Awareness Can Lead To The Success Of Your Home Business

By John Fortner

We would like to think that our home businesses belong to us and that we have total control over our enterprises. For the most part, this is an accurate statement. The reality is that our work from home ventures are directed by the rules and regulations that are designed by the government. We create and develop our home based businesses under the guidelines established by Uncle Sam.



We want to believe that in a democratic economy our home businesses are unrestricted in the execution of daily operations. In addition, we desire to think that we have complete control over the cost that is placed on the goods and services that we offer. However, the reality is that the government still exercises some regulation over the prices that are acceptable and the prices that are not acceptable. This brings the concept of price control into home businesses and brick and mortar stores.



Government uses different policies to control the prices of goods and services in our economy. Two of these programs include the price floor and the price ceiling. Basically, the price floor is defined as the legal minimum price that products or services can be sold. Conversely, the price ceiling is described as the legal maximum price that goods or services can be purchased. These strategies are established for a reason. A better understanding of how these methods affect our economy might help improve the formula for your work at home business success.



The minimum wage is a good example of the reasoning behind the idea for price control. The minimum wage can be described as a price floor because this is the least salary per hour that employers can pay for the services of their employees. Consider for a moment the possibility that there is no price floor for worker’s wages. This might create a business environment that is marked by disorder. The first area that would suffer is production. The employee might experience dissatisfaction with their employer over the salary being paid for the amount of work that has to be delivered. A minimum wage provides a limit where security and stability for the worker, the company and our economy can develop.



A good example of a price ceiling would be the rental fee. In some cities, the government uses rent control to limit the maximum fee that landlords can charge their tenants. This enables the cost of the real estate properties in that area to maintain a sort of stability in price. An opportunity is provided for the middle-class and the poor to raise their standard of living. There are many advantages to rent control for the economy but there are also some hindrances. Price ceiling might prevent cities from reaching their potential development because investment could be limited as well.



There are several mechanisms in government that enable the business environment to function smoothly without many interruptions. It is also important to realize that these systems influence our home businesses directly and indirectly. Our responsibility is to be aware of the laws that impact the opportunity to make money online, develop a home based business or create a brick and mortar store.



Do price floor and price ceiling have that much of an impact on your home based business? Probably not. But a deeper understanding of economy and the rules and regulations of our government can help you make informed decisions concerning your work from home venture. The goal that each one of us strives for is success. The accomplishments of our home businesses will come sooner if we stay informed about every aspect of the business economy.



“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.”



About the Author: John Fortner lives in Oregon and works from his home through his online pursuits. He is the owner of Best-Income Opportunities which offers free information and proven opportunities for creating work at home businesses. To learn more about this topic please visit his website at: http://www.best-incomeopportunities.com/ To receive free information for starting a home business please go to: http://www.Best-IncomeOpportunities.com/optin.html



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Your 10 Best Home Based Business List

Your 10 Best Home Based Business List by Marl Atkins

Do you know that if you *really* want to, you can work for your own business from your own home - even if you're UNDER SIXTEEN!! Literally thousands of people have home based businesses, many of whom have no other jobs. If they can do it, so can you.



Before you decide what to do you need to educate yourself on the many different opportunities that exist, on the basic mechanics of running your own small business and at least briefly on five or six different types of business. From there you can compile a list of the best home based business opportunities for you and then simply select your top choice.



Here are a few ideas and examples to get your creative juices flowing:



When I was 12 years old, I had a paper route. Now paper routes are considered small businesses and they're available for sale. I got just a little older and dropped the paper route. I put an ad in the local newspaper offering services as an 'odd job guy'. I got calls and soon had a regular clientele, mostly of small businesses who needed clean up work done at regular intervals. At the time I was too young to realize that this was a very viable and potentially VERY lucrative business. You can very easily start a business as an 'odd job guy' or a 'handy man'.



I had friend who worked in a document printing shop. She started creating decorative stationary packages on the side. She sold them to friends and small businesses with whom she was aquainted. Soon afterward she had an e-commerce Website developed for her new business and started marketing it more. Soon she was selling a whole array of products that were related to her stationary. Before the end of a year she had to quit her job. She said she was losing too much money by working there. You could start a business selling products that you can make yourself.



As far as e-commerce Web 'stores' go, you don't have to make anything. Many companies offer businesses an opportunity to sell their products for a profit. You can sell trinkets, clothes, kitchen items, cameras, clocks, insurance!; the list goes on and on. You don't even have to buy stock in bulk, store it OR ship it. You can buy items as you sell them and have your supplier 'drop ship' the items directly to your customer.



Here's a twist: you can expand the above idea to include international buying and/or bartering. You could start an international bartering company.



Both my wife and I had normal jobs working for companies. My wife worked as a technical editor. She got layed off from one company and started work for another. Soon after, the first company started hiring her on the side to do work after hours. Before long she was working evenings and weekends for a few companies. We decided to start a small business offering technical writing and graphic design. At one point her company went through a major lay off and she along with a few hundred others was layed off. I determined that it was a good time for her to start working for our business full time and I launched a major mail marketing/cold calling campaign. Within one year we had so much business that I had to quit my job just to keep up with the work. Not long afterward I acquired a Microsoft® certification for software development. I started developing software for the clients we already had. We've made more money working for ourselves than either of us ever made working for a company. If you can write you can start a business as a 'writer'. If you can develop software (or can learn how to) you can start a business as a software consultant.



In our small business we contracted a bookkeeper. She had been working for a company as a customer service rep. and as their bookkeeper. She was very personable and had a reputation for being very trustworthy. People she knew from her customer service work started asking her to do their books for them on the side. Before long all her weekends and evenings were taken up doing bookkeeping. The company she worked for went bankrupt. She had to get another job. Instead she called every small business owner she knew and also went through the phone book calling businesses, offering 'off site bookkeeping services'. She never did get a job. She still has her own business offering bookkeeping services and makes more money than she ever did working for a company.



The same girl, now very excited about having her own business, started buying materials and studying other home based business opportunities. She learned of a popular business: 'Bill Auditor'. Unfortunately, many utility companies (phone, water, electric, etc.) consistently overbill their clients 'by accident', especially when the client is a business. Because their internal staff is too busy to check, most of these 'oversights' go undetected costing the company thousands of dollars over the years. She started offering 'bill auditing' which basically amounts to checking every single bill and then forcing the companies to fix any 'mistakes' and resend their bill. She also handles all of the bill paying for her client. She can easily market this service because she can offer it to them for BETTER THAN FREE! because of the the savings from the billing 'mistakes'. In the long run her service costs them NOTHING and instead they actually SAVE money.



I know a girl who worked for a medium sized business as a secretary. She started to get intrigued with the idea of working at home and started buying books and did some research. she learned that she could start a business in 'secretarial services'. She bought a computer with a built in fax and Internet capability. She studied enough to learn how to market it and put a few ads in some newspapers. She got enough response to gain the courage to quit her job and launch her business full time. She sent out a few mailings to small businesses and then called the same businesses. Soon she was getting more work than she could handle. Now she has employees who also work at home but for her business. If you can type and have a computer you can pretty easily start a 'secretarial services' business.




I know many people who learned to buy real estate as investors and soon after quit their jobs. You see infomercials on TV all the time about techniques for becoming a real estate investor. We're all skeptical but it's TRUE. You really CAN buy properties for 70% of market value, with NO MONEY DOWN (out of your pocket), even if your credit is less than perfect. In fact, the United States is currently in the middle of a foreclosure crisis. This misfortune is creating a very unique opportunity to cash in big on foreclosures while helping alleviate the problem. The banks are all but giving these properties away. YOu can do a little bit of research on how to buy a house with a 'short sale'. Basically, you convince the bank to let you pay off your seller's loan but at a very deep discount (as low as 50% of the loan balance). Where do you get the money? Do a little research on 'hard money lenders'. YOu can get the money VERY EASILY!




I have friends who are 'day traders'. That is, they buy and sell stocks at home, for themselves. This business does not involve offering products or services to anyone. You simply buy and sell stock all day, trying to make a profit on each transaction. This business does take a significant amount of start up capital (50K to 100K) and nerves of STEEL. I did it for awile and made pretty good money but the stress is very high. The trick is to NOT GAMBLE. That's right. Basically, I used a technique called 'technical analysis' and ALWAYS played WITH the odds. If a deal went south, I baled out quick. If it went my way I stuck with it until I EXPECTED a probable change and then baled out even if it was still going my way. I have friends who do this full time and make very good money doing it.




Many home based businesses exist. You can start a 'mobile car care' business. You would wash and detail customers' cars at their place of business while they work. You could start a lawn care or snow shoveling business. How about a 'mobile dog grooming' business. You can groom animals (cut their fur, shampoo, etc.) at their homes. If you don't mind a little education you can be a 'medical transcriptionist'. Are you a Certified Public Accountant? You can start a business as an accountant or maybe a 'tax accountant'. I have a tax accountant. You could start any number of construction companies. Many do not require special licenses. For example, you could be a drywaller or a tile setter. You could do pressure cleaning or run a concrete pumper. Some of these businesses would require some start up capital. Others really only require initiative.




So you see, if you have just a little bit of 'vision' you too can work at home in your own business. Chances are high that you can make more money than you ever will by working for another company. After all, they're taking all the 'profit'. Where do you start? Buy a few books and a few 'home business packages'. EDUCATE YOURSELF. Then start creating a list of the businesses that you think are the most appropriate for you. Study those businesses further until you've got a clear idea of what you're getting into. Then pick your top choice and GO FOR IT!!


Marl K. Atkins is an Internet marketing consultant specializing in the promotion of small to medium sized businesses.

A Premier Florida Web Design Firm, Orlando


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Think Like An Entrepreneur!

Think Like an Entrepreneur!
By Gary Ryan Blair

There was a time when being the biggest, most experienced corporate
kid on the block guaranteed success and dominance. However, in the
new economy, organizations that lack the commitment and capacity
for leveraging size and experience strategically will see these
attributes as vices instead of virtues.

The new economy will require an entrepreneurial mindset. Competition
will come from anywhere at anytime. Technology will empower smaller, nimbler competitors dramatically.

The days of sitting back, waiting, and depending on corporate size and reputation to attract business are effectively over.

To be clear—the relationship between size and entrepreneurial
behavior doesn't have to be an inverse one. People like Bill Gates
have already demonstrated convincingly that huge companies like
Microsoft can be as proactive and aggressive as the most
entrepreneurial start-up. In fact, entrepreneurial behavior can no
longer be the exclusive preserve of just the young start-up.

Everybody has to get in on the act!

Entrepreneurship is a bit like dieting: Everybody's in favor of it in
principle, but only a few have the intestinal fortitude to do what it
takes to reap the rewards.

In my view, the major source of the problem is cultural and is rooted in our fear of failure.

The new economy calls for a far more entrepreneurial corporate
culture, one where experimentation, risk taking, and even failure are
not only tolerated, but also actually celebrated. After all the only
real alternative to experimentation and risk is decay and decline.
The essence of risk is the possibility of failure.

Honor your errors. To advance requires a new frame. But the process
of going outside the conventional method is indistinguishable from
error.

Evolution can be thought of as systematic error management.

Scratch a successful entrepreneur and what you'll find is someone who failed a time or two or... get the idea?

The emerging rigors of the new economy leave us little choice. We
must experiment, and experimentation carries with it the near
certainty of at least occasional failure. In a truly entrepreneurial
culture, failure tends to be regarded as a learning opportunity, a
necessary pre-condition to eventual success. The status quo is simply
not a viable option any longer. You can stand still if you like, but
your competition certainly won't.

One other critical point about entrepreneurs. They are above all men
and women of action! Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the
importance of real-world experimentation, trial and error, and speed.
Experimentation, feedback, failure, learning, adjustment,
action—that's what successful entrepreneurship is all about.

Entrepreneurship, like innovation, is a profoundly relative concept.
At its core, it implies a willingness to risk challenging
conventional wisdom and prevailing approaches.

A company may employ you, but you work for yourself! Two defining
qualities of an entrepreneur are an appetite for risk and a strong
bias towards action. For many years, business conditions operated
strongly against the entrepreneur.

Size, stability, and industry experience were the only commodities recognized as having value in the business world; without them you could forget about making an impact. That's changing.

The business landscape of the new economy will be more hospitable to the entrepreneur than any we've seen before. The volatility and unpredictability of global competition have completely devalued most existing corporate currencies and virtues.

What good is size if your organization is too slow and muscle bound
to capitalize on new, fast-moving opportunities? What use is lengthy
industry experience if your most ferocious competitor is likely to
come at you from out of an entirely different sector? What's the
point of conducting exhaustive market surveys if the market changes
so fast they're obsolete before you've analyzed them?

Under these kinds of conditions, what counts is the willingness and
ability to take risks, get real-life feedback and react quickly. In
short, the ability to be entrepreneurial.

As a genuine entrepreneur, either inside an organization or
independent of one, you should prove to be ideally adapted to the
evolving imperatives of the new competitive environment.

Emboldened by its competitive dynamics and liberated by new
technologies, entrepreneurs will build not only bridges to the new economy but castles on the other shore!

Everything Counts!

Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe.

He helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and sustain a lasting competitive advantage. Learn more at http://www.personalstrategicplan.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
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6 Tips To Becoming A Millionaire Thinker

Six Tips to Instantly Master Your Finances by Becoming a Millionaire-Thinker
By Melanie Strick

What’s the fastest route from where you are today to your ideal financial status? Becoming a “millionaire-thinker”. Now you may think this means you have to be a millionaire – you don’t! The truth is many people don’t aspire to that level of financial success – and there is nothing wrong with that.

But what does happen is entrepreneurs often feel stuck, confused and held-back from the level of wealth and freedom they deeply desire. And they turn to my coaching team to break through that barrier. What if just a few little shifts in your thinking could cause you to start creating the freedom you’ve always dreamed of?

I’m going to share with you six tips to help you transform your “stinkin-thinkin” into “millionaire-thinking” but first, we need to address three common issues that come up for every entrepreneur I know.

“Your money zone is equal to your comfort zone.”

One of the laws of wealth is that you must be willing to stretch, take risks and be bold in your vision to make the big bucks. Why? Because doing what you have always done will get you what you’ve always got. Need I say more? Yes? Ok, let me share with you a personal a-ha …

My biggest personal breakthrough in the wealth game was when I first sat down and projected my revenue. I had envisioned having an income of $200,000 the next year and when I looked at how many hours I could feasibly work, plus how much I was charging per client (back then it was $400/month), I was exasperated! I would have to coach at least 40 people each month to make my goal. That just wasn’t realistic for me. To reach my financial goals, I had to stretch beyond my comfort zone and play REALLY big. By being willing to stretch and grow, I found myself creating programs like my Business Accelerator Mastermind Program, live workshops and the ULTIMATE Wealth & Success Circle.

Going beyond my comfort zone also positioned me to help my clients in new ways so that they can catapult forward faster too. In other words, everybody wins.

“You attract the amount of wealth that your ‘container’ can hold.”

Many people walk around with damaging beliefs about money. “I’m not good enough,” “Money causes greed,” or my personal favorite, “I’m not good with money.” Hence, your money container becomes a very small espresso cup. Or worse yet, some people are like a sieve (a container with lots of holes in it.) Your money container must be big enough and a complete whole to allow massive wealth to flow in it or else it just spills out.

“Easy come, easy go.”

Unfortunately many people lose their first big money windfall because of poor accounting, broken work flow systems or lack of proper money management knowledge. When the money is there but the foundation isn’t it will just as easily leave your bank accounts.

This week I just coached one of my clients around this very issue – a broken system caused them to miss their insurance renewal and lapsed their Corporate filings and the government shut them down. Talk about a financial mastery wake up call.

Financial mastery is crucial to achieving the dream of wealth, success and freedom.

Here are six tips to align your mindset, your habits and your behaviors NOW with financial mastery.

Surround yourself with others who have it (or are getting it.) There is a saying that the money you have is the average of the five people you spend the most time with. That’s because you adapt to their thinking, their beliefs and their attitudes. Wealth breeds wealth. If you want millionaire results, start hanging out with people who have it or are creating it.

Spend it. No, I don’t mean go into debt. I mean begin to vision how you will put your wealth to work for you. How will you invest in your business? How will you give back to charities or through tithing? What rewards will you create for yourself, your family and your world? Being crystal clear about this step will make creating wealth mean something much bigger than just making money – it aligns wealth building with your values.

Conquer your inner money demons. If you have lingering issues with money, then you must resolve them in order to truly create freedom. I highly recommend doing the inner work to know that you deserve money. This is one of the areas we address for the members of The ULTIMATE Wealth & Success Circle.

Think bigger than big. Napoleon Hill states in Think and Grow Rich that great leaders became great because they developed the faculty of creative imagination. When you tap into your true creativity, big ideas, plans and goals will intuitively come to you. Be willing to play bigger (and more focused) than you ever dreamed of.

Have a system to manage it. Wealth thrives with order. Having proper systems such as a good accountant and bookkeeper, proper business structure (LLC or Corporation), and software such as QuickBooks can make a big difference as a millionaire. Can you imagine having all that money and not knowing where it is going? Yikes!

Be a millionaire-thinker now. What if you just started thinking and behaving like a millionaire would RIGHT NOW? Millionaires make decisions, focus their time and enjoy a lifestyle that supports their success. Start acting as-if you are a millionaire thinker now and attract more of that kind of success instantly. I know it works because I’ve done it.

Whether it is your dream to be a millionaire or not, I encourage you to adapt to the “millionaire-thinking” mentality. You will notice instantly that people begin to respond to you differently, that you attract into your life significant results, and people will want to know you because you will emanate success. Have fun with it – because hey, that’s what it is all about anyway!

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Entrepreneur’s Success Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

If you’re ready to stop working in your business and start working on your business, go to http://www.virtualteambuildingsecrets.com to learn the secret to growing your company to a six and seven-figure success without employees or a 90-hour work week!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Melanie_Strick
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