the computer and the telephone. You have to work at scheduling enough time to even have lunch with a friend – or client – on an occasional basis. Human beings are herd or pack animals, and it’s hard being a lone wolf (or in our case hopefully eagles).Record Keeping / Paperwork – I don’t know very many people with a Home Business, that can afford a Bookkeeper, but guess what – the books have to be kept. And even if you can afford to use an off site bookkeeping service, there are still records to deal with. My suggestion – QuickBooks. I’d be lost without that program. It’s quick and it’s easy, but it’s still bookkeeping.There you have it. Five advantages, seven disadvantages. Hopefully for you, the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages.For more information about Home Businesses, look for the next article in this series; “Home Business 101 – A Business Plan For Your Home Business”

While most people want to start a home internet business as a way of earning additional income, taking their traditional businesses to another level or having some employment, very few are courageous enough to venture into online business. Many times they fear due to lack of knowledge and skills to do online business and are skeptical about their success. They tend to think that online business is for internet experts, which is not true. This article brings out some facts and great home business ideas for you to start your own home internet business.There are many great home business ideas on the internet but it takes time and patience to do some good research for those ideas. Each day the internet opens up new opportunities for us to make money by providing solutions to other people’s problems. Take advantage of that to start your own home internet business.Most of the great home online business ideas require you to be smart enough to make money online. You have to take action by acquiring knowledge and skills through self-help learning, trainings and support programs. Take action by spending some time to work on your business and at times some money to invest in your business. Before you start your home internet business, ask yourself the following questions:1. Do I have the courage to start a home internet business? To succeed in online business, you have to be self-driven, hardworking, passionate about your business, persistent and able to take action.2. Do I love reading? Most successful online marketers started their online businesses with scanty knowledge but through reading and learning from others, they became experts and are now earning good income. Like other newbies, you will have a lot of information to read before you become knowledgeable, skilled and conversant with doing online business.3. Do I have the time? You have to allocate ample time everyday to work on your business. You need to create time. Remember 99% of the time is within your control.4. Am I able to spend some little money? Although you can start a home internet business on a shoestring budget, you should bear in mind that business is all about investment. What are you investing in your online business for you to earn what you expect to get from it?What do you need to start a home internet business?The following are 10 great home business ideas on what is exactly needed for you to start your home internet business.1. A computer and internet connection. It’s obvious that you cannot do any online business without having a computer and access to the internet.2. A website. You can only start a home internet business if you have a website. There are mainly 2 ways of having your own website set up:I. Designing your own website. You can learn the HTML (the web designing language) to design your websites. Look for web designing e-books on the internet and teach yourself. Learning to design your own websites is a great home business idea I strongly recommend to you.If you find it difficult to learn, like most people do, then hire a web designer to design it for you at a cost.ii. Setting up a Blog. Setting up a blog is the easiest and cheapest way to start a home internet business. You do not have to know HTML and it can be set up in a very short time. What you need to do is to visit blogger.com or WordPress.org and create a beautiful site. If you still find it hard to set it up by yourself, you can instead have it set up FREE by other online service providers.3. Domain Name. You need a domain name to do online business. When coming up with a domain name, first educate yourself and become familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so as to compose a good name for your site. Register your domain name with a reliable service provider at an average annual cost of $ 10.4. Hosting Company. You need to host your website with a reliable hosting company. Hosting charges depend basically on the hosting period and the package you select. I recommend hosting your website over a long period of time preferably 3 years to save money. It’s not advisable to use FREE WEB HOSTS.5. A niche. A niche is a specific area of your expertise or professionalism that you intend to sell to your targeted customer group. You need to focus on a specific area of the market to build a successful business. People buy to satisfy their specific needs.6. A product or service. You must have a product to sell to make money. There are 2 ways of going about this: coming up with your own product to sell or selling products of others. I recommend selling your own product along with affiliate products. Some of the top internet sellers include software, information, private sites and internet services. The success of your business will depend on how good your products are and how great your home business idea is.7. Marketing. After setting up your website, you now have to market it. Market and market your site! You can only succeed by carrying out marketing campaigns to drive traffic to your website. There are free and paid online marketing methods. Some of the free and most effective methods include forum marketing, blogging, article marketing and social networking.8. Automation. As already said, online business takes a lot of time but you can save your time by automating some of the tasks. Use auto responders to capture email addresses of visitors to your website who subscribe to your newsletter and to manage order processing, order confirmation, customer follow-ups, welcome messages and thank you messages.9. Developing your reputation. Reputation determines your success. Portray yourself not only as a professional but also as a person with certain good values. Set ethical standards by which you conduct your business and be honest.10. Organization. Being organized is a key to building a successful home internet business. Create a daily work schedule, a communication calendar and organize your work e.g. computer folders, email messages, etc…Using the above great home business ideas, you already know much about what it takes to start and build a successful online business. You do not need to be an internet guru but you only have to take action and start your own home internet business. The rest you will learn gradually.