There are right and wrong reasons for wanting to start a business or attempt self employement! You need to make sure you are wanting to DO THIS for the right reasons FIRST! Remember being angry at your boss, wanting to get rich quick, or pursueing an idea that you have only read about briefly aren't the best way to start! How about you check for yourself to see HOW motivated you really are! If you don't know the answers to these questions check to see how motivated you are in answering them!

1) How long have you been thinking of starting your business, or being self employed?

2) Do you know anyone that is self employed? Have you discussed your ideas with them? What have they told you about being self employed?

3) Do you have a definate business idea at this time?

4) Have you done research (on the web, library, business centers, etc) regarding your idea for your business in the following areas:

How much does it cost to start?

How many others competitors are just like my business out there?

Who would be my target audience, or typical customer?

How much income do owners of this type of business typically make?

5) How long do you think it will take to open for business?

6) How much income do you have to take out of the business in the first year?

How much are you willing to invest?

7) Do you have experience in this type of work?

8) What are you willing to give up temporarily in order to get the business started? Keep in mind YOU will have to give certain things up because the amount of time, resources, and money!

9) Write down something difficult that you get stuck with until it was completed.

10) Will your family work in your business? If yes, who? What much are they going to do, and what are they going to do?

Keep in mind that starting any business can be disruptive to family life. When you work from home you need to be concerned with the physical challenge of satisfying your family AND your customers at the same time!

Take your business SERIOUS! You need to work a regular schedule, and you need to ask your family to respect this! Please that doesn't mean you cut off play time with your family, but don't let your friends talk you into running errands with them during the day if you have scheduled time to work either! REMEMBER there is money on the line here!

Try to find a place within your home to do your work. Don't spread this business all over the house! Set yourself up an office space, and make sure its separate from your family activities room!

Set and stick to your business hours! You do have some flexibility for family of course, but at the same time once your business if off the ground your customers can't be guessing when you will be there for them.

When I started a business I had children at home. There were days that they needed to play at another house, or a got a teenager to come and watch them while I worked. Make sure you realize this will be a business expense, and its to be budgeted! Its just as important as your telephone or internet! That's doesn't always have to be fulltime, but you will need some time to concentrate!


I know this sounds funny, but you will understand later! If you are planning to use just one phone line both for personal and business teach your children HOW to answer the phone, and when to STAY away from it! To be honest you will want a second line at some point. Make sure it has a hold button on it in case you need to take care of AHEM 'domestic disturbances' without sounding unprofessional! Keep your answering machine on at all times. If its a homeline - turn the ringer off at night if you need to!

Remember seek support from a home business support organizations. My local college has a business community center. It can be very helpful!

SO are you motivated yet? Remember you need to know the answers to those questions while you plan your own home business. It will take a while, but it will help you in the end! I started this series with the article about, "I don't have the cash!" if that is first hurdle! I have alot more to say about the business knowledged that I have learned over the last 14 years! Check back or subscribe to the site on top! Read more...

Want to start a business, and you don't know how to get started?

Before you get started find out if people are interested in buying your products or services. Find out who your competitors are and whether the market can sustain your business.

Do a google search with keywords about what your business is going to be able. I have had friends in the past that started out with ONE idea, and found out there is a nitch within the industry that might make it more worth time! The one I remember off the top of my head was group of people wanting to sell clothing. You can imagine the competition for that! One lady took it a step further, and made outfits in a box! She had the pants, blouse, shoes, purse, and accessories all nicely packaged and ready to GO! Pretty sweet deal for someone that doesn't like taking the time to put the outfit together! She had the done her homework on the sources she would be getting the items from, and had already worked that into her business she wanted to start! She carved out that nitch within the clothing industry, and it was something not to many people were doing at the time! GET creative!

Conduct some research to see whether your idea is really feasible. This will involve gathering, analysing and evaluating information to help you formulate your business goals.

Some questions to consider are:

What product/service will you provide?

Is your idea feasible?

How will you protect your idea?

Is there a market for your product/service?

What skills do you need?

Who are your competitors?

What difference will you bring to the market?

Do you have the financial capacity?

Looks like alot of work huh? It IS alot of work! The more effort you place into planning the less likely you are to lose your shirt! The more likely you are to MAKE money for your family! Most people I speak to mention they don't have the money to start up a business, and I told them start saving NOW!

Want to start a busines, but HOW do you do that? If you do the above groundwork you will start getting a really good idea! I will be writing in the next couple of days about how things I learned to start a business. Subscribe to the blog at the top, or bookmark! I have LOADS of items that are coming!

Read more...

I work from home, and I have doing so for over 14 years now. I have come across some people that are totally intrigued by the idea, and you get a load of questions from them! One of my online jobs is working for Liveops, which I have done for over a year now. There are all kinds of other ways of making money as well, but one thing people don’t seem to understand is YES it will take some money and YES it will take more than doing it during naptimes, and while they are at school! I have seen people take their business to great moneymakers doing this while working fulltime as well. Don’t make the mistake that you are going to be placing ‘hobby’ hours in to get started. You are going to disappoint yourself, and think there is nothing but scams out there!

We don’t have any extra cash!

You need to start saving up, because you are going to be need to invest.


You can do things during that time to get ahead of the game! If you have a spouse or partner enlist some help from them even if it just being supportive! You need to decide what type of business you are going to want to do. You are going to need to know what is involved with that business. What type of equipment, insurance, marketing, how you are going to handle taxes, accounting, etc. so you aren’t over your head to begin the process! The more planning you do the less stress you are going to place on yourself!

Have you seen those offers for rebate checks? Start sending those in for your business account.

How about make a deal with the family that if you save so much in coupons during shopping that some part of that savings will go into the business account.

Offering babysitting services on a temporary basis could give you a good jumpstart towards your business account. Lets say a school holiday is coming up, and the neighbors down the street work fulltime. It could be nice to have their kids come and spend that time with your children, and you keep that money for the business account.

Sell some of the stuff around the house that you don’t need anymore on Ebay! I know I sell my kid’s clothing in bulk if it is in good shape. Don’t expect to make millions here, and remember no matter how much you paid for the outfits they don’t fit anymore! They are of no more use to you, so GET rid of THEM! Not sure you are comfortable with that? Check out this ebook on selling on ebay.

How about placing a jar on the dresser, and when you and your spouse have some extra change to dump it in as a contribution towards your business account.

There is a family I know that shovels snow or mows grass for some of the elderly in their area that can’t do that anymore for themselves. Depending on your area, and how much snow you get. A boy in our neighorhood I know charges $30 for a double driveway and sidewalk. If they don’t want the sidewalk done is $25.00. Remember chances are good they don't care if the kids come with snow shovels. YOU do most of the work anyway right? The kids can pick up the trigs, rocks, and trash before the lawn mower comes down. They can also pick up grass trimmings as well. THEY don't have to be perfect, because you can FINISH the job right?

You can join MySurvey, and do some of those in your sparetime to use towards you business account as well.

Get rid of some the books you have around by using Cashforbooks!


There are all kinds of small ways of making money, and don’t expect a huge amount at once. Keep in mind you are trying to invest in your future. Like I mentioned before there is tons of research to be done before you start to get the business off the ground. If there are items that are of interest make a note of them. If there are services you could use once you have the money for them file it away for the future.

Just because you don’t have the CASH now doesn’t mean you can’t plan for it. Some people it takes longer than others, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible. You will appreciate it more once you get there as well! Starting a business, and making it successful will take time and effort. Don’t buy into those schemes that tell you that you build it they will come! I take vacations and it makes money for me. YES businesses can do that, but don’t believe that they didn’t place any effort beforehand!

Chances are if your spouse or partner sees you placing all this effort into getting a business in the future they will get excited as well. If they are excited chances are good you will have two people working towards the effort – even if it is in just small ways! Take what you can get, and realize that is one step closer to starting! Its your dream, and you are the one that needs to make most of the effort. The time you invested will get everyone used to adjusting without you around as you once were before as well. They need to get used to that, because with a business it will take more than naptime and while they are at school! My children are old enough now that I enlist their help with some projects, and they get the reward of money towards what they are saving for.

In the next couple of days I will try to send out some items for you that I have learned in business. Its part of the 'research' you can do for your business while you are trying to up with the capital to start it!

Anyone have any other ideas for some extra money for the business account? What has worked for you? Read more...

eBay - Hobby or Business? Have your tried eBay yet?



eBay is a great way to get bring in extra money. You can start slowly
by selling a few items you have been meaning to get rid off and grow
until eventually you're buying and selling items in bulk through your
own eBay store! I started with getting rid of the children's clothes that don't fit anymore that are still in good shape!

There certainly are no limits to how much money you can make on eBay it
all comes down to how much you want to get out of it - if you treat it
as a hobby then, well you'll make pocket money. If you treat it like a
business and think big - then you'll be an entrepreneur on your way to
success. I have a friend that sells designer clothing, and $3000 for the month is possible!

If you haven't yet sold an item on eBay, have no fear it isn't too difficult to set up your own auction. eBay themselves have a whole section with tips for making the most out of your auctions. As mentioned, start small with a few items and grow from there.

One thing to keep in mind is that feedback is extremely important on eBay. You want to make sure you have a positive interaction with all your buyers and that your feedback is spotless. The best way to ensure good feedback is to make sure you describe your items as accurately as possible so there are no misunderstandings (if something has a scratch then say so), contact the buyer right away after an auction, ship the items promptly taking all the necessary precautions and you're courteous and provide feedback.

It's not rocket science but merely good customer service skills. Always go beyond what's expected and people will recognize that. Once you're ready to go BIG with eBay you can think about drop shipping (this is where you don't hold or ship any stock and a third party provider provides and ships the goods for you for a percentage fee). You'll need to do your homework before you try drop shipping as there are some unfortunate scams out there. You can also think of opening your own eBay store and really expanding.


The possibilities with eBay are endless it's simply up to you whether you treat eBay as a hobby or really commit to building a full-time income around it. To learn how to make it BIG with eBay, visit How to make Money on Ebay for a cost effective ebook on the subject! Its got alot of information so you get started on eBay and take from Hobby to Business! Read more...

How often can you get a step by step guide on how to get a business off the ground, and some holiday cash? Kids LOVE to hear from Santa, and parents will pay for letters received from him! If you have a creative bug you will love to use your ideas to make those children's lifes just a bit more special!





This may be a seasonal idea (you would think right? WRONG!), but remember kids will enjoy receiving letters each year as they GROW! The children talk, and mom will get that call as to WHERE she can get her hands on a personalized Santa letter for her children as well!

Check out this kit, and it will show you all kinds of tips!

Some of the skills:


Going beyond Santa Letters and making this a year-round business.

How to get a North Pole postmark and other ideas to add authenticity to your personalized letters.

Finding customer on the Internet: A cost-effective way to make money from the comfort of your home.

Marketing to your local area: a great way to grow your business.

Invoicing clients: You simple system for getting paid.

Sample letter: Use it as is or use it as a template for a variety of letters.

Get HOPPING the season is right about the corner, and get some extra cash with your Santa Writing Letter Business! Read more...

Free Parenting Guide! Heck how often can you find some nifty little tidbits to make your life a bit more easy! I don't know about you but I'm always searching for some additional ideas to help me brainstorm when it comes to family! You can't beat the PRICE!





Parenting Tips
Parenting Advice
Parenting Skills
WHO doesn't need some ideas from other parenting plans, or some good giggles on parenting quotes!

I didn't want to pass up a free parenting book, and I wanted to share with others!

Be a Great Mama Parenting Guide for FREE!

P.S. I bet Dad's would enjoy it also! Read more...