Tag: home business

To Grow a Home Business

Hi this is Jane Gardner and welcome. This is all about growing your home business. And today we’re going to just be talking  about some of those strategies they could have in order to grow your business. As I have mentioned previously, I’m going to be talking about growing your blog doing anything with your home business whether it’s offline or online on the internet.

So first off, we’re going to be talking about some of the offline strategies of course because these are some of the standard strategies that you have throughout time to grow your business.

We’re going to be looking at networking and marketing.

We’re going to be looking at outsourcing and we’re going to be looking at promoting your business in order to create more awareness for your business.

These are some of the ways that you can grow your home business whether it was 1990 or now. Then we’ll be looking at the Internet and how having the Internet has increased the possibility for you to grow your business. Whether it’s offline or online today you can have a larger Internet international audience for your business and especially if you can do your business in different languages you can have an even larger market. We’ll be looking at your market potential on the internet.

I can tell you right now there was 3.6 billion people on the Internet and I’m sure by now there’s probably more so I’ll keep you up to date on the number of people that are on the Internet and hanging out where they’re hanging out and how you can grow your home business by going where your market is.

So we’re going to be looking at some of the new opportunities for you as a business to grow your business. Of course the most important one being of course the opportunities on the Internet but also by looking at partnering with other businesses and creating a collaboration in order to have a larger success and outsourcing. Being able to outsource some of your work, so that you have more time to grow your business rather than working in your business. So we’ll be looking at growth strategies that will help you save time and money in your business. So if we can get your business to grow by 5 percent, 10 percent or 25 percent just getting your business onto the Internet creating awareness for your business on the Internet. Even if you’re an offline business the Internet is important for your business because at all times you have to be able to grow your home business so you have a strong structure and foundation to your business.

So yeah that’s all we’re looking at and I hope it’ll be useful for you and grow your home business Fridays. Let’s see what should we leave you with today. Think about your own business and what you want to have your business grow at and how you want it to increase by 5 percent. Have a look at your productivity in your business and see how you can be more productive in order to have the time so you can grow your business.

We’ll be looking at social media. So if you haven’t got yourself a social media account on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter, it’s about time that you did. So we’ll be going over some of the reasons for why you should be getting on on social media even if are a home based business who thinks you don’t cater to people on the Internet. I can certainly show you some businesses that have been successful on Instagram, for example, posting photos of ships. These are ships that are shipping! They have people who actually follow them. So it’s not impossible for you to grow your business with social media and on the Internet. And so we’ll be looking at some of the ways you can do that in the coming months.

So I hope you’ll join me and subscribe here at boahb.com and will talk to you again next week. I’ll start with the basics. Start with what did we do back in 1990 when we were growing our home business. I had one of the original guerrilla marketing handbook so we were going over some of the simpler ways that you can sell your home business by doing some marketing for it. And if you have already know about that well we might find a few new ones for you on next week.

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Your Big Why -Why do you want to start a home business

Welcome this is Jane Gardner and welcome to start your own home business on Tuesday.
No don’t start it today 🙂 just start your own business Tuesday.

So,let’s start by talking about why do you want to start a home business.

For those of you who are thinking of starting a home business ask yourself “Why” first and then ask yourself “Are you willing to do the things that are needed in order to start a home business?”
“So why are you starting a home business?” Is it because you want to make more money in your life or do you want to be in control of your own life and be able to be your own boss? “Are you desperate for money?” “Are you wanting to support your family better than you are now?” Do you think that it will be a quick way to make more money but you are disillusioned because starting your own home business will always be a challenge. It will always have its freedom and it may always have its challenges as well as its triumphs. So let’s have a sit down and figure out exactly why “what’s the big why” for why you want to start a home business.

Next week, we’ll look into researching and thinking about what kind of home business you want to have. Just so you know, I am interested in talking about online Home businesses as well as offline Home business. Obviously being in a structural engineering firm, our own business that is local and we work in the local area. And obviously we’re not doing any international work or otherwise I would have mentioned it. So, but of course, now there are very few home businesses that are always local. You can always get customers on the Internet now and expand into the Internet.

So, we’ll be talking about offline home businesses as well as online home businesses.

But today I want to just sit down and ask yourself ” why you want to start a home business?”

So for example, my husband and I are in our home business and we’re both in our 50s to 60s. We’d like to retire well but basically my husband cannot retire without closing down the business or he would have to get someone else to take over. So my big “Why” is to try to figure out how I can help others start their own home business by sharing my knowledge and wisdom and some of the practical skills and technology and resources that you can use to start a home business. while at the same time, adding some revenue to our life so that we can retire.

We’ll talk about a practice as a business another day (I’ll just write that down). But our practice is not really a business. For someone who’s an individual like a doctor or dentist or an engineer where basically the business is you. So we’ll talk about that another time and another night whether you want to choose that kind of business.

But today my big why is to try and set up another business so that we can retire and enjoy our retirement as well as earning some revenue to enjoy our life while we’re retired and sharing my wisdom.
So what’s your big why?

Do you have family that you want to support? Certainly we all do have family members who need to have some support from us in terms of money. Do you have children that you want to help go to school or you want to help your grandchildren? Do you want to help other family members with some resources?
Are you looking to earn some extra revenue so that you can enjoy your retirement earlier than you expected or even not retirement just being able to support your family because the job that you’re doing right now, your day job is not fulfilling and you need another choice?

Is your Why you want to start a home business big enough so that you can be able to continue on to start your home business without quitting basically. So my big why is basically I’d like to be able to retire from our engineering firm and my husband as well and  because otherwise we’ll be working till we are 75.  So this is just my Big Why is being able to share my wisdom in order to have the revenue come in so that we can we close our engineering firm.

So what’s your Big Why?

Are you looking to support your family members? Do you have big medical bills coming up that you need to have support for? Do you have family members who are not in the best form of health and you need to help support them? Some of these things can really help you to have a think  before you start a home business to realize that you need to support yourself and your family with this.  In those days where the day is long and you’re struggling and you’re having a challenge or you don’t have the amount of money you’d like to come in that you know you have the potential to come in with your business- your WHY has to be Big!

I will help you to remember that Why you’re doing this and the days that you’re spending time in front of the computer or learning a skill or phoning up clients to find out what you need to do or even doing the work for your clients on the weekends instead of  spending  time with your family.

Are you willing to sacrifice that kind of time in order to have a better life for your family?

So that’s what you have to think about  before you start a home business. It’s whether or not you’re willing to sacrifice some time with your family or sacrifice your pleasures. Spend less time in front of the TV or take some time on the weekend and do some work that will help you move forward in your business. Or maybe you have more immediate desires to start your home business because it’s an urgent need for money. You have to realize that when you start home business you really need to have a very strong Why or why you’re doing it in order to get through the days -when you’re starting the business and when you’re struggling to get clients or you are starting to figure out something on the computer or you’re not going to your son’s baseball game because you have to do some work in order to move forward with this business.

You have to figure out if you’re willing to sacrifice that kind of time with your family in order to make a better life for your family.

So think about  your Big Why.
Why do  you want to start a home business?

Are you just tired of getting you know your current job. You don’t think it’s going to move you forward in your life. You won’t  get  the house that you wanted or the family life you want?

Are you willing to sacrifice some time and some money probably just to get started on your home business?
Whether or not, you that would sacrifice time to  get through the time that you need to work on make your whole business successful?
So next time I think we’ll talk about some of the ideas for an offline home business  because I find that no one on the Internet is actually talking about offline business.

Since we started as an offline home business,  I think we should go over some of the ideas and the things that you need to have in terms of being an offline home business. Some of the simple businesses you could have offline as a business as well as maybe  some consulting businesses you might be able to do.  So, we will talk about off line business next week.

So, have a think about your Big Why.  Think about whether or not you’re willing to sacrifice your time and maybe a little bit of money in order to get started with your Home Business.

How to Start A Home Business Quickly!

At the Business of At Home Business, we help you with the “Other” business around your Idea for a home-based business. Whether you want to work full-time or part-time, we can help you focus on your home business idea and increase your revenue, productivity and efficiency in running your home business.

When you are ready to grow your home business past the local market and get online, we have expertise in our membership on creating an international presence on the internet so you can connect and grow your business to a worldwide market.

Many Babyboomers believe that it is possible to get a business quick on the internet. 

But nothing could be further from the truth.

However, it is possible to build a lifestyle business that will allow you to have the freedom you want in your life while creating a business that supports that lifestyle. 

Here’s a huge problem you face right now.

It’s not having the knowledge to setup and grow a home business quickly.

But that’s not the end of the problem…  What makes this even worse is the fact that they need money in their life right now!

Which means you feel overwhelmed and stressed with all the skills you need.

And, worst of all, many babyboomers looking to start a home businesss can’t get past the myth that it is possible to get money quick on the internet.

All this can make trying to figure out how to create the foundations for a home business quickly so you can grow a nightmare!

So, if you’re a babyboomers who want to make extra money for your retirement, then this is exactly what you’re looking for.

5 Reasons to have a Blog in your Business

Marketing – the action of promoting and selling your products or service. 

5 Reasons why you should  blog in your business?

  1. It is a free marketing tool to use on your website and in social media.
  2. It brings awareness to your Brand as other businesses learn about your company who may want to connect or partner with your business.
  3. It is good to showcase your authority and knowledge about your product or service.
  4. Visitors find a way to connect and enjoy reading about company activities or events.
  5. Most importantly, visitors get to know, like and trust your business as a company they could do business with and they are more likely to find that your business has the solution to their problem.

Click Here to Get “Blogging for Business Made Easy!”
You may say you don’t have time to blog on your website about your business but you are letting a free opportunity for you to market to your customers slip away if you don’t! Blogging has become a way to market yourself and your products or services to website visitors and out on social media. People do want to hear what you are all about when they are looking for a solution to their problem. If you are out there blogging and doing social media posts, whether you are a small home business or a large corporation, your words will speak for your business.

The more insight and peeks behind the scenes you get, the more that people will see you have authority in your field and line of work/service. Why You Need to Stop Waiting and Start Blogging (like TODAY) – SoulScripts
Click Here to Get “Blogging for Business Made Easy!”
Even if your business is a large one, and you’re setting out to create a blog that speaks to your customer base, there are always ways to make it personal. Show that you understand the issues they’re facing and the problems they’re looking to solve. Use your blog posts to demonstrate to your audience that you’re the best solution to those issues and problems.

Having a voice doesn’t just mean the act of talking or writing. It means having a point of view, being distinctive, and maybe even a little opinionated or controversial. There is a lot of noise on the Internet, and one of the biggest challenges that people face is sifting through all of that noise in order to find the content that’s interesting.

How are you going to create all the content for your blog?

According to Neil Patel, if you write 10 ideas per day then by the end of the year, you will have 3650 ideas!

The great thing about writing down 10 ideas a day is that you’ll become, as James Altucher says, an idea machine. by Neil Patel’s Guide to Blogging Consistently

Then if you save an hour before day just to focus on your blog content; it may take you a few days to write 300 -500, words and then a couple of days to add images, proofread and add a call to action then you will have new blog post every week only from one hour a day!

If you aren’t into writing content but find it easier to do audio then collect your thoughts and jot down the important points you want to make and then get out your microphone and record! Your audience may also be busy and they would enjoy listening to you and your personal thoughts then reading. Who has time!?

The voice of your blog should be a good fit for the product or service you’re selling. For example, if you are an affiliate marketer for natural health care products, then a writing voice that’s positive and nurturing is almost certain to be more appropriate than a voice that’s “in your face” or that uses risqué humor.

For more on blogging for your business check out

Click Here to Get “Blogging for Business Made Easy!”

 

Categories: blogging Tags: Tags: , , , ,

The Challenges and reality for Babyboomers as they get close to retirement

Have the challenges of the Babyboomer generation made it impossible to retire?

According to Gallup article, babyboomers still work even though they are eligible for retirement.

Although the first wave of boomers became eligible for early retirement under Social Security about six years ago, the generation still constitutes about one-third (31%) of the workforce, similar to percentages for millennials (33%) and Generation X (32%). via Many Baby Boomers Reluctant to Retire | Gallup

So, why aren’t more Babyboomers retiring?  Well, besides the normal challenges of increased cost of living there are other expenses that were not considered:

For example,

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Medical expenses for themselves or their family members

When we were younger , did we think that we’d have to pay $10,000 for dentures?

Lack affordable health insurance plans, rising medical costs in general, long wait time for procedures and the massive explosion of the babyboomer population entering the years where they will need more health care, the rising phenomenon of medical tourism also called medical travel or international health travel via Medical Tourism Being Seen as an Alternative To Obamacare

Inconsiderate planning for retirement

Did you have training when you were younger on how to save for your retirement?

Over half of over 55s who currently earn £20k – £30k have saved less than £30k for their retirement. This translates to an income of around £165 per month. Yet despite this, almost a quarter of people (23%) in this category anticipate a retirement they describe as “comfortable”, demonstrating a dramatic difference between what they are used to and what they might actually afford. via Babyboomers reinvent retirement pJ 

Unexpected support of family members

When you were young did you know that besides supporting your children, you would be supporting your parents as they got older? It is not usually planned that you will be the caregiver of your parents. 

The number of older people with intense care needs will outstrip the supply of informal care from family members in 2017, with the consequent ‘care gap’ affecting as many as 230,000 people by 2030. via Thousands won’t be able to rely on family in old age. We need a contingency plan

Little did you know that when you had your children graduate from college that due to the economy and or cost of living, they return to your house a few times to live. Your children want a life of their own but the uncertain economy has made them return to their family home.

 

In the past decade and a half, according to the Economist, about 3.2 million 20- to 34-year-olds have gone back to live with mum and dad via Let’s see some babyboomer rage about Generation Jobless

Many seniors are realizing that what they’ve saved for retirement years isn’t going to be enough to support them and even provide them with necessities – much less the luxuries they’d like to enjoy.

That’s why so many seniors are building online businesses well before the retirement party. One of the benefits of building a part time business in your spare time before you retire is that you’ll already have an income and it can increase as your business grows.

Having a second business to pursue after retirement keeps your mind sharp and you won’t ever get bored if you’re committed to your business pursuits. But this time you can set your own hours and only answer to yourself as the boss!

 

Current state of Entrepreneurship in the World

calculator
Public Domain from pixabay

Things are looking brighter in the startup of small businesses than before the crisis in 2008 according to a OECD Worldbank and Facebook collaboration on survey of smaill businsses.

Trend start-ups remain below pre-crisis rates in most OECD economies, although in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom rates were higher at the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016 than before the crisis. Trends in the most recent periods are pointing upwards in most OECD countries, from http://www.oecd.org/std/business-stats/entrepreneurship-at-a-glance-22266941.htm

calculator
Public Domain from pixabay

 Give the ‘lure rather than the fish itself’

Many countries are recognizing that micro businesses will be the wave of the fuure to get their society off government support. In this report on Borneo, there was successful micro-entrepreneur startups to get people off of welfare. If you give a person the lure to catch the fish is much better than  giving them the fish according to the report from

http://www.theborneopost.com/2016/10/31/micro-entrepreneurship-can-help-break-poverty-cycle/

Some new Trends in Entrepreneurship

skiier
Public Domain from pixabay

Get into the Industry you know

Rather than trying to learn a new industry a lot of successful entrepreneur are working in industries they either were a customer or worked in local business. So, they knew what problems or challenges that industry has so they can be more proactive in solving the problems.

For example, Steve Sullivan was a ski bum who hung around on the ski slopes and then knowing the challenges of the weather and clothing he decided to work creating clothing that actually functioned in that environment.

We get to actively test the products that we are making every day. I can run out from our office and do a tram lap for lunch and check out the fit and function of a new jacket that we’re trying. . . . The culmination of that leads to better products. viaTo Increase Your Chance of Success, Get Into an Industry You Know

New type of entrepreneur

entrepreneur

Instead of working a 9 to 5 job 40 hour week, a lot of new entrepreneurs are doing more than one business to give them the flexibility of hours spend at work and at home.

Savvy consultants told us they value being able to make almost as much money as they did at a big firm, but doing so by working late at night so they have more time with their kids from Wanted: Creative Solutions to Shape a Workable Future

If you are thinking about starting your own business try the Be Your Own Boss  quiz.

Do you have a customer service plan in your business?

3d Group of customer service related words

3d Group of customer service related words

When you started your business, did you have a plan for setting up customer service policies in your business plan?  Is there customer service policies and trainings for when you hire and train new employees?  Is customer service even in your mind when you are designing your business plan?

No!

Then you’d better start thinking about policies to create good customer service in your business because the customer experience is becoming crucial for a brick and mortar business and internet businesses.

According to Desk.com,  82% of people say they’ve stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service. What’s worse is that 39% of those lost customers will avoid you for two years or more after that experience. As you can see, customer adoption and retention relies heavily on great customer service from Best practices for customer service training.

Just look at this article about Time Warner Cable and how their customer service rating has dropped critically for some simple customer service which they could easily improve.

Time Warner Cable had the lowest customer service rating of all cable companies in 2015, according to Consumer Reports, and lowest of all U.S. companies, according to another consumer agency from Calling all Time Warner customers to unite against its dreadful customer service

Word of mouth

What is the most effective and cheapest form of marketing for your business?  Word of mouth by your customers can increase or quickly decrease the revenue for your company.  People who have a bad experience will 10 times more other people about that bad experience than someone who has had a good experience. 

In 2012, the President of The Cheesecake Factory shared that his company’s marketing expenses are less than 20% of the industry average due to great WOM (Word of Mouth) from How Customer Service Interactions Foster Word of Mouth

Customer Experience

Since the customer experience is the relationship between your company and your customer, you need to identify what kind of relationship this would be. Some things to ask yourself  include:

The image you want to have in your customers’ minds.

The emotions you want interactions with your company to spark in customers.

The culture of your company that you want to convey to your customers.

Your company’s personality and how your customers see it.

Good customer service is ensuring that during every stage of this journey your client is taken care of, including, of course, providing an excellent product at the end of the journey  from Make Your Clients Ambassadors For Your Business With Good Customer Service.

Now, with customers willing to sign up with their email, address and answer surveys or contests or be willing to give feedback on a company just for a company, there is plenty of statistics and data on the internet to learn about your customers.  Google Search and Bing and Yahoo are providing search engines so they can collect information about what people want so they can sell ads etc.

 According to Forbes

Software can track how you like to buy how long you stay on reviews, the amount of time you spend comparing other products and more. With this data, you can customize your customer’s buying experience. For example, if your customer loves reading reviews, the next time they come to your website, the reviews may be at the top from  The Year Of The Customer: 16 Customer Service And Experience (CX) Trends For 2016

 Customer Culture

Consumers may want to purchase a product, but they want to do it in an atmosphere, online or in-store, that makes them feel something positive from Why You Should Think Less About Sales and More About the Customer Experience.
Just look at Starbucks where the coffee is distinct  and “hanging out” in Starbucks is an event. “Going for coffee” has become part of the North American culture in less than 20 years.

coffeeCompare your business to Starbucks and ask yourself:

Is visiting your business an experience?

Is your website easy to navigate?

Is your website easy to find your contact information?

Do you have  friendly, timely answers for anyone asking  for help?

Is a plan for customer service in your business plan?  No. Then come join us at the business of at home business newsletter to learn more about customer service!

Home Business Startup Costs

onestepforward

Home Business Entrepreneurs are a vital and growing part of the business economy in North America. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 United States Report in 2012, over 69% of new entrepreneurs started from home. 55% of the new businesses remained at home even if they hired employees. Also, the average financing was $15,000 with 82% of the entrepreneurs receiving financing from personal funds, family or friend. If you are thinking about starting a home business, it is possible to start from home with less money than you think!

If you haven’t heard the term “bootstrapping”, it is a new mindset for you to save money by doing some of your startup activities yourself and financing your business plan.

1. The first step would be to create a budget of potential income and expenses possible in the first year. Most important would be to define all the expenses as income may not come in the first year.

2. Looking at the expenses, see how you can save by reducing expenses by, for example:

a) doing your own bookkeeping

b) using your existing furniture for your office rather than buying new or go out to garage sales to find used items.

c)asking your computer saavy family member to help you setup your internet in exchange for…

For most service businesses that are home-based, the initial year is the most expensive but saving money by creating an office in your home and using existing furniture and computer equipment helps to reduce costs.

Now on to needing money, a bootstrapping entrepreneur will use:

a) their own personal savings

b)credit cards debt

c)ask family or friends for startup money or if you are lucky, use your family members skills within your business in exchange for whatever you decide on.

The advantage to using your own personal finances is you are not indebted to any other person or company like a bank.

Without knowing what your startup expenses will be, you won’t know what money you need to raise before you even start your business. So, even though the thought of doing a business plan may be something you consider unnecessary, even if you are going to be bootstrapping, a business plan is worth doing to see what you need for the first year.

Government Resources for Writing a Business Plan

The U.S. Small Business Administration has a free resource on creating a business

The Canadian government resources at Canada Business Network

Australian government at Business Plan Template

Great Britain at Write a Business Plan

Go and write up your business plan even if you aren’t going to a bank for financing because it is the guide and plan to use in your first year to keep costs under control!

by Jane Gardner from Jane-Gardner.com To empower and implement your business dreams!

Home Office

office

 

Designing an Optimal Home Office
Your home office makes a big difference on your overall productivity and work happiness. Having a great home office makes it easier to concentrate and will help you get more done in less time. Here are some of the many things you should keep in mind while you’re designing your home office.

==> The Space Itself

Your home office should be separated from the rest of your house and especially the rest of your bedroom. If you don’t have a separate office space set aside, at least use curtains or other material to partition off the space.

When you step into your home office, it should feel like you’re stepping into a workspace. It should not be an extension of your bedroom.

==> Designing Your Flow

Place all the tools you’ll need within arm’s length. In other words, your phone, your keyboard, your printer tray and your notepad should all be in reaching distance if those are tools you use regularly.

==> Measure Your Space

Before you buy any equipment, make sure you take a tape measure and measure everything out. The last thing you want is to buy office equipment only to discover that it doesn’t fit.

==> Make Sure Your Cabinets Have Room to Open

This is one of the more common home office design mistakes people make. They remember to measure the cabinet’s space, but forget to measure enough space for the cabinet to open out. You don’t want your cabinet to hit anything else when it opens – including you or your chair.

==> Add Real Plants

Working in a home office all day can be quite stuffy. Research has shown that nature and real plants can help people concentrate and boost mood.

Add a real plant or two in your workspace to help lift your spirits.

==> Invest in a Quality Chair

Sitting in a low quality chair can result in back pain, aching shoulders and other kinds of body pains. If you’re going to spend money on anything in your office, spend it on your chair. Get a quality chair that supports your spine and allows you to work for extended periods of time without undue pressure.

==> Lighting Is Important

You don’t want to work in dim lighting. Having good lighting helps reduce strain on your eyes, promotes better mood and helps improve productivity.

The light in your office needs to appear diffused, so it can’t just come from one source. Ideally you’ll have three or four different lights that all contribute to an overall sense of having a well-lit room.

These are some of the many things that go into designing the optimal office. Your office space has a big impact on your overall workflow. The time you put into improving its design will pay off many times over.

Categories: Home Office Tags: Tags: ,

A pause during the day

Be Grateful Always remember to pause for five minutes during the hectic workday and be grateful. Find a poem, find a video like this one with the “Birds of the Ocean” , the Manta Rays or just meditate and turn the phone off. Be Grateful for what you have in your life.

THE VIDEO credit from Youtube

Published on Dec 7, 2012

Julie Hartup part of Manta Trust, a non-profit organization recently went to Yap to begin a long-term monitoring/research program. Video was complied from four days of scuba diving at a shallow cleaning station with help from the Manta Ray Bay Resort. Film was edited by Chase Weir.

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