Home Business: Work in Fuzzy Slippers and Nightwear!

Many people look at working from home from many angles, some will say they do not work and very skeptical and some look at it as hopeful optimism. What must you consider before you get on the diving board and jump into your next business opportunity? I will be providing tips that will allow you to gather information and plan for in order to make a good decision.

You will now be a business owner. You will want to plan as a business owner and look at the tax advantages and what you need to do as a business owner. Keep track of all your purchases. If you are high tech, use apps on your cell phone, IPad, or computer. For those low tech and maybe not as savvy, get out and envelope. Make sure you move these regularly into your accounting files and stay on top of it. You will not want to do it once a year, before you have to send it in when filing taxes. The IRS has an approved iPhone app called "CAPTURENGO" to create digital receipts using the iPhone camera. But still, you will have to move them off into file folders for your accounting for your business.

Now, if this is your first business or what you want as your first successful business, you may not have a lot of money to place on education. Find local business classes to attend, work with someone you look up to in business as a mentor to help guide you, get plugged in to chamber of commerce to learn more about what you need to do.

The best incomes are the ones that make you money even while you are doing things you like and even sleeping. You have to be out in front of people you want to help. Are you an expert or at least know about something that others may not know? Write an article and post it to the EzineArticles website or a like website, or write an eBook and you may charge people money for it. However, before you write an eBook, what will make someone want to buy it? They must read something where you were able to help them either free or something for 2 cents. Don't think everyone will just join by catchy titles. At this point you start to build relationships.

When you are building your business, remember an important key, Time is Money and Money is Time. Do not let it escape you with doing things that will not make you money. Sure you will have to do things administratively, but do not do it when you can be getting your business in front of customers. Also, do not get sucked in by the catchy teases made on TV like Plaintiff Crushed by Judge Judy's Charm. No matter how it catches, it will not make you money. However, I said to manage your paper work and be neat, but do that when you cannot do anything else, like early morning with coffee or before bed.

In some home businesses, you must bring people into your home. The outside of your home gives your first impression of your business. Keep it neat. Also consider, you can do the work, but if you are not good at it, then get someone else to do it. Also time is money, can you do more to get in front of people or pulling weeds in the flower beds? This also goes to the tech savvy people. If you clutter your Facebook pages and twitter accounts with garbage people will see the garbage. No, all the coins you make in Farmville will never send cash to your bank account. It is nice to share things, but what will that say about your business?

If you are selling something on the web, make sure it is an easy process for customers to pay. You can lose more customers if the payment process is complicated. Some companies specialize to make the processes easy, go find out what they are. If a 5 year old would struggle, many customers would struggle.

You also need to keep your mental spirits up. Working all on your own can play mind games with you. Put on some soothing music, take a coffee break, sit back and close your eyes for 5 minutes. As I told everyone I worked with in home businesses, that everyone is nice that you need to talk to, but every once in a while, someone will be rude and ugly to you. They are having a bad day and some times that one person runs around a lot and you will run into them a lot. Do not worry, they are not meant to be in your business.

Now, the next thing you will want to do, and many home businesses do not do this right. A lot go out to sell everyone in their friends and family on what they are doing and want them in their business. I will tell you to stop. What is your business and why would they want into it. Just because everyone has skin does not qualify them to need to use a skin product. Also, if the business did not have a money angle, would you still be involved by using the products. If no, I will say, it is a wrong business. Ask the friends and family to assist you in finding what your ideal candidate is for your products. Then have them pass on referrals. I use to ask for friends to pass on my business card to people, but this did not work. I prefer to tell people, this is my ideal customer and why I think I can help them, I ask for friends to find people that have a want, need or desire to resolve the issue and then get me their cards.

Get your friends and family to promote your home business for you. Give them business cards so they can hand them out to the people they know who might want to use your services. You can even make it a fun game by putting a coupon code on the card which is specific to the individual you give it to, and then the person with the most referrals wins a prize!

Day one when you start your business, remember that you are the only employee. Understand what the requirements are to achieve your jobs goals. Find out what assets you have available to you in your business. If you need help with aspects of your business, you may want to farm it out. Now, if you need to add people in your business, you can consider getting involved with people looking to build your business while working with you. Understand some will take your bonuses and the majority of money to help you. If they say they will help you with a Ready Built team, nothing is ready built and they are just lying to you. If I said you had a ready built home, you would expect to walk in the door and the home was there. If you got a pizza, and it was ready built pizza, you would expect to walk out with a pizza how you want it. This is where some people doing this will take your money for themselves. Now, I will tell you that there are team builds where they will definitely help you add people in your business and they care about you. There will never be a ready built down line, because it will take time to find people to assist you. I have worked with some reputable team build organizations.

Thank you for reading my article and I hope some of the tips can help you in your endeavors. If you would like more information on what I talked about in this article, I would encourage you to reach out to me. See my author section and feel free to contact me!

one Thing Forgotten By Many Enterpreneurs For Successful Business

In 'Qashflow Quadrant' introduced by Robert Kiyosaki, Left Quadrant consists of Employee and Employee Self Service. Well, in this article I would like to remind that many people who start businesses forget the ultimate goal of a true Entrepreneur, which is located in Quadrant Right, which consists of the Business Owner and Investor.

Forgetting the true purpose of Entrepreneur is the root cause why 80% of new businesses go bankrupt after 5 years of existence, while few have survived and continued to evolve into a global giant.

What is actually meant by 'forgetting'? Most people who are in his business do the operational works after years his business built without an attempt to build a system of the business itself. As such, they are stuck in the position of Self Employee forever. In fact, the true purpose of Entrepreneur actually is one word: Freedom.

Yes. Freedom! Free from technical and operational chores of our business. Free from the operational monotony of routine work. Actually, the last goal of Entrepreneur is freedom, and that means someone who is running a business should have a goal to be a Business Owner. Not Self-employed forever. If you continue to be Self-employed, you still have a role as an employee. The difference is that you work as an employee on your own business. It's not a freedom that is ideal for a true Entrepreneur.

The goal's highest level to be an Entrepreneur is to a Business Owner. By becoming a Business Owner, we will have the time freedom and financial freedom as well. Why I did not say 'investor'? The answer is that being Investor is more of an "advanced options" of freedom that has acquired a Business Owner. When you have become a Business Owner, in principle, the time and financial freedom coveted all people in the world have achieved.

So what's the relation of doing serve forever as a Self-employed with a 80% failure rate after 5 years the business built as I told before? You see, when you become Self-employed, and you take too long time being Self-employed, and you're stuck in it, then you will not have time to develop your business systems. When you do not build and develop a system for your business, then you will not be able to delegate technical tasks and operations of your business to others. You will not have time to run your functions as the "brain" of your company. In fact, the role of the "brain" of the company first determine the direction and the success of a business.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you're running a restaurant business, and you are good at cooking a delicious menu. In the early days, you will indeed spend a lot of time to do the job on its own restaurant operations, such as cooking, and also serve to guests, create and deploy advertising, financial paperwork, and so on. Yes, you do need to do it at first, especially given the fact that at that time you may not have so many people yet to help you. In this position, your status as a Self-employed. You are still an employee in your own company.

Do not forget this principle: True Business serves as the "Money Machine". He will continue to function and walk with or without you in it. Truly "Money Machine"! So, when you still have a role as a Self-employed, you have to start allocating your mind and your power to build your business systems. This is the work of the brain. This is the work of the mind that was exhausting, especially during the initial start. But remember, once a good system began to wake up in your business, then your business will run by itself and can be duplicated in the branches of your business when the time comes you are able to "spread our wings".

Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald), was initially involved in the burger business operations, including cooking. However, in those days, from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, he composed and built the systems in the business. Now, Ray Kroc does 100% brain job in his McDonald to tune the system of the business so that now the burger company is running worldwide!

How To Successfully Drive Business Change

As an owner looking for ways to improve your business processes and your business performance, you are no doubt on the look out for new ideas and strategies to implement.

How lucky you are that in this modern world there are so many ideas and strategies to choose from!

Of course as you mature as a business owner you come to understand that it is not access to new ideas that will make a difference in your business, it is your ability to implement those ideas and drive change that will determine how successful you will be.

In my professional experience as a business coach I have observed time and again that the most successful business owners are those that can embrace the need for change and find a way to motivate and empower their staff to drive the business improvement process.

But change does not come easy to any human-- we all seem to have a fear of moving away from what we know, even if we understand that we could always be doing better!

One of the business coaching ideas I use with my clients is that your ability to make changes in your business life (and indeed your personal life) depends on the strength of your personal DVP formula.

What is the DVP formula?

It is a concept that says that successful change requires a high level of

1. Dissatisfaction;

2. Vision; and,

3. Planning.

What does that mean?

If you and your team are not really dissatisfied with your current position, why would you commit to a change strategy? Why change something if it isn't broken? If you can live with the current position, or have lived with it for a number of years and the sky has not yet fallen in, there is no perceived need to adopt a different way of doing things-- even if you understand that a change may lead to better results.

The trick then is to understand just how dissatisfied you and your team are in relation to a specific business process or financial outcome. If the drive to get to a better place is not strong enough, you either need to find a way to increase the level of dissatisfaction or accept that change will not occur and move on to another business issue.

The second element of your DVP formula is to make sure you have a very clear vision of what you want to achieve. Any change process you start without having a strong vision of where you want to get to is destined to fail.

Finally, once you have a strong desire to make changes to your current position, and you have a strong vision of where you would like to get to, the success or otherwise of your change strategy will depend on the strength of your plan to achieve the change.

So the DVP formula says that changing a business process is more likely to be successful if you and your team can develop a high level of dissatisfaction with what you are currently doing and currently achieving, and then develop a strong desire to get to a better place, and then develop an effective planning strategy to move you and your business to the desired result.

If any of these three elements are not strong enough, you are not likely to achieve the results you want.

How To Apply DVP In Your Business.

Experience has shown me that the best approach to driving change in a business is to engage the team early in the process.

Within a workshop environment, get your team to focus on the business process you want to change and fully discuss the negative impact it is having on the business as a whole and most importantly, on the individual team members themselves. List down everything that the group discusses-- the more negatives they find the better!

From there your team should talk about the types of improvements they would like to see in the business and in the lives of the individuals and what the business would look like if these improvements could be made. The more you focus on the improved business results and the improved work life opportunities, the more you and your team will become dissatisfied with the current position, and the more likely you are to commit to a change strategy.

Again, use a whiteboard to list the benefits that can be achieved by making the changes. That list of benefits will ultimately define the vision of what you want to achieve. Using an open forum discussion process you should be able to develop a very clear understanding of what vision you and your team are willing to commit to.

Having developed a full understanding of your current position and a strong vision of where you would like to get to, it is then time to discuss ways that you can move your business towards the agreed goals. Brainstorming ideas will ensure everything is considered and ultimately this list of ideas can be distilled down to what is the most appropriate strategy for your business and your team at this time.

Follow this process and your ability to drive a successful change strategy in your business will be greatly improved.

Applying DVP To Your Personal Life.

Interestingly, this DVP formula is also amazingly effective in making changes to your personal life. Do you want to stop smoking, lose weight, or make a career change?

None of these things are easy to achieve, but how much easier is it when you become so dissatisfied with your life that you are desperate to make a change, when you have a strong vision of yourself as a non-smoker, a fitter person or working in a job you love, and with the assistance of a friend, mentor or professional you are able to develop and commit to a step by step plan to achieve success?

DVP Will Work In Your Business.

When I first discovered this DVP formula I thought it was theoretical rubbish!

Having applied it as a professional business coach over many years, and having applied it to some of my own personal issues over the years, I can assure you the DVP formula is very real and very effective.

Conduct a Digital Audit for Your Business

A digital 'audit' can seem a daunting task but once broken down into stages the process becomes quickly achievable. This first planning step to take involves reviewing the digital health of your business and analysing your business' current situation in terms of:

• Your business' ability to handle change

• The online market place

• Your online and offline market position

• The external environment your are operating in

This is an opportunity to spot weaknesses in your business profile and marketing power online, so you can then build a marketing strategy based on your strengths as well as any opportunities to sell.

Don't worry about your research findings. This is a useful business exercise not a personal comment. Better to find ways of improving your marketing situation online than to ignore the need to improve. Try to make a point of taking a bird's eye view of your business as online audits are very useful if you respond with logic rather than emotion.

Remember, if you find holes in your business, you are not alone. Very common business audit discoveries include:

• The business hasn't planned well in the past

• Not enough is known about a business' customer groups (segments).

• Pricing is inconsistent with competitors

• Cash-flow is a worry and marketing budget isn't enough to meet objectives.

• Brand, website and customer loyalty needs building

• Not enough is known about the potential of the internet as a tool for sales

• Business team doesn't have much IT technical knowledge

It's worth keeping in mind that if you are in a fast moving industry you will need to review your audit more often.

Consider your internal environment (factors you can control)

a. Decide what you want to get out of your audit, do you want:

• More effective business procedures

• Better return on investment (ROI)

• Market insights to plan campaigns

• Build customer relationships

b. Consider the success of what information you already have (and how it translates online):

• Internal written, digital or word of mouth data about customer service and productivity

• Any marketing strategy

• Business strategy

• Product development, customer service and communications systems

• What product / service distribution system and service network do you have currently? how would it have to change online?

c. Consider your current assets to help you decide how you will reach digital objectives. These include cash flow, business competencies and internal and external resources such as your:

• Management, employees, stakeholders, suppliers, partners, agency workers- their digital skills/ experience/ contacts/ goodwill and support

• Current Customers - their digital preferences (what they use in terms of hardware, software, social media, advertising, downloads, webinars, podcasts, games)

• Business budget (and partner business budget)

• Materials and technology

• Review all your marketing materials - what are they, how are they used? Are they cost-effective and what return on investment do you get?

• Brand, (including its character, business culture and location)

• Processes and systems, speed of operations and delivery to market

• Previous business activity, competitor and market research/insight, financial history, campaign results.

d. Define your current and target customers - by considering the things your regular customers have in common:

Tip1: Create current and target market groupings (segments) based on their buying behaviour and demographics. It can help to define each group as a person. For example, a live music venue may target someone like 'Johnny' who is 32, single and likes a pint with his mates at a club where he hears new bands and then uses his iPhone to download the tracks off iTunes. He's an impulse buyer who responds to what he sees/hears.

Tip 2: Learn to use a search marketing tool such as Google Keywords SEOmoz, LongTail Pro or Market Samurai to find out what products, services, and information (relevant to your business) your target customers are they searching for online. There are plenty of tutorials available for each of these on YouTube or their respective websites.

e. What are your business' planned objectives and KPIs? Have any been achieved online or offline? Why did they succeed? Do you have customer feedback? Especially review what plans exist to recruit, convert and retain customers?

Consider the marketing environment in which your business is located and your market position (on and offline)

a. How does your business brand (personality) and your products/services fit into the wider marketplace and how will it be affected by it? You may want to use a free survey design service such as Survey Monkey to ask current customers and prospects for their views on your business credibility, reputation, products / services and future online growth. This process also helps to remind customers of your brand and intention to trade online.

b. Consider your marketplace online and offline:

• What does your industry look like online?

• Who are your chief competitors? Are they the same offline? How would you describe their online brands, promotional techniques, customers? What's unique and emotionally appealing about them to their customers? How can your brand be different and more appealing than theirs (without losing money?)

d. What market share do you currently have (shows how competitive you are)? You can define this as Value (your market sales revenue divided by the total market sales revenue available) or Volume (your market unit sales volume divided by the total volume of units sold in that market). You can also look at your relative market share against a market leader (your market share volume divided by the market leader's share volume). Be careful of planning price wars on this basis though as they harm the pricing structure of the industry down.

e. What alternative partners and agencies exist in the online marketplace to help you with your supply chain, research, marketing, services, offers, weblinks, advertising etc?

g. Asses your business' digital 'marketing mix'- this is a combination of marketing factors that collectively represent your business online. They include where you can find your business' brand online, how you promote your business, your current online pricing mechanisms, your products or services offered online, your representatives and processes online and evidence of your existence (for example, if you offer services do you display testimonials, awards, guarantees, transparent customer service).

h. analyse your brand's market strength online:

• How will potential customers come in contact with your brand and what it means to them (logos, products, website, promotions, social network interaction, downloads, employees, email responses, purchase systems, after sales added-value services etc)

• How do you value those aspects of brand equity

• Are you planning to expand your brand/products/services

• Does your brand reinforce your business values

Consider the external environment (factors beyond your control)

a. Marketers use an analysis tool known as PESTEL (shortened to PEST) to consider the external environment within which a business operates and the factors which could impact upon that business' goals.

PESTEL is an acronym that represents the words Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. You can create your own PESTEL analysis by setting out these words and then bullet pointing with specifics that affect your business' ability to achieve the aim of setting up and operating online.

A bullet point example under the heading 'legal' might be:

• UK Data Protection Act 1998

This is important as you will need to comply with this law to protect customers' data you hold as a result of trading online (and offline).

You will probably be able to list at least 5 factors under each heading that are important influencers over your online success.

PESTEL analyses are useful as they can help you identify potential threats to your business or opportunities if they are considered in light of your strengths and resources.

b. Your online Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats can be expressed using an SWOT tool (you may well have carried out this exercise to create your offline marketing plan or business plan). A SWOT helps you take a bird's eye view of your business, for you to consider how well you can compete, where your business is weak, where it could be threatened and then you can build a strategy for your digital plan.

It's worth taking the time to learn how to do this specifically for your business needs and to avoid the pitfalls. For further guidance on SWOT development see this American site Smes internet marketing.

Audit summary

Now in light of your audit findings try to answer the following questions and see how they fit with any current marketing/business plan you have:

1. Which of your KPIs and objectives have you achieved already and which ones can you achieve as a result of your audit?

2. What does your SWOT/PESTEL analysis tell you about the potential for your business reaching and retaining target customers? What specific opportunities are there which are not inhibited by weaknesses?

3. Who can you compete with and what are their weaknesses / strengths /plans? What specifically (within budget) will you offer customers that's different from your competitors, offering greater value?

4. Can you summarise your target markets' buying behaviour?

5. Are you clearer about what you need to produce and how you need to supply your goods/services online?

6. Have you got the clues you need to provide good customer service online in a way your current and target customers appreciate?