Home Based Business - Make Money At Home But Look Before You Leap

Uncertainty in the economy is evident in rising interest rates and the increasing cost of energy, health insurance, food, and tuition. The resultant unrest causes an increasing number of people to consider alternatives for supplemental income. Many stay-at-home moms are considering starting a home based business. Others are looking at leaving their current job to start a new career where they can avoid the daily commute and focus on a home business that may meet their long term goals. There is clearly a risk in leaving the "security blanket" of an existing job for the dream of being able to make money at home. However, with some expert guidance and some realistic expectations, many of the risks can be minimized. There are some basic principles that deserve consideration.

Principle #1: Quick And Easy Generally Isn't Quick And Easy!

The reality is that no small business startup is as quick and as easy as one would like it to be. It generally takes longer and more money than anticipated. There are several basic questions that a person should consider before jumping in with both feet:

Do you have the financial safety net to pay the bills if it takes twice as long to get your business off the ground than expected?
What if it takes four times longer to achieve profitability?
What market are you going to sell products to? Do you really understand this market in terms of who the customers are, what they buy, why they buy, from whom do they currently buy, and why they'll buy from you?
Is this a new market or is it an existing market with competition? New markets are hard to get started! Competition is not bad!
Is your market a hot target market in which you can expect to reach your financial projections even if you capture a small percentage of the market share?

Take time to do research to get answers to these questions. Failure to do this is a recipe for disappointment. Financial goals are generally met quicker and easier if the proper homework was completed up-front.

Principle #2: Find A Hot Target Market.

Most every small business owner has high expectations for their product. They are hopeful it will become a hot product. Unfortunately, very few products ever achieve that status. The chances for exception success improve significantly if the product is being marketed into a hot target market. In a hot target market, customers are actively and sometimes aggressively buying products in large numbers. This defines a "hot target market".

Examples of hot target markets are NASCAR souvenirs, high tech computer games, certain children's toys (e.g. Webkins), specific athletic shoes, designer jeans, and high definition television. Even with competition, participation in a hot target market generally can be very lucrative. Beware: some hot target markets are short-lived. For example beanie babies were hot at one time but no longer.

Principle #3: Identify And Study The Competition

Starting a new market where there is no competition sounds attractive. Generally, it's not. It's very difficult to create a new market. Customers are hesitant to buy products in a new market. Likewise, investors are very reluctant to invest in businesses in unestablished markets. If it's a new market or if there is no competition in the market, beware! The presence of competition is the sign of a healthy market that can stand to have multiple competitors.

Study the competition. Football team coaches spend countless hours studying game films of their upcoming competitors. They want to know their strengths and their weaknesses. They use that information to formulate a marketing strategy that will give them the best chance of competing and winning. That's a good model for the business world as well.

Conclusion:

Prospective new home-based-business owners need to manage their excitement and carefully analyze the opportunities, the risk, and the alternatives that can lead to the financial success and personal satisfaction they desire. The risks can be managed. The rewards can be life-changing.

Online marketing resources for small business and home based businesses that market their products or services online. Resources are provided to help clients find business opportunities [http://www.hookedonarticles.com/business-office/business-opportunity.html] to help them with their small business startup [http://www.onlinesalestipsandanswers.com/small-business/small-business-startup.html] needs, and to assist them in growing their business.

Make Money With Your Computer - Do It Before Everyone Jumps on the Bandwagon

"Go to school, get good grades, get a job, save money, buy a house, and you are all set for life, Sweetie."

Unfortunately, that advice is not working too well nowadays. Sure, maybe back in the day it was, but we're now in the Information Age and it's power is finally starting to materialize. Ever heard how many people and analysts are saying the U.S. will be a third-world country? Well blame technology along with the economy. See, the common mindset of the average person is to work for the DOLLAR. Every 2 weeks you get paid dollars, go home, spend it, and have to return to work and trade your time. There's one little problem: every year the dollar is losing it's value because the Federal Reserve is printing money like crazy and wanting interest, so why work so hard for something that's dropping like a rock? You ever see those commercials of "Hey YOU! Send us your GOLD and we'll pay you CASH"??? Those gold guys are smart. They know the dollar is dropping and are stocking up on gold as an investment.

So why do some say the U.S. is going to be a 3rd world country? A lot has to do with the computer. There is already a company that has a call center in a state where the minimum wage is low. This call center is linked to different fast-food franchises in states where the wages are a little higher. So as you roll up to the intercom, the person taking your order is actually the person with a computer and headset in that call center. Not someone in that actual restaurant. So what does this mean? Let's say the minimum wage in Georgia is $5.15/hr and the minimum wage in Connecticut is $8.25/hr, well the owner of that restaurant just saved about 38% on a worker's wage cost. This is what's to come in the near future. Why would a business owner pay an office administrator $15/hr to answer phones, manage accounts, and set appointments when someone in Vietnam who speaks English can do the same thing with an internet connection/phone/computer/headset for $0.15/hr?

The rich and wealthy approach money with a different mindset. They don't work for it. They work to build business/investments/assets that generate what's called "cash flow" or income streams of money. Because the internet has now eliminated much of the costs for a conventional business, the average person can start an internet marketing business for little or even no cost and be able to generate income streams from home. This has already been happening, but due to the economic crisis and ability to do business online with other countries, it's going to sky-rocket. So why not get the right education and learn how to make money with your computer, before everyone else does? Because you know when it's caught on, it's too late.

New internet marketer, becoming educated the true honest way of online income through Internet Income University.

Making Money - Cart Before the Horse?

Think money, think freedom! Think money, think peace of mind. Think money, think pleasure. All very reasonable comparisons when we start to dream about having the kind of income to achieve this. Is this the problem we have when we start, or try to build an online business?. We become mesmerized by the promises of luxury cars, houses, clothes, lifestyles fed to us from sales copy more suited to science fiction than basic reality. Of course there is an abundance of all these things, but in the right order.

Being too focused on the cash end of the business can lead us to be careless in our construction of a solid, viable, growing concern. Aren't you turned off when a page wreaks of hype, gaudy, comic book style content? A great deal, a solid product or service at a competitive price will outlast any or all of the questionable "Give me the the money now" sites. The way to build a sound online business is to put service first, create the buzz that will surround your site when you have, researched the market. Put as much passion into the undertaking as you can muster,give value for money, give, give, give.

What if you've done all that and still not got results? I have had people say to me, "We have tried everything we can to make money from our business, but nothing worked. Tried Everything? Nothing worked? Belief is a strong influence in deciding the outcome of any undertaking. Relax, believe that you can, let it happen rather than trying to force things. How many businesses do you imagine are working for their owners at the present time? It's millions, that's a lot of people to give you the reason to persevere.

What is life if there is no written word?

Tony Barton, look at this opportunity, Please. http://www.workhappyathome.info