Right starting of a home business (Part I)

In order to work in peace, it could be a good idea to start a business of your own at your garage, attic, basement. Anywhere but the family living room or dinning room.

The right place for starting a business should match your personal work style and budget.

If you decide to start a business at home, you'll need space for a desk, a chair, a computer, phone and other frequently-used equipment.

You ought to have a comfortable space, with chairs or a couch where you can hold meeting or just collect your thoughts. And storage space for filing cabinets, books, reference materials, and supplies.

You might need a large work space for activities such as hand mailings (does anyone still do this?) shipping and assembling materials.

START A BUSINESS IN AN UNIQUE MANNER!

Your easy home business will be much easier if you work in something that you love!

When you decide to start a business, the first thing you must do is to define the niche where you are the specialist This is the niche where you can stand out from competition, and for which you can charge a decent free.

There are four primary ways to define your niche for starting a business:

WHERE you work -- e.g., you are starting a business at east side of town; you are starting a business in a firm that specializes in business advertising, you are starting a business in a restaurant who has attained renown for having the best cakes in town, etc.

WHEN you are called upon -- e.g., you repair computers on weekend and after-hours calls; you provide support to people involved in scandals or tragedies; last-minute dinner parties, etc..

WHO are your customers -- e.g., a computer consultants, public relations firms, home business women, ezine publishers, etc.

WHAT kind of product or service you provide -- e.g., starting a business about e-book publishing tools, starting a business about advice for new entrepreneurs, starting a business of home made syrup, etc..

What makes your product or service, different, better or more desirable than other similar products available?

Think very carefully the answer to the above question. If you are starting a business, there must be something about what you do and the way you do it, that makes you unique, this is what it's called your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

START A BUSINESS IN AN ORGANIZED MANNER

In your work space you must keep those things you most frequently use near your desk.

This could be used as a placing scale, for starting a business in an organized way: On a scale of one to four, rate the items you use every day a one; those you use once a year, a four.

Place all the items with a 1 within an arm's reach of your desk area. Items with a 2: in files, cabinets, countertops or shelves within your immediate range. Items with 3: in nearby cabinets or closets, or on shelves outside your office space. Items with 4: in remote locations outside your office space (maybe other room, the attic, the garage)

Start a business with your own bank account. Keep separate your personal and your business accounts.

Start a business with a separate phone line for business calls. (This will give you a more professional image).

As you are your own boss, you must start a business witha a time schedule for yourself. Don's spend time with extra sleep or reading newspaper

Put yourself a deadline to complete given projects. Give yourself a reward if you accomplish a specific task.

Don't let household activities become a regular part of your workday. If you start a business at home, you can be fiscally at home, but must be mentally at work

Tell your family and friends that in your working hours they should avoid disturbing you. You are not on vacations, you are STARTING A BUSINSS at home

If disruptions become a main obstacle in your workday, you should consider relocating your office in a different area of the house, or changing your working hours

START A BUSINESS LEGALLY

Make sure you can start a business from your home, get sure there aren't any zoning restrictions and, if there are problems in doing so, start a business with a separate mailing address or apply for a use permit or variance to your zoning laws.

If you have employees or are incorporated or in a partnership, start a business with an employer's ID number

If your job is covered by federal laws, start a business obtaining a federal license

If you have any required state or local business licenses, get them.

Protect your products or services with trademarks, copyrights or patents needed

If you work with other people, and are not a sole proprietor, incorporate or form a limited-liability company

When you start a business, find out if you are required to collect sales tax for your product or service. If so, register with the state agency responsible for collecting sales taxes.

If you start a business using a name other than your own or a variation thereof, register your business name

Note: it could be wise to consult a lawyer or the appropriate government agencies in your city and state to be sure about which of this points apply to your business or locale.

START A BUSINESS BEING REACHABLE

Follow as many as the following advises as you need ...

Start a business working in regular business hours. People can feel very annoyed if they don't know when they can find you.

If you start a business where you need to intensively use your telephone...

hire a second line to receive customer's calls or have a fax or have an e-mail address or all of the above

Use voice mail to take messages when you're out of the office or unable to answer the telephone. You can purchase an answering machine or add a voice mail system to your computer.

Use call forwarding to receive calls when you're out of the office.

Use a cellular phone, a 700 number or a pager.

To handle incoming calls while you're on the telephone, get call waiting or voice mail that picks them up so people never get a busy signal.

Get distinctive ringing that gives you two phone numbers on one line

Choose a good direct name that fits your business image. If you start a business with a confusing name that can result in clients overlooking you, or can target people that aren't really interested in what you offer them.

Start a business with a good Web hosting service like:

AdGrafix http://newsletter.easy-home- business.com/hts/adgrafix.html

or SiteBuild It http://newsletter.easy-home- business.com/hts/sitebuildit.html

and buy your own Internet domain.

MONEY AND ENTRY PLANS TO START A BUSINESS

You must have enough money to cover your costs of living and doing business during the following startup period:

From six months to a year to get underway One to three years to turn a profit Three to five years to become self-sustaining.

There are five entry plans that you can consider as options:

Start a Business with the Sideline Plan: Keep your full-time job and develop your business as a sideline until it takes off

Start a Business with the Part-time Plan; Provide yourself with a part-time job income while you build up the operation.

Start a Business with the Interchange Plan: Start your job with a major client from you previous job (if ethically possible), or even turn your previous employer into your first major customer

Start a Business with the Reduction Plan: Reduce your expenses to be able to live from your working spouse or partner salary until your business gets underway

Start a Business with the Clients-Source Plan: If you are a recognized expert in your field, you might be able to assure your source of revenue, with a retainer contracts with a few clients for one year

Get deposits, retainers or partial progress payments as often as you can.

Ask for payment up front for expenses or arrange to charge them to your client's account.

Bill immediately upon delivery of your service or product. Don't give credit from your pocket, take bank cards.

If you receive checks, use a check guarantee service Offer two to five percent discounts to obtain your payment within 20 days from the date of invoicing.

Be careful with overdue accounts, the longer the accounts are overdue, the less likely they are to be paid.

Written by Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi

About the author:

Dr. Roberto Bonomi is a successful e-book writer that shares his home business experience at: http://www.easy-home-business.com If you already have, or are looking for an Internet Home Business, you can't miss the free knowledge that you'll receive at his site.

Written by: Dr. Roberto A. Bonomi