There are so many things out there advertising “Work from Home!” or “Make thousands of dollars just by typing!” Unfortunately, genuine stay-at-home money-making opportunities are extremely rare and if they do exist, they are never easy. So how can you pull in a few extra dollars every month without getting taken for a ride?
Join an Existing (legitimate) Organization: The advantage here is that you do not have to create a company name or reputation. It already exists. I am thinking of solid, well-known companies such as: Mary Kay,
Don’t be fooled into thinking though, that your costs will be extremely low or that you will be making money hand-over-fist in no time flat. Be prepared with a marketing strategy and a good chunk of money to invest (the amount depends on the company you join). Be prepared to dedicate a fair amount of time to your business before you break even and be willing to wait a while before making a profit. Also, make sure to keep in mind that in order to succeed in most of these organizations, you have to be an excellent salesperson. A good way to decide if you have what it takes is to first talk to several people who are successful and several who have been unsuccessful with the business. Watch out for the phrase “I made X dollars in one night!” as there is not enough information in that statement. How much money and time did that person put in before getting to that point? Are those types of earnings normal for the average salesperson?
Here are a few of the questions you will want to ask yourself before getting started:
- š How am I going to market myself?
- š Do I personally have a passion for the products or services offered?
- š How many of my friends or associates would buy this product/service from me?
- š Do I have enough money for sufficient advertising?
- š Am I willing to dedicate the time necessary to build this business?
- š Do I have the space to store inventory (if applicable)?
- š Is this company reputable?
- š How am I going to separate my personal and business finances? Hint: DON’T mix them!
Start a business from scratch: The advantage here is that you can do whatever you have a passion for, exactly how you want to do it and you are solely responsible for the reputation of your company. You also have the major advantage of getting to decide where all of the revenue goes since you are not building someone else’s business for them. Unfortunately, most people who start a company do not really stop long enough to consider whether their idea will actually work before investing thousands of dollars and many hours of time. Since you are the pioneer of this business, you have a MUCH longer list of considerations to mull over before getting started:
š What is your product/service?
š What group of people will be your main customers? Rich? Poor? Old? Young? Male? Female? Remember that EVERY successful business has a specific market of people they target.
š What will your company name be? Does the name appeal to your target customers? Is the name available for registration in your state? Is it available for registration nationally?
š Is there an available domain name that complements your company name?
š Where am I going to get the funding for my start up costs? Savings? Friends? A Loan?
š Who is going to design our logo? If I am designing it, does my design appeal to my target customers?
š Who is going to design and host my website? How much will that cost?
š Does my logo copy, fax, and email well? You want your business to have a professional appearance for any target market.
š Do I have any competitors? Should I target the same audience as they do? Why should people choose my company over theirs? How can I let my customers know in an instant why they should choose me?
š BIG QUESTION: Is the money I can make from this going to be worth the time, effort, and money I am going to put into it?
As you might expect, these are just a few of the hundreds of considerations you need to make before beginning. Whatever you do, make sure that you have a solid business plan that contains as much detail about how you will run your business as you can think of. My sister and I started a small slideshow business (see it at www.eventslideshows.com) and spent hours and hours of designing, thinking, discussing, and running around before we even had one customer. We didn’t have a lot of money for advertising, and most of the advertising we did do yielded very little. As a result, our small business is still very small and it took us a year to recoup the money we put into it. Fortunately, we don’t mind because we very much enjoy doing what we are doing and never planned to become a huge business anyway. Although I started out with a very carefully calculated list of expenses and we were extremely careful with our spending, our start-up cost ended up being about three times what I initially planned. I have spoken with many other business owners who agree that business always seems to cost a lot more than you anticipate. You should also expect to put a lot of time into your business before you begin making any real money. So, plan it out and go for it!
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