Archive for Starting A Home Business
Business Planning Tips for New Internet Businesses
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Business planning for a new online business can be tricky. Often, the businesses struggle along, unsuccessfully, for a period of time–so it’s important in the beginning to keep the operation lean.
However, while Internet businesses often start off slow, they can (thankfully) explode with revenues and profits, which means that suddenly the web-based entrepreneur has all sorts of good problems and puzzles to solve.
And of course, there’s also a dark side to web-based businesses that produce windfall profits. Just as they can quickly ramp-up in revenue, cash flows and profitability, they can just as easily implode.
The unique financial characteristics of Internet business, therefore, suggest several business planning gambits:
Internet Business Planning Tip #1: Use a Limited Liability Company
Often in online businesses, you want to protect yourself as much as possible from unnecessary legal risks. The Internet, of course, can be a dangerous place to do business. Not everyone with whom you transact business is someone you’d feel comfortable taking home to meet the family.
Operating as a regular, traditional corporation represents one simple way to reduce your legal liability. However, a corporation automatically requires fairly complex accounting (including the requirement to do formal payroll.) Furthermore, a corporation means you’ll be doing separate federal and state corporate income tax returns, which are expensive and complicated.
As an alternative to a corporation, therefore, consider using a limited liability company. A limited liability company should provide your online business with the same legal protection as a corporation. But a limited liability company, if it’s owned by a single person, won’t require a separate corporate income tax return. Instead the LLC’s income and deductions will get reported on the owner’s regular tax return.
In summary, using an LLC rather than a corporation means you keep things nice and cheap in the beginning–when cash flows may be pretty lean.
Internet Business Planning Tip #2: Elect for Corporate Tax Status If Profits Ramp Up
A quick tip: Tax laws allow you to elect to have your LLC treated as a corporation later on down the road. And you may want to do this if your online business takes off.
An LLC taxed as an S corporation can save you scads of Social Security and Medicare taxes. And an LLC treated for tax purposes as a C corporation (your other option) can, in some unique situations, save you substantial taxes, too.
Internet Business Planning Tip #3: Setup and Use a Real Accounting System
One big advantage of an Internet business is this: Typically the accounting is pretty easy.
Accounting for an online business is easy, by the way, for a couple of reasons: First, someone else (like PayPal or the affiliated company you’re marketing for) often does much of the accounting work for you, collecting and processing the individual transactions.
A second reason that accounting for an online business is easy is this: Typically your financial data is available at someone else’s website (perhaps even your bank) for down-loading directly into your accounting system.
Because accounting for an Internet business is or should be easy, therefore, you really ought to go to the very modest effort of getting something like QuickBooks up and running to do your bookkeeping. (Probably, you won’t even have to enter much of the data yourself… some website will do the lion’s share of the work.)
With a good set of books, you’ll be able to better manage your business. And with a good set of books, you’ll definitely save on your taxes by capturing more of your legitimate business deductions.
Internet Business Planning Tip #4: Scenario Plan for Windfalls
One final business planning tip should be considered when you’re talking about an online business. And here it is… You should have a plan for what to do if you’re lucky enough to enjoy a big financial windfall. In other words, you ought to think ahead about how you’ll deal with any large financial windfall that your online business produces.
A really good way to deal with a portion of any windfall, by the way, is to sock away a bunch of money into a pension plan. In other words, if you find yourself with a $100,000 or a $1,000,000 surprise, see if there isn’t a way to stash a goodly portion of this amount into a pension.
Any accountant or financial planner can give you specific details on the options available in your situation, but know from the start that you can rather easily store away tens of thousands of dollars a year into pension options like SEP-IRAs, Simple-IRAs, 401(k) plans and even a few other options as well. (If you’re married and you can get your spouse on the payroll, you can stash away as much as $100,000 a year, tax free, with little headache or hassle.)
Here’s the rationale for this suggestion: The one common feature of Internet business success is that the success typically isn’t very long-lived. And you’ll never be sorry if you salt away a bunch of money from your blow-out years in the online business.
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Seattle tax accountant and writer Stephen L. Nelson edits a business plan templates web site and an online business web site, Nelson holds an MBA in finance from the University of Washington and an MS in taxation from Golden Gate University.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
Business Planning Tips for New Internet Businesses
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Reasons to Work from Home Online 4
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Reasons To Work From Home Online
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 1
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 2
- Reasons to Work from Home Online Part 3
- Reasons to Work from Home Online 4
9. It might grow into a big business
Most websites start as a hobby. If your idea is good and you put enough work on it, however, it might grow into a big business. Just consider blogs like Tech Crunch. It started as a one-man show, and today it employs several writers, editors, and it generates millions in revenues every year.
And you don’t need to go to the very top to see this pattern. There are hundreds of web design, affiliate marketing and consulting firms that were started as a hobby and turned into profitable businesses over time.
10. Your work will go into something you own
We believe there are no shortcuts to success. Whether you work for a corporation or have your own small business, if you want to succeed you’ll need to work your butt off.
The difference of the two scenarios above is quite a big one, however. On the first one you’ll be putting your heart and soul on someone else’s business. Sure you might get a good salary in exchange for that, but the fact that someone else owns the whole thing and will collect most of the profits remains unchanged.
If you have your own online business, on the other hand, all your sweat will go into something that you actually own. If you hit a home run, you’ll collect all the profits, and you can also decide to sell the whole business down the road.
Conclusion
Now don’t get the wrong idea. Working from home online is not a panacea. It is work. It is hard work. It has drawbacks too, and it is not the right lifestyle for everyone (i.e., there are people who hate sitting in front of the computer for hours in a row). If you believe that the pros would out-weight the cons for you, however, give it a shot. You can start working on your websites without quitting your day job, and after six months or so you’ll be in a better position to decide if that is something you would like to do full time.
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Reasons to Work from Home Online Part 3
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Reasons To Work From Home Online
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 1
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 2
- Reasons to Work from Home Online Part 3
- Reasons to Work from Home Online 4
6. It might be less risky
Many people work 9 to 5 jobs because they believe it is a safer option. A regular job sends a pay check every month, after all, while an online business has many ups and downs.
To a certain extent this is true, but under many aspects having your own online (or offline for the matter of fact) business is actually less risky. For example, if you work for a company you could get fired any day. Sometimes even top performers are fired because the company needs to cut costs.
If you have your own business, on the other hand, no one will be able to fire you. Sure, the business could still go wrong, but that is a risk under your direct control.
7. You get to be your own boss
It would be tough to find a person who never had an annoying boss, right? Even if your boss is a nice guy, taking orders from someone else sucks.
By working online you’ll solve this problem for good. You’ll still have customers, readers and advertisers who will demand your attention, but the level of stress in dealing with those is significantly lower when compared to having a boss.
8. You get to develop business skills
Every website that is built with the purpose of making money can be seen as a small business entity. You will have to manage resources (e.g., web hosting, domain names), people (e.g., web designers, writers), clients (e.g., readers or customers) and so on. You’ll also need to plan the business model, the marketing activities and so on.
In other words, you’ll develop important business skills along the way, and this is something very valuable.
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Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Reasons To Work From Home Online
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 1
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 2
- Reasons to Work from Home Online Part 3
- Reasons to Work from Home Online 4
3. You Can Work From Anywhere
We say “work from home,” but in reality you can work anywhere, and this is a great advantage. The only requirement is a reliable Internet connection, but you can get one virtually anywhere these days. You could work from cafes, parks, and even from the beach if you grab a wireless modem.
For the matter of fact you can even travel to other countries and still work on your websites as you would do if you were sitting on your home office (and many people do just that).
Last year, my dad became very ill and then died after several months. I was able to work from Texas (I live in Connecticut).
4. You Can nGet To Know And Network With A Lot Of People
Online networking is certainly not as effective as face to face networking, but the fact that you get to interact with thousands of people certainly compensates.
By working on the Internet you’ll be able to meet and work with people from all around the world, from all fields and with all sorts of interests. Initially your relationship with those people will not be as strong as with local co-workers, but over time it might.
There are hundreds of cases of people who got hired, found partners and launched successful projects over the web without meeting the other side physically.
5. It Is Flexible
A great benefit of working online is the flexibility. You can create all sorts of websites, explore different niches and try different business models every single day.
For example, you could start with a blog on a topic you are passionate about, and after a while you could experiment launching an online store on the same niche offering some products to your visitors.
This flexibility makes working online both fun and profitable.
You must remain disciplined and focused, but this is true of successful people in all areas of work and life.
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Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Reasons To Work From Home Online
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 1
- Reasons To Work From Home Online Part 2
- Reasons to Work from Home Online Part 3
- Reasons to Work from Home Online 4
The Internet is the biggest social as well as economic phenomenon of our century. It has changed the way people communicate, collaborate, and live. It also created opportunities for an entirely new form of work; online work. These are people who work full time on the Internet. Some make money through their blogs, others leverage affiliate marketing, still other focus on providing services over the web.
Regardless of your business model, there are many reasons that make working online exciting. Below we’re going to cover some of them.
1. No More Time Wasted Commuting To A Physical Location
Even if you live relatively close to your work, you’ll still waste a good amount of time commuting back and forth every day. For example, if your workplace is 30 minutes away from your home (either by car or by public transportation), you will waste 60 minutes per day, which translates into 240 hours every year.
What if instead of wasting those 240 hours commuting you could use them for something productive? You probably could read dozens of books, learn new things (i.e., how to play an instrument), exercise more and so on with all that time available.
2. You Can Live And Work On Your Own Terms
What if you could wake up without an alarm clock every single day. If you work on the Internet you can work any time you want. Do you feel more productive at night? Then work at night. Do you want to take Wednesdays off to practice a sport? Go for it.
Working on your own terms also means that you can structure your working environment as you please. That is, you can wear some comfortable clothes instead of the annoying suit, listen to music while you work if that makes you more productive and so on.
This does not negate the need to put out quality work in whatever form or field you have chosen. It does free you to better integrate your life with your work.
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10,000 Reasons Why You Should Do Your Homework Before Investing In An Online Business Opportunity
from SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources by Bill Platt
I have been providing advertising services to online businesses since 2000. I have helped many people become successful online through the use of my services.
Too often, I only hear from people on the phone after they have lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to launch their new online business ventures. They call me when they have just a few dollars left. I sometimes wish people would have found me first, so that I could have helped them find real success, instead of heartache.
Beware Of The Charlatans
Before you consider spending any large chunk of cash, please be aware of those who are preying upon the Internet newcomers.
I know companies selling cookie-cutter websites for tens of thousands of dollars, and those cookie-cutter websites have never helped anyone achieve any kind of success online.
If you are buying a website that is selling products available on thousands of websites, it will be extremely difficult for you to stand out among the crowd.
I know that these cookie-cutter sites are attractive, because they have the products, the shopping cart, and the fulfillment systems built in, but you are still one of thousands of sites displaying the exact same kind of products for the exact same prices. You are only one in a huge wilderness of sites that might look different, but are exactly the same under the hood.
In these cases, the only website owner who profits is the guy who is selling the cookie-cutter website and handling the product fulfillment for the customers.
The guy selling the site wins in three ways: 1. Selling the cookie-cutter website for 10 grand; 2. Filling the product orders and collecting his wholesale fees; and 3. He gets to capture the email and mailing addresses of people who buy products from the cookie-cutter sites.
Beware Of The Cost Cutters
If you are selling any kind of hard-product (a product that must be shipped to the customer), be aware of the price comparison websites, such as http://Nextag.com/ where consumers can find the product they want to buy, then compare prices on that particular product across hundreds of websites.
You might be the one providing the best information about the product, only to ensure that your lowest price competitor gets the sale.
It is tough selling hard products online for this very reason, unless you are an exclusive distributor of such a product or no other companies have shown an interest in selling that kind of product.
Beware Of Import/Export
Before diving off into buying products from China to resell in the United States, you need to be aware of the laws governing the importation of certain product types.
There are certain products that the Chinese Wholesale sites would be happy to sell to you. And at the same time, the U.S. Customs Office would be happy to seize those products at the border, due to import restrictions.
If the U.S. Customs seizes your shipment, your investment may be lost forever.
You should know what you can import and what you can export. Know the facts, before spending your money arranging large product shipments into the United States. http://Customs.gov/ is a good place to start to learn about importing products into the U.S.
Beware Of Bad Business Advice
If you have ever heard that online business is different than offline business, please take some time to understand what that actually means.
Primarily, it means that I do not have to have an office on Main Street USA in order to do business online. I can run my business out of my house, if I so desire.
Beyond that difference, both methods of doing business are exactly the same.
The rules that govern the profitability of a business are exactly the same.
You must earn more than you spend to make a profit, and what you pay yourself is an expense.
Beware of Those Who Are In The Business Of Selling Lies
There are tons of people online who prey on people like you.
The one that immediately comes to mind is the Internet Marketing guru who says that you can hire ghost writers for $5 an article, and that is all you should need to spend.
I provide ghost writing services, and I cannot get good content for anywhere near $5 per article.
What you usually get for $5 is stolen from someone else, or it looks like it was written by a second grader.
The thing that is so ironic about that claim is that the gurus saying that you should only pay $5 for an article are usually paying $250 to $500 to have their articles written. And they would never tell you WHO writes their articles, because finding and keeping good help is tough, even online.
I can get decent articles written for you, for well under $250, in fact, for under $100 and sometimes for under $50, depending on if I am doing the writing or my writers are doing the writing.
It is important for you to understand that awesome writers can typically earn you an awesome Return On Investment (ROI).
When you find those awesome writers, you need to pay them what they require to keep them on your payroll, and you certainly do not want to share their name with another, in the off-chance that they decide that they would prefer to work for the other guy instead of you.
It is just bizarre to me that the big Internet Marketing gurus are telling you that you should never pay more than $5 an article, when I know for a fact that many of them are paying $250 to $500 an article to have their own stuff written.
You know what this actually boils down to?
Those gurus are not telling you what you need to know. They are telling you what you want to know.
Shame on them.
Just Be Careful Out There
The Internet is full of fraudsters looking to get your money and steal your your dreams.
So be careful not to become a victim of the Internet Marketing dream.
Many of my customers have taken the time to learn how to be successful, and they are. I have several clients who earn 7-figures a year from their online marketing endeavors.
If you learn the necessary work processes that you will need to do, offer a product or service people actually want or need, and you follow through with good advertising and customer service, you can be successful too.
Unfortunately, most people will blow their bankroll, before they figure out what it was that they were doing wrong. And then it is too late, because they no longer have the resources to make anything happen.
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Bill Platt has been providing article marketing services since 2001, including article ghost writing and article distribution services, through his website at: http://thePhantomWriters.com/ You can download Bill’s free ebook titled, “Article Marketing: Beyond the Basics” on his blog. You can also listen to Article Marketing Tips and Tutorials at: http://ArticleMarketingConceptsRadio.com/
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources
10,000 Reasons Why You Should Do Your Homework Before Investing In An Online Business Opportunity
Freedom Through A Home Business
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Most of us have had at least one job that made us feel like prisoners. You show up for your eight-hour day, sometimes more if there is forced over time. You sit at your desk, confined by a tiny office or cubicle. You feel like a caged bird. It gets harder and harder to get up and drag yourself into work each day. If this sounds familiar there is a way out. The key to freedom is running your own home business. It opens up those walls to allow you to stretch your wings.
Give yourself freedom to be your own boss. You set the pace, the hours and the pay. You don’t have to worry about the work warden coming around and shouting work harder, faster, longer hours. Free yourself! You are the one who should set the pace and the standard. You are the one who guides your life.
Give yourself the freedom to set your own hours. The sun is out and you have an itch to get out your tackle box and fishing pole. Maybe your sister is in town for two days and you haven’t seen her for two years. Usually you are forced to ask your boss for time off. You are often denied and spend your workday gritting your teeth to get through. If you are your own boss and you set your hours, you also giver yourself much needed and well deserved time off. No filling out a form and waiting to see if it can be approved. Taking some time to do what is fun in life makes you a better worker. We are not robots and we do need down time to refresh our spirits.
Free yourself to care for family or friends. If you are a parent you’ve surely had a phone call from the school saying that little Johnny or Jill is ill and needs to be picked up. Once again you have to stare into your bosses eyes and ask if you can leave early to care for your little one. Most of the time you get a lecture on priorities and how important it is for every employee to be at work. You understand and don’t need a talking to. You need to go care for your child. If you have an ill friend or parent you get the same ordeal. No one needs this unwanted stress. By running your own business you are free to care for those who need you so much more than a company where you are just a number.
Just think you can wake up everyday to a job that is in your hands. You control what you do and when you do it. That’s the real freedom from running your own business. Don’t let yourself be caged by a mundane job. Don’t wait to get started, free yourself with your own business.
Maybe GDI will be one of the vehicles you use to insure your financial future. There is a 7 day free trial. Check it out yourself to see if it would work for you. It has for me. 
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Some Perks to Working for Yourself
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Working for yourself can be a big responsibility. Not everyone is up to it and it takes a lot of a hard work and dedication. You must be the kind of person that is self motivated, organized, confidant, and a self starter. Realizing that all your hard work will be put into a start up adventure and you may not see a large profit the first year. With that being said there are some definite perks to working for yourself, here are five of them.
Money makes the world go around and starting your own business working for yourself means you have a greater potential to see more money then if you are working for someone else. Imagine that you work for $10 an hour. The company you work for pays $20 an hour for the cost for you to work plus materials, but the machinery you run produces $60 an hour worth of product. The company just made a profit of $30 an hour on your $10 an hour salary. As the employee you will never see that $30 profit, but as an entrepreneur you will. You will make money off of your employee’s as well just like your boss made money off of you.
Pride is another perk working for yourself will bring. You can take pride in working hard to create a business that flourishes. A business that will provide well for you and your family will bring you great joy and pride. You will also be proud that you have accomplished what many others are unable to do, and that you have your own income based on your hard work.
Flexibility is another great perk to working for yourself. You are your own boss and that means you make the schedule. You work when you need to and have time off when you need to. A really successful business has plenty of employees that work hard and the boss can take off when ever he or she needs to.
Freedom is yet another perk to being your own boss. You will have the freedom to explore the things you want to do. Turning your hobbies and the things you love into your work will make you happy and give you an income.
Family is important and being your own boss gives you the opportunity to spend more time with your family. This means you make your own schedule and if you want to go to your kid’s baseball game, soccer game or ballet recital you can be there. If you are sick you do not have to call in, because you are the boss.
Taking the leap and becoming your own boss can offer a lot to enrich your life.
You can do it!
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The Great Recession Transforms Workplace As Well As Work Force
Posted by: | CommentsGoing to work may never be the same again.
The Great Recession has reshaped the American workplace and work force in ways that will last years, if not longer.
This is a really insightful story. Read it here.
Maybe it is time for more people to consider working from home…….
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Reasons to Have a Home Business
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If you are thinking about starting up a home business, chances are that you don’t need to be convinced. However, you have to be sure that you are doing the home business for the right reasons, and that you aren’t going to be surprised by anything that might happen while you are working with your home business. Make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons, and you are going to be more likely to be happy with the way that your home business turns out.
Reasons
There are many reasons to have a home business. You need to make sure that you are doing it for a good reason, and that this is going to fit into your life. You shouldn’t decide that you want to open a home business, for instance, if you simply want to work at home. There are many ways that you can work at home without having your own home business, and so if you simply want to have the freedom of working at home, then a home business might not be the best option for you. However, if you really have the drive and ambition to not only work at home, but to be able to create a business from scratch, then it is something that you should consider.
You should also not open a home business simply because you are angry with the way that your boss is running your business. A good reason to open a home business might be that you have new and innovative ideas for whatever field you are working in, and this might be why you want the home business. However, if you are simply doing it so that you can do what your boss does, only try to do it better, you are not going into the business for the right reasons.
You should be opening a home business because you want to make a difference in the field, and also because you truly enjoy what you are doing and think that you are going to be able to do it very well from home. These are all reasons that you might want to consider starting a home business. The idea of working form home and being your own boss should simply be something good that goes along with it. Remember that no matter what, once you start a home business it is going to be in your life, and it is going to be something that you have to plan for in the future. This means that a home business is something that you need to think through and plan carefully before you decide it is for you for sure. This is very important to remember.
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