Let's face it. You go into business to make a profit, that's essential if you are going to stay in business. But how can you tell whether or not you will make a profit? You need to seriously research the costs so you get a good picture of things!
There are many things that have to be taken into account in order to arrive at a fairly accurate estimate of the annual costs of running a business. When starting a new business, you will need to spend some time researching the likely costs, so that you can estimate your weekly or monthly "break-even" point.
You can use the following list of costs to help prepare your estimate. Not all costs will be applicable to every business, and depending on your particular business, there may be additional items which need to be considered. Only YOU after you research will figure out most of the costs you are looking at! Make sure you realize that you may need some wiggle room as well, because there will be things you didn't count on!
If you are planning something OUT of the home:
Establishment costs
fit out
sign writing
phone & fax
power, water & gas
equipment && furniture
rent / lease in advance
security deposit
stock / raw materials
advertising & promotion
licences & permits
Premises (Your place of business if out of your home)
rent
rates & taxes
mortgage interest
repairs & maintenance
security services
insurance, buildings, public liability, professional indemnity
cleaning
Employees (if that is what you plan on)
wages, salaries, bonuses, overtime
holiday pay
sick leave pay
long service leave provision
fringe benefits
workers compensation insurance
staff training
clothing, uniforms, personal protective equipment, etc
staff amenities
superannuation
Trading
stock & raw materials (could be wholesale items, or materials for your crafts that you plan to sell)
bank fees & interest (business accounts are a bit different that personal!)
leasing or hire purchase (if you plan to do this see which is better for you in the long run. At times your accountant can help you figure this in)
maintenance of plant, machinery, vehicles, etc (if you need this)
motor vehicle, registration & insurance, running costs, etc (Depending on HOW you set your business up these can be write offs)
depreciation
advertising & promotions (where are you going to advertise? What promotions do you plan?)
market research
provision for bad debts (Its GOING to happen!)
Administration
phone & fax
postage
stationery & printing
office supplies
insurances
office equipment, maintenance, service, depreciation
accountancy fees
Directors' fees (for companies)
solicitors fees & legal expenses
selling commissions & retainers
packaging
delivery & freight costs
contractors & sub-contractors
equipment hire
licences & permits
inspection fees
workshop tools, parts, etc
professional memberships & subscriptions (remember these are available online as well! They are useful tool, and if you do any business offline - check out your local Chamber of Commerce!)
payroll tax
Website costs
Keep in mind not all of these items may exist in what you are planning, but there are some that everyone uses! Try to estimate your costs so you know what you are looking at!
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You have to learn to set goals for yourself not only in personal life, but in you business life as well! You must have a final destination in mind before you can figure out how to get there! Goal setting helps bring your final destination into better focus!
Keep in mind goals require discipline! Your discipline will make all the difference in the world! You will need to write these goals down, and remember the three criteria!
THEY ARE SPECIFIC!
Since this is Holiday Time, and some of us will want to EAT our hearts out how soon so:
Lose 20 pounds
YOU MUST HAVE A TIME LINE
Okay! I want to lose my 20 pounds by Christmas day!
BREAK IT INTO STEPS
To lose my 20 pounds by Christmas:
1) Eat one good meal everyday.
2) Need to Exercise at least 3 times a week
3) Cut out the junk food, and drink more water
Once you write that goal down on paper it will seem MORE real to you! We all have talent. Our challege is turning out talent into ability, and that is where our discipline makes all the difference in the world. It will be your talent in business that allows you to reach those goals.
Its no good starting a business you aren't going to enjoy. To help assure yourself that you are a good fit, and have the proper personality to met the demands of your choosen business you need to truly explore your beliefs, needs and interests.
Keep in mind your first year in business is going to feel like you have no time for anything! Please be careful NOT to ignore your personal and family needs, and let me tell you people do this all the time. You are looking for trouble when you go down that road.
Balance is KEY! Balance can be hard if you don't plan well. One of the best ways to allocate your time between personal and business needs is to examine your personal goals FIRST, and then see how they relate to the demands and opportunities that are going to be presented by your business.
Personal Goal Setting Worksheet
Next Three Months - Write your description
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Action Steps:
1)________________________________________
2)________________________________________
3)________________________________________
Next six months goal - Write your Description
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Action Steps:
1)________________________________________
2)________________________________________
3)________________________________________
Next 12 Months - Write out your description
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Action Steps:
1)________________________________________
2)________________________________________
3)________________________________________
Make sure you give yourself specific description of your goal. You need to have at LEAST 3-4 steps for your action plan that you need to do to achieve them.
Once you have completed your personal goal setting worksheet start to examine how your business goals relate to your personal ones. You may decide to change a business goal because of a personal goal, and visa versa!
Get this completed, and your on your way to learn to set goals!
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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!
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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!
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?
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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!
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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!
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Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$!
If you are always snapping pictures Shutterstock wants your photos, and a great way to make some work at home dollars! Submit your photos to Shutterstock and get paid every time one of your photos is downloaded. Web designers, magazine editors, and other graphic artists purchase monthly subscriptions to Shutterstock to download photos from our site. Get your name out there as the true artist you are, and get your work at home job launched at the same time!
Shutterstock will pay you 25 cents every time one of your images is downloaded. Once you reach $500 in earnings, your commission goes up to 30 cents per download. If you love to do video they will pay you for that as well! Each time one of your clips is purchased, you receive a 30% commission on the sale. Stock clips are typically priced at $10 to $50 per clip.
Do you have a creative side? Try shutterstock, and get paid for that creativity...and make your work at home career in a way you never dreamed of!
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They are a fast-growing Health 2.0 start-up looking for the very best people to immediately join our team. Founded by experienced Internet entrepreneurs Steven Krein and Unity Stoakes, the company is designed with a flexible, performance-based, "virtual" structure -- in other words, you can and should work from wherever you like - including working from home. By building a virtual company, we can bring on the very best talent no matter where they might live or want to work from. We want you to be happy, and focused on results instead of commuting. We want you to spend more time with your family or doing more whatever makes you happy by telecommuting. And we do everything we can to make sure our employees not only have great careers, but great lives.
You know, without any doubt, that you want to work in a fast-growing start-up and are happy working remotely. That means you are comfortable telecommuting, using video chat, instant messaging, and you love to be "online". Although we do have an office in New York City, we live and work primarily online and only want people who want to live and work online too!
Check out any of the Open Positions and send your resume and cover letter to careers@organizedwisdom.com, mentioning the job title in your subject line.
Please include your salary requirements and what inspired you to apply for this position. Please also include the names and contact information of 2-3 references. '
We're always looking for talent to add to our team.
If you're interested in joining us but our open positions aren't right for you, please email your resume to careers@organizedwisdom.com.
Get your creative juices going, and help out a great cause by having a work at home career with Organized Wisdom!
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Grindstone work at home career has some requirement you can view below! This telecommuting job likes to promote within!
You have kids at home during the day
You are only looking for customer service work and/or only have customer service experience
Only want to work inbound calls
Do not meet the below requirements
You do not have AT LEAST three years of Outbound Telemarketing or sales experience or three years of Appointment Setting/Lead Generation experience.
Requirements - We are seeking Talented "Outbound" Telemarkers only
3 years of successful Business to Business Appointment Setting or Direct Sales
Experience speaking with Business Owners, CEO's, Presidents and decision makers
Professional upbeat sounding telephone voice
A desire to interact with prospective customers with consultative selling approach
Ability to take direction and follow through
High-Speed Internet Access
AOL Instant Messenger
Microsoft Outlook
Anti-virus protection program
Unlimited Long Distance calling plan
Computer/Internet experience and skills
-------------------------------------
Recruiting and retaining the best talent is one of the keys to Grindstone's success. Our highest priority is to find and keep the best people, no matter where they may be!
We are always looking for talented professionals to join our team. Work from your remote office, If you have a great phone voice, are organized and experienced in the services we provide our clients, then we want to talk to you. The majority of our clients need assistance in the Technology and Business Services sector, although we are successful with clients in other industries as well.
Our clients demand that we hire the best. Those who pass our thorough screening process will have the opportunity to flourish with a growing company. We are on the cutting edge of a new trend, and we believe in promoting from within.
Not afraid to pick up the phone? Ready to join a fantastic company? This work at home career maybe just the thing for you! Read more...
If you have a passion for building technologies that will help a lot of people, then we want you on our team. We're looking to work with the very best developers in the world. Join a team of dedicated, smart, ambitious, and fun people. Best of all, work from anywhere and enjoy a flexible schedule.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Extensive LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) experience
- Familiarity with Subversion and trac
- MediaWiki, HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript and cross-browser compatibility experience a plus
- Experience scaling Web apps
- Love start-up environment and growth companies that innovate fast
Interested? Send your resume/CV and cover letter to careers@organizedwisdom.com with "Senior PHP Developer" in the subject line.
If you have developer skills why not start your own work at home career!
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Do you know a second language well enough to make money from your skills? This work at home career is looking for all languages and all combinations. They only employ professional, full-time translators that work translating only one language.
All of Lingo24 employees work from home – performing translating from the comfort of their homes. They frequently translate between English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, but translate between a dozen other languages as well.
This work at home at career company is UK based, and they are a Member of the Association of Translation Companies. Telecommuting from home could by ANYWHERE across the globe!
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