For years, people have asked me why I don’t get a “regular job”.They seem to struggle with the idea that I don’t have a 9 to 5 job and they just can’t figure out why I don’t like getting up early, complaining about Monday mornings, “working for the weekend”, etc…I could go on and on about how much I love the freedom, the option to set my own hours, the possibility of creating an incredible amount of income, and they would all be really good points.I really do enjoy sleeping when I get sleepy, getting out of bed when I feel like getting out of bed, traveling when and where I like, and knowing that my income is happening around the clock and around the world.And I’ve definitely got some big goals. Yes, some of them are related to the type of cars I would like to drive, the homes I would like to live in, the experiences I want to have, and all that fun stuff. Why not?But let’s break this down to just some good old fashioned “real world” thinking.If you give any serious thought to what is happening to the economy, the job situation, and what life is starting to look like for people from just about every walk of life, I personally believe that it makes sense for you to be honest with yourself. If you really do the math, I think you will gain a much better understanding of why I started my home based business.These days, if you have a job at all, you are considered “lucky” by those who are unemployed. But let’s take a serious look at what a typical job scenario is like for most people. We’ll make a few assumptions, such as:You’re working a job that pays you $15 an hour.
You’re working 50 hours per week.
You’re getting paid for 52 weeks out of the year.
This gives you a gross annual income of $39,000.With some standard assumptions about taxes which include you being a single person with no children, your tax bill is going to be about $4,000, making your Taxable Income $35,000.This means you get $35,000 deposited in to your bank account each year and you trade 2,600 hours of your life every year to get that money. That, alone, is a rather sobering thought in my opinion, but let’s keep going.We need to make a few more assumptions about what it takes to live the life you are in. Your numbers may be more or less than these:Expenses:
Monthly Rent/Mortgage $1,000
Utilities: $300
Car Note: $300
Car Insurance: $100
Fuel: $200
Groceries: $600
Monthly Totals: $2,500
Annual Totals: $30,000These numbers do not take in to account anything beyond the very BASIC living expenses! You are literally trading 50 hours of your life every week and chances are, you have more month left over at the end of your money. You’re not alone. If you are paying off a student loan, paying for credit card bills, have a car repair, unexpected emergency, health insurance, doctor visits, clothing expenses, etc… you can see how this gets way out of hand very quickly!When this sort of math settled in on me while being married and raising FIVE kids, I realized that I needed to do something else and I needed to get started FAST!So What Did I Do?I started learning about home based business and discovering how I could leverage my then limited time and financial resources to change my financial picture. For me, it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I’ve been successfully unemployed for more than 14 years. I’ve been able to be present with my family, coaching basketball with my kids, traveling with my family, and actually BEING a husband and father.I don’t look back on my life and wish I had spent more time with my kids because I was THERE with them throughout their lives. To this day, we are still very close even though they are all grown up, moved out, and pursuing their own life goals. (They all understand and are working on their own home based businesses, too!)Not everybody starts a home based business to “get rich”. Some folks just want to create some additional income. Some folks just want to set up a “Plan B” in case their job falls through. Others just want to supplement their income or pay off some bills and yes… some of us want to create a life we are really excited about and can afford to live on our terms.If you see this math and you believe that it makes sense to stay on that same path, then you need to understand that things are going to get tougher. But if you believe that a home based business may be a good option for you, then I encourage you to start your research. Find someone that is successfully building their home based business and ask them to show you howIf you saw the move, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, t hen you may recall that Chris Gardner’s life was changed by asking two questions of a very successful broker:1. What do you do?
2. How do you do it?Be willing to ask the questions and then learn the skills.A home based business may very well be the solution you need.
Job? Why I Chose A Home Based Business
Home Based Business System – What It REALLY Takes!
Alright, so you have a business plan for a great home based business system and a list of services to offer potential clients from your home and you have a custom domain name to list those services worldwide. Also, you’ve even got an auto-responder to hand out those generic emails. Now that you have all that, what is next? Well, now it’s time to cultivate a good list of clients. This isn’t that hard of a task, it is just time consuming. First off, you’ll have to make an effort and answer every email that has been answered by your auto-responder and as time consuming as this endeavor might turn out to be, it’s going to be a valuable part of cultivating clients.
Building a list of clients for your home based business system can be a fun experience and some of the emails you will receive will range from humorous to rude to professional. Most would recommend that you be as selective as possible when deciding if a client will become a client. Your home based business will be better off with a good list of reliable clients, which will pay their bills on time. There will be nothing worse than an unsatisfied client, and you won’t want to find this out later.
After you have started a relationship, the next step is to deliver valuable information in order to draw your customer in. Remember, you have a service that needs to be sold. Think of “drawing the customer in”, as a rewarding “get to know you” experience. Building your home based business system doesn’t have to feel like work. This part should not be treated as if you are giving something away, but rather like you are gaining something.
Building a rapport with the customer is sensitive and if you give too little information, you run the risk of losing your potential customer for your home based business system. If you give too much information, you run the same risk just in the opposite manner. The absolute worst thing to do is give bad service. Everything you do at this point is under scrutiny, because the client is also trying to decide whether or not to use your services. The key here is to be professional at all times and give your services the whole- hearted effort you would want someone to put in for you, if the situation were to be reversed.
Your home based business system will succeed, as long as you are willing to put the time and effort to get it started and operating properly. As long as you perform the services you listed, both competently and efficiently, there shouldn’t be any problems. If you have any problems with clients, remember to address these issues promptly. Your customers will give your services a good review, as long as you do what you say you’re going to do. Also, accountability is a huge part of business and don’t forget to offer your other services, while you are gaining your new clients on the side.
Home Based Business – Use Your Time Wisely
Yes, it is true that operating a home based business can be challenging yet rewarding in the same instance. Even though it can at times be utter chaos running your own business, there are some tools which you can use to make your life easier. For instance, if you operate a home based business in which you need to constantly ship packages to your customers, it makes sense to set yourself up with a digital scale and a method to print off shipping labels from your computer. Such a step can save several hours over the course of a month.To understand what I am talking about, let us look at two different scenarios. The first scenario is one which requires that you pile your packages into the car, drive to the post office or wherever you ship out of, stand in line, have your packages weighed, purchase labels, get back into your car, and drive back home. The second scenario is one which requires that you turn on your digital scale, weigh the packages that you plan to ship, print off the shipping labels from your computer, and have these packages picked up at your house by your shipping company. Which scenario do you think is more time efficient? Of course, the second scenario. Saving this much time per week is the equivalent to hiring a part-time employee. Except, you do not have the expense.The key to running a successful home based business is efficiency. Having everything that you need within your grasp in an important aspect of efficiency and optimal time management. Thus, you should always take the time to keep an inventory of the supplies which you use on a daily basis so that you do not have to constantly interrupt your work when you run out. A good idea is to purchase your supplies in bulk. Not only does purchasing supplies in bulk minimize trips to the store, it also enables you to cut cost. Some supply companies will even deliver your products straight to your door, saving you even more time.You should also take steps to identify what adds value to your home based business, and what does not. For instance, if you find that you are taking a great deal of time and effort to send a weekly newsletter to your customers, and very few customers are subscribing to this newsletter, it might be a good time to re-evaluate. Perhaps your customers do not want such frequent contact. Maybe it is a good idea to go with a monthly newsletter, rather than weekly. No only will this afford you more time, it may lead to more subscribers.Above all, make sure that you are offering stellar customer service and solid products to the customers of your home based business. This will lead to their ultimate satisfaction with your company. Keep in mind that your customers are the only reason why you remain in business. By taking the time to make your home based business more efficient, you can spend more time catering to the needs of your customers.