Home Business Ideas and Opportunities

Archive | June, 2015

Wanna Be an Internet Home Business Entrepreneur?

As the old song goes ‘you’ve got to pick up every stitch’. That means for an Internet Home Business, you have to pay attention. You have to actually read information constantly so that you will understand the concepts, theories, protocols and procedures. You have to have a learning attitude and this may involve some humility in order to open your mind to new things.

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Because things are new, you particularly have to pay attention so that you understand what you need to do and how to do it correctly so that you do not waste your time or money making mistakes. Everybody makes them, and nobody is perfect, but you want to minimize your errors and the best way to do that is to actually pay attention.

When you contact an expert and ask them a question, don’t argue with their answer and certainly don’t ignore it. People actually ask for information and then don’t even read it before they are back asking the exact same thing. This only proves they have totally ignored what was given to them and wasted everybody’s precious time. Ridiculous. Maybe the idea is if they act stupid somebody will do it for them? More than likely that is not going to happen. So listen up! :)

Another very important aspect to this is the use of a computer or other device that connects to the Internet, which is obviously essential if you are going to work on the Internet from home. Because it is essential, if issues are not addressed they can be a big obstacle to you starting your own home business and can frustrate you at every turn. It can even cause you to feel you can’t do this because you are not ‘technical’.

You need to understand that computers are machines. They do not understand ambiguity – they are very simple really – so don’t be intimidated. They understand zero and one, they understand on and off, they understand yes and no. They don’t understand anything in between like ‘maybe’ or ‘sort of’ or ‘like’. Period. As of yet most of them do not read minds and being machines they won’t try to guess what you mean or ‘fit a square peg into a round hole’.

Most of what people attribute to having a difficult time with their computer is due to their own laziness and sloppiness. Nothing more, because it really is not that hard if you pay attention. For example, most websites have a username and password to login. They are almost always case-sensitive. Therefore if it has a lower-case letter set up in the password and you type it with UPPER-CASE it will tell you it is an invalid password and won’t let you login. Type exactly what you see, exactly how you see it.

Passwords and usernames are for the purpose of security – therefore they should be as difficult as possible. They are NOT designed for ease of use and something you can remember like your birthday or your dog’s name. So when a system assigns a secure password, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by changing it to something useless that any hacker with a software program to figure out passwords could figure out in 30 seconds. For example do not ever use a word that is in a dictionary because that is just too easy to figure out. Adding numbers, upper and lower-case letters, and special characters greatly enhances your ability to have a secure password.

If you just don’t feel comfortable with your computer then you should definitely find a course you can take on the basics of using a PC. You can likely find resources free or very inexpensively online by searching for them. You can look up any acronym that you see, by submitting a query to a search engine = ‘what does ‘ISP’ mean?’ or just ‘ISP’ – you will get many links to show you that ISP means ‘Internet Service Provider’. Now you will feel more comfortable when you see that – so take the time to find out what it means sooner rather than later so that you are not distracted by encountering something you do not understand.

You can likely find community colleges that have websites where you can very cheaply take a course in your spare time that is very easy to follow because it is ‘hands-on’, and not theoretical. If something is interfering with your ability to start your own home business online then you need to knock it out where you can – get the information, pay attention and follow the directions.

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The Home Office – Focus on Business

While it’s so much more relaxed and casual to work from your home office, you still need to keep in mind that it is for the purpose of business that you are there. As part of focusing your mind on the work you need to do to develop and maintain a business, what you see in front of you is directly related.

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Why add continually navigating chaos to your work-related tasks every time you do something? It wastes time and energy, not to mention causes you to lose focus on what you need to be doing. Make staying organized part of your work day and put things away! Get folders for things and even if all you have is a box or plastic crate, put your folders or important papers in there. ‘Out of sight out of mind’ has special relevance here. If your workspace is organized you will think and see things more clearly. Remove anything that is not related to business out of your office space entirely if you can.

There is more than one reason for creating a focused environment in your home office. For tax purposes, particularly if it is the case that you only make part of your income from home, when you are claiming home business tax deductions (which you should) then you have to have a clear delineation to separate ‘home’ from ‘business’. In fact an actual door on your office is required. (For those lucky enough to earn their entire income from home, you don’t need the door but you still need to have an area dedicated only to business.

In any case you can figure the square feet in your living space and determine how much is used exclusively for business. Then you can deduct expenses based on that percentage for rent, utilities, insurance, etc, in addition to directly related business expenses such as office supplies, equipment, advertising, etc.

Just be sure you have receipts for every penny you claim. Another element to organize is to keep a folder marked ‘Taxes’ where you put receipts and invoices all year long so you are not scrambling at the last minute, and maybe even missing something that would have been a deduction to your self-employment income taxes.

Be sure that part of your organization and focus involves committing your time (scheduling) – where you will sit and work and do nothing else. Turn on your voice mail and be sure that your family and friends know and respect your hours of business just as they would have to if you were going off to a job. If you have little kids then obviously this time allocated to your business should be when they are at school or sleeping if possible.

You really won’t get as much done, or retain as much information if you are constantly being interrupted by the doorbell, phone, kids, dog, etc. Of course the kids (and dogs) are some of the main good reasons you have for starting a home business; and of course you can’t always have 100% control over them, but with a little planning and mutual respect you can have more time for them and still have a successful business.

Oh – and don’t forget to rest – when you shut down (and put everything away) at the end of your work time, shut the door – even if the door is only in your mind. You have to have a time where you are OFF work – to relax and enjoy the other facets of your life. Resist the temptation to log back on your computer every time you get a bright idea. Just write it down and take care of it next time you go back to work.




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Starting an Internet Home Business Part-Time is Being Real Smart

The ideal time to start a business at home is when you have at least one income stream. This will ensure your survival while you are planning, building, developing and maintaining an Internet home business.

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Ever hear the saying, ‘why put off until tomorrow what you can do today’? A good reason to start today is because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. If this was for example that you got laid off from your job due to downsizing, outsourcing, mergers, etc. You know they don’t give you much warning in many cases.

That kind of adds insult to injury because it completely throws a wrench into everything. Your whole routine, budget and all can become quickly ‘not applicable’. Your entire way of life needs to change radically while you try to find other work. The bills go on just the same during the suspension or at least reduction in the income that you thought you had.

You need to survive between jobs in other words. So the point is when you are in dire straits is not the best time to start a new business because you need to be in a hurry. Some things just won’t hurry particularly if you have learning curves which most people do when starting something new.

So the time to start is when you have an income and you can afford to take your time; and something else that works in favor of you eventually being successful is that with an income, you can afford to feel your home business is a labor of love, something like a hobby or interest that you enjoy doing (the making money hobby).

If your part-time business already has some kind of structure and is already running to some degree, then if something unexpected happens, you can merely ramp it up! You can just welcome that you will have more time to invest in your own business now that you don’t have your bummer commute and surly boss to contend with! 😉

Anything can happen where you might need to raise substantial extra money quickly – a major car repair, natural disaster, relocation, personal family matters, etc. It is a whole different ‘ballgame’ if you have been able to earn extra money with your part-time internet home business and have been able to save it; you don’t have to panic as much because you know you have it covered for a few months or so until you can land on your feet!

Think about it – It’s a lot easier if you could see tomorrow coming! Not to know the future, but just to have a contingency plan for whichever way things go. If you are prepared and engaged in your financial health and your security, you will use your spare time wisely to do something more productive instead of just ‘hanging out’.

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Home Business Ideas and Opportunities

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