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Is a Home Based Business for You?A home based business is simply a business that you start out of your home. But make no mistake - home based businesses still require hard work and they can be very profitable. What are the advantages of choosing a home-based business? 1. Low overhead. No additional rent or utilities. When you run your business out of your own home (or garage), you keep the overhead to a minimum, which translates to the potential for higher profits. Remember, the magic formula in business is to take in more money than you spend. Keeping expenses low by working from home is a good start. Check out my list of home office essentials to see what you really need to set up a home office. 2. No commute. Unless you live a few blocks from your house, you have to live with a commute to work every day. Can you imagine cutting your commute from 20, 30, or 60 minutes (or more) per day to only the 20 seconds it takes to walk from your kitchen to your home office? 3. There are lots of opportunities to choose from. You can start something on your own, like a consulting business, a gift basket business, or an e-Bay business, or you can select an opportunity that has already been developed, like any one of the many business opportunities that use network marketing as their primary vehicle for distribution. The advantage of selecting a pre-packed opportunity is that much of the business planning, marketing collateral, and training have already been done for you. The important thing is that you select a home based business oportunity that appeals to you and ignites your passion. Check out my discussion of multilevel marketing opportunities, and read about my two favorite network marketing choices.
Click here for more information about my #1 favorite Are you a busy stay at home mom who would like to get started making money at home? Click on the picture below for a FREE e-book course on choosing the right opportunity and getting started. (Even if you are not a stay at home mom, but you want to work from home, download the free course. IT is really good.)
4. There are great tax advantages. Of course, there are tax advantages to owning your own business regardless of whether or not you work out of your home; however, keeping overhead to a minimum and being able to claim some tax deductions for things you would have to pay for anyway is pretty attractive. WARNING: Be sure you follow all of the IRS rules regarding tax deducations for home businesses. Staying out of trouble with the IRS is always a good thing.
The down side to home based businesses It would be great there were no disadvatages to owning a home business, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, that's not the way it is. There are risks and problems associated with any business, including those run out of your home. Here are the most common disadvantages to working from your home: 1. Motivation. When the house needs to be cleaned, the dirty dishes are still in the kitchen, and the laundry needs to be done, it's hard to stay focused on your work. If you have small children at home during the day or a spouse who is retired or also working from home, it is even harder to stay motivated and focused on work.
Read my tips for staying motivated when working from home.
3. Appearance of un-professionalism. Depending on what your business is, working out of your home may appear amatuerish; however, if you provide your services professionally, you can overcome this perception in most cases. Read my tips for maintaining a professional appearance and reputation. 4. Isolation. This is related to the motivation factor, but it can also have a negative affect on innovation, creativity, and marketing. When you work with a group of people (or even one other person) you are able to bounce ideas off of each other. There is someone else to talk with about your new product or service ideas and someone else to show your marketing copy to. If your are working out of your home, most of the time, it's just you. You can overcome this disadvantage if you focus on reaching out (read my ideas for this), but if you don't focus on it, you could find yourself very lonely and discouraged after a very short time. Attending networking events can help minimize isolation while also helping you build your business.
Read my suggestions for making the most of networking events.
Check out my recommended readings for starting and succeeding with a home based business.
In some situations, you may need to jump to a commercial space right away. Perhaps you want to open a retail store that has both a local presence andan online presence. or maybe you have more inventory for your new business than you can store at home. In some cases, your home may simply be too small to house your business, or you may choose that you want to keep a clear separation between you home life and your work life. If any of these situations is true for you,
click here to read about what you need to know before signing a commercial lease.
Click here to read some interesting facts about woman owned businesses. Go from Home Based Businesses back to the Your Small Business Guide Home Page
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