5 Easy Steps to Determine Your Financial Status So You Can Break Free of Your Job Sooner

Before you walk away from your job to work full-time from home, one of the most critical pieces of information you need to know is how financially stable you are and how long you will be able to survive without a weekly pay check.

Here are 5 easy steps to help you plan wisely.

It doesn't have to be unpleasant or messy, but it does have to be done. You may be well on your way to building a full-time home-based business or may just be tossing the idea around right now, but having a clear understanding of your current and future financial commitments will play a MAJOR role in your strategic plan for business success.

Home-based business owners don't normally wake up one day and say, "Yep. I'm quitting my job today and starting a home-based business." There is usually a period of time for contemplation, exploration, making the decision, creating a plan, and then starting to execute steps within the plan to achieve the final goal.

The process can take anywhere from several months to several years before an employee is in a position to walk away from her job to begin life as a full-time entrepreneur.

Being financially responsible is critical to not only home-based business success, but to create the financial cushion required to transition from being an employee to a full-time entrepreneur.

Understanding your current financial position is mandatory and doesn't have to take more than an hour of your time if you follow the five basic steps below.

1. Calculate how much money you currently have sitting in bank accounts, investments, registered retirement savings plans, GIC's, real estate, etc. If you were to leave your job today, would there be any form of payout (ie. sick plan credit, pension plan contributions, unused holidays, anniversary pay, etc.)?

2. Determine how much you earn on a monthly basis either through employment, child support payments, rental properties, dividends, your existing home-based business, etc.

3. Record your monthly household expenses. Some examples to get you started are:

- mortgage/rent
- property tax/house and mortgage insurance
- utilities (heat/water/hydro)
- phone/cable/satellite/Internet
- yard maintenance/snow removal
- groceries and household supplies
- vehicle fuel, insurance and maintenance costs
- medical
- child care
- personal care (hair/nails/clothing)
- entertainment (movies/sports/books/plays)
- club memberships, publications, etc.

4. List your monthly business expenses, for example:

- Internet
- phone (separate business line)
- autoresponder
- shopping cart
- long distance
- bank fees
- office supplies
- tools
- web hosting
- marketing
- advertising
- part-time help
- coaching services
- shipping/postage, etc.

5. Identify your outstanding liabilities such as:

- credit card balances
- personal loans
- lines of credit, etc.
When you calculate your earnings and revenue on an annual basis and deduct your personal and business expenses. How much do you have remaining at the end of the year? Can a portion of this be put aside to build your financial cushion?

If your current business revenue isn't enough to cover your business and personal expenses and if you were to quit work today, how long would you be able to survive on your other revenue sources or savings and assets, taking into account your monthly expenses?

Have you considered all unexpected expenditures that could arise in the next year or two?

Is your car running on its last two cylinders?
Has your furnace almost reached its life expectancy?
Is your vacuum cleaner starting to growl at you?
Is your partner's job secure or do you foresee unstable times ahead?

This exercise is by no means intended to scare or discourage. Financial stability is an area that needs to be addressed so you can keep your feet firmly planted and plans realistic as you build your home-based business.

Understanding where you are and what potentially lies ahead will help you make sound financial decisions as you plan your future.

After completing these five steps, you may realize your dream to break free of your job might take a year longer than expected, or you may learn that in order to move forward at a quicker pace, you may have to bring in a partner or investor, or learn to leverage your time, money and effort more efficiently to expedite progress.

Perhaps seeking professional guidance on reducing debt and managing finances is in order?

No matter what results you generate, don't let them shake your spirit. Knowing exactly where you are financially will help you make informed, practical decisions so you can create your ideal future.

To increase your level of success at home-based business, make sure you have a financial advisor and accountant as part of your success team.



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10 Tips How To Have Success In Your Home Based Business

With the cost of living quickly surpassing the wages (we make) necessary to maintain an “average” lifestyle, more and more employees are beginning to seriously consider the option of working from home.

Being your own boss, setting and keeping your own hours, keeping all (or most of the proceeds for yourself), saving on travel time and gas, allowing for as much vacation time as “necessary”, it all has its perks. It certainly seems that way, especially for many woman who may not want to stop working or can’t afford to, but also want to stay home with the kids or be home when they get back from school.

But, this growing trend, even with all its apparent benefits has many experts cautioning stay-at-home workers and warning them about the potential perils of home-based businesses due to common human error.

Some of the most common (and most damaging) include:
· Going In Blind: Sure you need confidence, guts and faith to start your own business, but you also need to know what your getting into, and that means diving FIRST into doing the necessary research about the type of business you are interested in starting. Experts suggest finding out as much as you can about your potential venture and about its potential for success in your area. Find out about your competition, note how much they are charging and pinpoint your target market. Rely on books, trade shows, conferences and the net to gather your materials and information.

· Becoming A Lone Venturer: Keep in mind that starting ANY business is difficult, especially in its initial stages. This is the most crucial time for you and your venture and you’ll need all the love and support you can get. One of the biggest mistakes, say experts that new entrepreneurs make is not getting the necessary support from spouse of family. Besides maybe helping with the housework or kids, he or she may also want to lend a hand in your business or at least lend support and encouragement as to work to get things going.

· Leaping Without A (Financial) Safety Net: Most of us are use to bringing home a specific amount of income (give or take) each week, an idea of having a “comfort” zone that most new business owners need to give up say experts. According to professionals, most new business owners won’t see a profit for several months. In fact, they suggest having at least six months (monetary) reserves on hand.

· Spreading Yourself Too Thin: While you certainly want to please the consumer and build your client base, it’s important to remember, that you won’t be able to please all of the people all of the time. They suggest not spreading yourself too thin by creating a mission statement for your business defining your purpose and your goals. Include what your business involves, what makes it stand out, and where you see yourself a few months to a year down the line. And, they add that you should make it a point to check your statement periodically and make all the necessary adjustments.

· Getting Too Comfortable: It’s easy to take advantage of being at home, especially when you don’t have to punch or Watch the clock. But, according to experts, sticking to a regular work schedule is imperative. Keep your schedule flexible (that’s what working from home is all about) but set limits and boundaries that will allow you to focus without any interruptions and be productive.

· Not Having A Space Of Your Own: For some a private office may not be feasible, especially if you’re a stay-at-home parent. But, according to experts, it’s imperative that you designate a specific space to conduct business. It is also important that you have all the necessary office essential to properly conduct your business. Sharing space and sometimes supplies is necessary, but you really should have your own for maximum efficiency.

· Selling Yourself Short: Want to beat your competition (price-wise) is a smart move, but seriously underbidding yourself and your worth may not be. Know what the competition is charging and make reasonable adjustments remaining firm and confident in what your product and ability…and always leave a little room for “play”.

· Putting Off The Paperwork: While most of us don’t enjoy the paper trail that often goes along with owning a business, it’s an essential part of operations, especially when it comes to keeping track of inventory and finances. Make sure to do all you shipping and receiving and related filing promptly, as well as sending out timely invoices. Keep in mind that most consumers take up to 90 days to pay, so you’ll need to bill them as soon as possible. And also, don’t forget to keep track of your own expenses to know what is coming in and what is going out.

· All Work And No Play: Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you never leave the house again. In fact, a very important part of any business is networking. So, think about maintaining your professional appearance and joining some professional organizations that can put you in touch with all the right people….and even though chat boards and blogs can offer you the same, making a personal appearance is ALWAYS a nice touch.

· Expecting Too Much: Considering working from home as anything but “work”. While you may have the freedom to make lots of your own decisions, you’ll also have a lot more responsibility, and that means learning how to manage your time (between work and career) like never before.




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How To Cope With Your Home Based Business And Your Daily Tasks

If you’re hearing the song that Bachman-Turner-Overdrive made famous in the 60s, that’s exactly what I want! I’m not talking about “business” in a strictly financial sense, but “business” with the idea that whatever you’re shooting for success-wise, you complete your tasks.

Once you have a course plotted for success, there are going to be a million things that will vie for your attention and time. It’s not that these things haven’t been there before now, and it’s not even that the world is plotting against you succeeding. It’s just that now you have a focus and you’ll begin to notice things that seem like they shouldn’t be on your radar screen.

It doesn’t mean that you don’t do the little pesky things that are buzzing and want to be taken care of (especially if it relates to your job), just that you must not let those things pull you off-track.

So how do you stay on-task? The best way I’ve found, bar none, is to keep a log of tasks that must be accomplished as you move towards your goal. Remember to break the big tasks in to a series of small ones and to give yourself a reward-system as you do it. I use check-marks; others use stickers (sounds silly, but if it works for you, who cares?), still others use tangible rewards as they accomplish “x” number of small or large tasks.

Whatever motivates you is your key—keep it simple and keep it attainable. If the carrot is too far out in front of the horse, the horse will give up. If it’s just close enough to smell and see but just out of reach, that horse will keep moving towards the incentive.

Let’s say your goal is to lose 60 pounds. That’s quite a chunk of weight and can take a long time to accomplish. Let’s also say that you need a new wardrobe. Should you wait until all the weight is gone to buy those new clothes? Probably not—your current closet full of clothes will look awfully loose and ill-fitting if you do.

But let’s talk about small, incremental rewards that help move you towards your goal. If you lose 10 pounds, your current clothes won’t look baggy on you, but you will notice a difference in your waistband that might bother you. Don’t chuck the pants or go buy a new pair—take the current ones to a seamstress or tailor to be taken in.

It’s a small reward and saves you the money of buying new pants that you will continue to shrink out of. It also keeps you motivated. For the next 5 or 10 pounds, think about some new cosmetics or a new hairstyle—small things that will make you feel better, inside and out.

Takin’ care of business and staying on task. Now that’s the way to chart yourself to success!


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4 Tips For At Home Business Call Success For Mom Entrepreneurs

The kids are racing through the house screaming and the business phone rings, what do you do? Don’t panic! There are some simple ways to handle your at-home business calls.

You know it’s happened to you. Your phone rings and it’s the important business call you’ve been waiting for. As you look at your children wildly circling you, you ask yourself, “Do I take the call?”

It leaves you wondering how other Mom Entrepreneurs handle at-home-business calls.

Here are 4 quick tips:

1. Don’t apologize.
On the days my son, Ulyssis (age four) is with me, there ARE times he talks or is noisy when I’m on a business call. (That is I use to have this problem, but he's thirty now. Soon to be thirty one.) I used to say, “I’m sorry, my son is here…” But thankfully, I’ve changed. I’m grateful to Ponn Sabra, author of Empowering Women to Power Network for setting me straight. She told me to be proud my son is with me. And she is right. Now when I proudly state, “My son is with me today,” I find callers are gracious. Most reply with, “Oh, that’s wonderful! Enjoy your time with him.”

2. Be prepared for the unexpected.
As a mom, you wear many hats. When on the phone, always smile and project a good attitude. But be prepared to deal with unexpected situations. If children are disruptive during a call, remain calm. This is the time to have a sense of humor and make light of the situation. If the caller hears the background cries and you’re unable to quickly control the situation, offer to call back at a later time. “Would ten minutes or a half hour be better for you?”

3. Give “silent hellos or goodbyes”.
Laurie Hurley of Home Tutoring Business developed a “silent hello” (or goodbye) she uses when on the phone and her girls walk in or out. Laurie wears a headset to free her hands for a big hug and a quiet kiss. Her girls are trained to be quiet and they understand she can’t hang up just because they’ve arrived. The girls compete to see who can be the quietest, and Laurie doesn’t have to hang up on a client!

4. Leave your children “reminders”.
Melody Spier of Ballyhoo Virtual Services purchased a small stop sign for her office door. It serves as a visual reminder for her kids to stop and listen so they don’t burst in during a business call. Below the sign she posted three questions for her kids to ask themselves before interrupting.

1. Is someone hurt?
2. Does it concern schoolwork?
3. Would you pay $5 for the answer? ($5 = the 15 minutes it takes to work through the question and get refocused)

This cut the interruptions down to almost zero after about a week.

By being proud of your decision to work from home, being prepared for the unexpected, giving silent hellos or good-byes, and leaving your children reminders, you, too, can experience more success with your at-home-business calls.




Photo Attribution
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mangpages/3212233291/ CC by 2.0

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10 Setup Secrets For Your Home Based Business - Ten Of Them!

Setting up a home based business doesn't have to be intimidating, expensive or time consuming. When you decide to make your living working from home, you simply need to go through a basic set up process to ensure you are ready.

Here are my steps for setting up your home business for success:

1. Attitude

- The key to your business success is your attitude.
- Treat your business like a business.

This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. For example, the mom who works from home around her family. She always puts her family first, at the same time developing her business. She says, "I may work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude." To put another way, "Have a hobby attitude, get a hobby income, have a business attitude get a business income."

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is unlikely that you will be successful just working in your "spare time".

2. Describe Your Business

Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others.

A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business. This is often referred to as your "elevator pitch" or "audio logo". Think about it, if you ask someone about their business and they describe it as "a errr, well, I kind of take care of, you know, well in as much as..." would you be impressed? Would you think that you should really hire that person? It's much better to be able to speak briefly, confidently and memorably about your business and what makes it unique.

3. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have chosen the product or service to sell you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling e-books for example, then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it and know it "inside out".

You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge, you can become the preferred supplier.

If it is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) then you won't be using the product, however you can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

4. Get a Domain Name

Welcome to the twenty first century, you need a domain name for your business! You'll need an account with a reputable hosting company who will provide a "space" on the web for your domain name and site. The fees can be as low as $4.95 per month and go up from there. If you do not have any knowledge of HTML there are hosting companies that provide "site builder" software via the web. This can be a great option but be sure you like the application before you plunk down your money as you will probably be using it a lot!

5. Email

Once you have your own domain you will have one or more email accounts for that domain. This can assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.

Using email smartly can help you in the task of organizing your business communications. For example, sales can arrive via sales@your-company.com, support and help requests via support@your-company.com and so on.

By setting up some basic rules in Outlook or other email program you can have the mail conveniently sorted into folders for you as soon as it arrives.

6. Payment Processing

You will probably need a way to process credit cards. You could use services such as:

- PayPal https://www.paypal.com/
- StormPay http://www.stormpay.com/
- 2 Checkout http://www.stormpay.com/

Paypal now has a Pro level of service that includes a virtual terminal, helping to keep the costs low. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions but any of the sites listed will certainly get you started and may be all you need for the life of your business.

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored. You will need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

Some suggestions are:

- AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com/ (free version available)
- Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org/
- Microsoft Anti-Spyware: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
- Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
- Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net/

A good all-round selection is one of the Norton products as they are kept up to date and have many if not all the features mentioned.

8. Working Environment

Getting organized is highly important, to ensure that you complete projects on time but also pay your bills on time and even bill your clients on time!

Having a working environment that help rather than hinders you work is also highly important. It can be tough but you need to establish a definite workspace for both yourself and any other people that are around.

- A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.
- A comfortable chair and organized desk.
- Stationery supplies as required.
- Ensure you have a good computer monitor if you will be staring at it for long periods of time.
- Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

9. Administration

Use good record keeping practices... please!

You may need to consult a tax advisor who can let you know about the best way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor can recommend record keeping systems and software may simplify this aspect of your business.

Additionally you can obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate account. Many banks now offer free checking for small business so do your research in to the options available to you.

Keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. This can be quite a big deal once your have a number of business resources online.

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is PasswordSafe.com. They provide a free web based service for storing username / passwords so you can access them from anywhere with an internet connection. They've been around since 1998 so the service is both trustworthy and reliable.

10. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family and your business. When you mark off a block of time for work, then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self-education (reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. Remember, one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family and you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your family and have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

These are the ten basics of working at home. Some of these items may change a little depending on the type of business you choose but in essence, this is it. A home based business can be the most fun, most rewarding experience of your adult life as long as you realize there are a few simple rules to keeping everything on track along the way.



Photo Attribute:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/3654123527/ / CC by 2.0


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Formula For YOUR Success!

Finding your niche so you can concentrate. When you find out what your specialty is then you can start to promote to the people that are working on the same type of things you are. Are you just with a program to make money as an affiliate? Do you have your own website that goes back to your affiliate site? Are you selling homemade products?

Are you someone that is selling from his/her own store or mall? There are so many different things to promote and you want to reach your target audience to get the results that you are seeking.

Outline your tasks daily using the day timer you will know what day and time you can repost your ads or emails to Safelists. This is a great time saver. If you have multiple email accounts a program called Thunderbird by Mozilla is tops, login one place and check them all at once. A lot times for every task to get the most important done early when you are full of energy. Take breaks so you can re-evaluate what you are doing and be more receptive to tasks still to be done. Organization will set you above the crowd because you will accomplish more.

Reach your crowd after finding your niche you need to advertise to your target. Go to forums and post to the ones that fit your niche so you will be working your ads to people with the same goals and targets you have. In the forums you will not be able to blatantly set your ads out, post what you would like to add and then leave your signature with your URL in it. If they enjoyed or learned from your post they might want to follow up by visiting your site.

Mentors get you trained and help stimulate the learning process. They keep you fortified with uplifting values and appeal to your excitement. With the right mentor you will go farther because you are learning from them, this shortens your learning curve. When you work with others listen and you will gain information from them from what they have been doing in their promotion.

Using every avenue of promotion, traffic exchanges also use banner views for your credits. They have blog exchanges, you view others blogs to get traffic to your blog. They also have banner rotators you can post one url in the banner slot with 5 banners loaded to cycle through. Just a few of the ways to make your time work better with tools online. Before you purchase any software online check out and see what other people have to say about it at Google. This is a way to find out before you have put out your money for software that will not be used. Market wisely and then you will be in the profit zone.

Leave nothing to chance, ad trackers help you to find which promotion is working for you. This also depends on titles and content when this has been checked and it still does not pull people in, then leave the non-producers behind and find new ones. Traffic Hoopla has the top promoters listed every week; this is a good resource to check. This one costs but still a good resource-Traffic Testers.

Advertise, and advertise some more, you just have to get the word out. Even the big names put their logos and advertising out there for millions of dollars. You can start with the free ones and after making money move on and put your money out for paid advertising. Keep your records so you know what you are spending and what is bringing the people to your site.




©  Diana Rickett (LadyDi)

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