Be your own boss infographic
Author: jgardner
What is a perfect name for my business
What is the perfect name for my new home business? Is there a reason I should pick a business name carefully?
When it is time to figure out a name for your new home business sometimes it can be something that you agonize over and wonder am I picking the right name? The idea that once you file the business name with the local government means it is “written in stone” can sometimes hold you back from picking one.
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
from Romeo and Juliet
Michael Fortin, in his book “10 Commandments of Power Positioning” says your business name should stick in people’s mind long after they have met you. Make it unique. Have it reflect what you do in the name, be “Heather’s Wedding Wreaths” not “Heather B. Business”. A person will remember a unique business name. At the very least, have what you do in your name, ABC Cleaners not ABC Enterprise.
With my husband’s Structural Engineering firm, we called it Peak Engineering because Maple Ridge is below Golden Ears which has two peaks. Also, whenever we tell people our name, we say Peak, as in mountain peaks spelling since peek is another spelling. It seems fairly easy for people to remember the name spelling though Brian is usually called Brain. Or maybe, he just thinks it is an appropriate name for him. 
For my company, JGardnerMarketing, I took a business name that was my name + marketing since our local government registrars have stricter guidelines about business names. I could not have called it The Business of At Home Business because it used the word business in it was too generic. So, it is alway good to check with your local authority and see what type of business name they will not approve before you send in names for approval. With our local government authority, you have to give them three choices for the business name and if they disapprove the first name, you’d better like the second and then third name. So, don’t start printing up your business cards or letterhead until you get the business name approved by the government.
Also, if you pick a name too close to a trademarked name or it seems to come close and the other business can sue you and make you change your name. So, no Burger Queen or Starebucks for you! You can do a search through local Yellow pages, Google, your local Business registry and domain search.
If you want to go put up a website using your Business Name, you had better check early before registering your business name with your local government. It is not possible to have the exact same domain name in the internet and when you are looking at the world businesses up on the internet, the odds are good that there would be a ABCCleaner.com up on the internet already! You don’t want to be known by the website domain of ABCCleaner2.com.
Michael Fortin in 10 Commandments of Power Positioning had another good test for picking a business name that people remember. Create about 5 business names and tell some of your friends you’d like to know what they think of the names. Ignore this advice (just kidding). What is important is to see them or call them up in an hour or two and ask them to recite the names. See which names stuck in their mind and that will give you some idea on the uniqueness of the business name.
When deciding on a Business Name for your Home Business remember to:
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pick a business name unique to you
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pick a business name that has what you do for a living in it as an action word – Cleaning, Engineering, Marketing, Writing– somewhere within the business name
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check that the business name is not already being used on the World Wide Web
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check with local government authority on their business name rules
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test some business names by getting friends to remember the most memorable of a list after an hour
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stay away from other businesses names who are already registered as they can sue you to change it ,if it is too close
In the end, what your business name is will not define your business in your customer’s mind. Who you are and how you deliver the services or product to them will be the reason customers will return to your business. Micheal Fortin’s book “10 Commandments of Power Positioning” has some other great ideas about keeping your business name in top of mind of your customers so you receive a copy when you sign up for The Business of At Home Business newsletter.
Is it possible to have a craft business?
For those who are love audio, I have the audio recording of the post below: 🙂
[s3audio url=”http://jgardner.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Untitled.mp3″ /]
Can I make a living with a craft business? Is it just a hobby or can I make it into a business I can do from home? I love to do my crafts but can I make a living with it as the business? According to the Craft and Hobby Association press release in 2011, that 56% of U.S households crafted at least once during 2010 contributing to the 29.2 billion U.S. craft and hobby industry. There are people out there doing crafts and selling their crafts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average median pay in 2012 for a craft or fine artist is $44,380 a year or $21.34 an hour. There were 51,400 craft and fine artist in 2012 in the U.S. who were self employed. It is possible to make a living as a crafter. But how?
Heather
Heather was a grandmother who loved making wreaths for Christmas and her family wedding celebrations. However, her grandchildren came first when spending money on them she would not buy supplies for her crafting. As her living costs went up, she thought she would have to sell off her crafting supplies. Before she decided to do that, she would splurge on making table wreaths for her granddaughter’s wedding. Well, ladies came up to her saying how amazing her wreaths were and could you make some for my daughter’s wedding. How much would they cost, her friend said. She took her name and she said would phone with the cost in a week. Well, she went home all in a tizzy wondering what were her costs and could this be a potential craft business to make more money! More about Heather next time.
Icraftopia.com has done this wonderful infographic detailing the potential of the craft market either selling crafts below. Can you see the potential? For more information on the potential of a craft or artist career, check out the Bureau of Labour Statistics facts on artists.
Courtesy of: iCraftopia.com
Want to Change your Job?
Are you tired of working at a job you don’t like? Do you wonder if there is some other work I could do that I would enjoy working at ? Then you should acknowledge that you want to change and find out what can make you happy in your life. One way to start looking at your life and how to change your life is to look at what are your passions in life ?
For example, if you won the lottery and you had won enough to cover living expenses, what would you do every day? Now, people are not designed to lie around all day sleeping so don’t say “nothing.” What do you get a thrill from doing? What leaves you satisfied after you do it. What gives you a rush of adrenalin or euphoria after finishing a “job well done”.
We all have things we are passioniate about that makes us happy. What do you love to do? Just think about the things you love to do (forgetting about how to monetize it or work at it).
For example, for myself I love to paint and draw. I have been doing it since I was little. It is a passion. I get a rush of good feeling while I am in the process figuring out what colour goes where and how I can make a colour that can be put in painting to give the illusion of a reflection. For me, the fun of painting is the process of exploring how to make paint create the illusion of real life. Once the artwork is done, i am happy it is done but the process of creation is what creates happiness within me.
So, for you, what do you love to do? Be general about your life, for example, I love to be with my grandchildren or be specific, I love to cook.
Think about your life
Have you ever sat quietly for an hour and thought about your life? Just sitting in a quiet room and asking yourself where am i in my life, am i happy and if not, how can I change things so I am happier will help you to make that change. If you do that every week, you wil get closer to creating that change.
Ask yourself these questions
Ignoring what the work would be to monetize your life, just ask yourself these questions:
- What would be your ideal life?
- What would you do in an ideal day?
- How much money do you need per month?
- How many hours would you work?
- What other activities would you do in the day?
- Would you travel and how often?
- How would you help your family and friends and even the world?
If you have an idea on what you are passionate about and you can define what an ideal day would be for you in and ideal life then it becomes a vision or goal to start thinking about and what will be the strategy to get you there.
Take the free Be your own Boss quiz and see whether you can work out what is your ideal life.
Grow Your Business
Fred had a successful consulting service serving many clients in his community. He enjoyed his days in his home office but he was finding that he wasn’t spending the time with his family as much as he wanted to do. He hadn’t had a vacation in a year and he wasn’t sure he could be away from his home office without his clients being angry.
He took the time one day to look at his options for decreasing his workload while maintaining his lifestyle.
He could:
1. Hire and train an employee to help with client related documentation.
2. Partner with another consultant in his field sharing some of the workload while getting a “finders fee” for sending the work to the sub-consultant.
3. Find a support desk for his office administration who do all the office paperwork leaving him free to do the consulting.
4. Increase his consulting work by marketing his services on the internet to companies in other communities and setting up a virtual business with lots of automation to reduce his time and expenses in maintaining a home office. He would have to think “outside of the box” as it would be a new way to market his services.
Fred decided that spending time with his family was a high priority for his lifestyle so he put all four ideas into action by getting advice on resources available on the internet to help him decrease his workload while increasing his revenue. He hired and trained a personal assistant for his home office knowledgable in his consulting work. He paid for virtual office support and he got training in how to sell his consulting service on the internet.
If you are wanting to move your business onto the internet and international community, you should subscribe to The Business of At Home Business newsletter for tips and resources.
Be my own boss?
Have you thought of starting a business but have no idea what you want to do?
Is it possible that you could make income from physical work? Have you done physical work before in your life? Do
you feel the most satisfied and content when you are outside working in the sun? Are you tired of the commute to a desk job?
Have you always been good with your hands doing repairs and services around the house when others in the family don’t have the time or energy?
Bob was tired of his 3 hour commute to the office and the office politics so when he got laid off from work he
thought “is there anything else I could do? I have some unemployment benefits for a few months and the spouse is
bringing in some money. Why don’t I see if I can make a go of handyman services? I live in a suburb where most
people go into the city and the only time they can do house repairs or chores is on the weekend.”
I should look into:
- local handyman services already in my town
- how many customers I might have for my service
- What could be the unique selling point for my business
- What would be the costs of starting up and creating awareness for the new business
- Was there any local town bylaws and government certification needed for a handyman service.
He had some research to do before he started the new business and we will follow along as he does in the next
installment.
Subscribe to The Business of At Home Business newsletter for advice and resources in starting a home business.
Think like an entrepreneur
Gaining control of your mind is the most challenging but also the most rewarding thing you can possibly do. Why? Because once you learn how to direct your mind, you can guide it to help you achieve anything that you fully commit to.
You do this through mind conditioning. I also like to call it mental programming. Everyone has been programmed to behave in a certain way. Some people have been entrepreneurs their entire lives. They were programmed for this type of lifestyle a long time ago. Since you were programmed with the job mentality, you are going to have to reprogram your mind so that you think like the entrepreneur !
What exactly does this mean? It means that you think of yourself as powerful and resourceful.
- You see yourself as someone who can overcome fears and limitations.
- You are willing to do what it TAKES to succeed rather than doing what is comfortable or convenient.
- You take control of your mind so that when challenging situations do arise, you can ignore that voice of worry and summon your voice of strength.
How? Through repetition.
Repetition is the first law of learning and there are literally thousands of authors and speakers out there who are more than willing to share their stories with you. The more you listen to their stories and apply the concepts to your life, the greater the change you can make in your life.
So take action today and start reading about successful entrepreneurs and the challenges and triumphs they had in their business!
To find out more about being an entrepreneur, feel free to try the Be Your Own Boss quiz, find out more here.
Subscribe to The Business of At Home Business newsletter to find out about resources and ideas for a home based business.
Time to change your job?
Businessman working hard at office
Is it time to make a change?
Is the work that I am doing making myself and my family happy? Time with family is precious and you need to consider whether the time at work is worth the salary you are being paid!
Fred had a good paying job in Vancouver but the boss demanded he worked overtime to complete his project on time. So, he would work weekends to finish his work to deadline sometimes 60 hours a week. The 1 ½ hour commute back and forth to the suburbs and his working overtime, he hardly saw his children by the time he got home. He was never there at dinnertime to share time with the family. He worked 10 hour days and his sleep and his family relationships suffered. However, he had the childrens after school activities and bills to pay. His wife Tracy knew how tired he was but she was busy with the kids.
One morning, he woke up with a pain gripping his chest and he was rushed to the hospital where a heart attack was diagnosed and bed rest ordered. His doctor said he was getting too old for 60 hour workweeks and he should change his lifestyle. He went onto temporary disability and he wondered how he would pay the bills. Fred had to weigh his options and make an important decision about his life. More later.If there is a crisis in your life, you need to stop and take a day to ask yourself “is this really what I want for myself and my family?” Is having five iPhones and a big boat in the driveway what I want in my life? A life-changing illness like a heart attack shouldn’t be the first time you think about your future.
Take a day to ask yourself:
- Do I enjoy the work that I do? At the end of the day, do I feel I have accomplished a good day of work. Would you do this work even if you didn ’t need the money?
- If I add the time spent commuting (at an hourly wage rate I earn) and the expenses for the workday together and subtract it from the daily wage what is the value of the daily wage? – i.e. The total net Daily wage – ((hours commuting x hourly wage rate) + Gas expenses).
- Do I have sufficient time for myself and my family?
- If I had a “nest egg” or temporary funding to support myself and my family, would I consider making a change to do something that I would love to do?
Try the quiz “Be your own Boss” to see if you have the abilities to become your own boss.
Subscribe to The Business of At Home Business newsletter to start looking at resources and ideas for a home-based business.
Start a consulting business – Fred’s story
Fred consulting paperwork to start his home business
What do you need to do when starting a home business as a consultant? The continuing story of Fred, the home based business consultant.
Fred had made the decision to work from home as a consultant rather than an employee. He had talked to his employer who was agreeable to them starting a new relationship with Fred as a part-time consultant.
For Fred to be an independent consultant, some of the things he would need to do are :
- Set up a home office space and office equipment
- Define a business name for his company
- Decide on the type of business as to whether he wanted to be a sole proprietorship or have an independent limited company
- Apply for a business number with the government so he could remit his taxes and fullfill any other government requirements when running your own business
- Apply for a business licence from his town or municipality so that he can run a business from his home.
- Sign a contract with his client (his previous employer) defining his responsibilities and his hourly rate for his services
- Make sure that the relationship between him and the client was clearly defined in the contract including:
- The defined hours of work he would be available in his home office for communications
- The number of hours he might be required to spend in the client office during the week
- The other expectations of work involved activities such as meetings or required paperwork
- The easy access to the intranet system for email conversation and collaboration and review of documents
Fred made sure he went to see a lawyer to see what should be in his standard contract to define his and his client’s role and responsibilities in this new relationship.
Fred went to see his accountant to review all the government rules and regulations he would have to fulfill as a a self employed business.
Fred also went on the internet and checked his federal government website on how to start a home business as the brochure listed the steps clearly on what regulations he had to follow whether it was:
2. Canada
4. Australia
All the governments have very good step by step guides on starting up a home business so check them out!
Unexpected Skunk!
Unexpected Events
It is always good to be flexible in your day to day planning when you have a home based business.
What happens when a skunk decides to ruin your day and stops your business in its tracks?
A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from my brother, with a cat howling in the background, that his cat was foaming at the mouth and could we go to the emergency vet? Well, we raced in the car over to the emergency vet only to find out that the cat had been skunked.
They gave him some skunk removal shampoo to use but the smell was upsetting the invalid dogs and cats in the hospital so we left quickly. Luckily, the emergency vet only charged us for the shampoo and we were relieved that the cat hadn ’t been poisoned. The skunk must have sprayed the musk right into the cats face which caused the mucus to pour from his eyes and throat.
When we got home, we realized that we were both skunked as we had sat in the enclosed car for 45 minutes with a stinking cat. Many showers later, and Skunk removal shampoo, I still smelled of skunk two days later. The car had a horrendous smell.
So, three days of cancelling appointments and washing clothes, I didn ’t get much work done because the musk clung to anything I touched. The car was the worst so I got the interior shampooed and “bombed” with fragrance overnight so it smelled of a pretty skunk. I try to keep the car windows open so that one day, the smell may go away.
The week that I had the “Skunk Incident” was a waste in terms of work and I had to cancel a few appointments.
Remember that in business:
- You can ’t be prepared for everything so have some flexibility in your schedule. There are always “Acts of Gods” like skunks or flooding or (in our area) earthquakes that you can ’t plan for.
- To try to have an assistant who has a “How To” Guide from you whether it is a family member or some trusted “handyman” who can help you with chores or email or repairs to keep the business going forward if you are incapacitated.
- To automate the business as much as possible whether it is bookkeeping, email or contacting clients.
- To have business interruption insurance even though I don ’t think it covers skunks!
Subscribe to The Business of At Home Business newsletter to find out about resources and ideas for a home based business.