If you’re one of the many people looking to find a business to work from home then you should consider if it’s right for you. No doubt if you are looking into this type of revenue generation, then you’re probably tired of working long hours for little pay, building someone else’s dreams. Have you ever heard that whoever owns the business owns the dream? Well I believe that’s true and if you spend most of your time working to build someone else’s dreams then I hope you understand that you don’t have a shot in the dark of making it big financially in this country! It will never happen! Most people are so busy making a living that they forget to live a life and before they know it they’re older, their kids are grown and they don’t have much to show for the “40/40″ plan, working 40 hours a week for forty years of their lives. We live in the richest country in the world, so why do so many people scrape by? If you want to be successful in life, find out where 98% of the people are going and go the other way. Almost all successful people have built assets rather than work for a paycheck. They’ve owned their own businesses and built pipelines. So the question isn’t whether a home based business is right for you, but rather can you build a successful home based business. The answer is an undoubted YES YOU CAN. But how, you may ask? First you need to decide what kind of business you’d like to operate. With so many different businesses to choose from, how do you know what’s right for you? To answer this question, you must see the difference between a traditional “brick and mortar” type small business, a franchise, and a non-traditional, e-commerce type business usually referred to as MLM (multi-level marketing or Network Marketing).First off, with traditional small businesses, there are four factors to consider: time… money… knowledge… risk.Time: To show a profit, you’d have to be open for business for long hours every day, including weekends. Usually, a 70-90 hour work week is very realistic in this type of business model. As the owner, you’d have to be there that long, or at least hire a manager that you could trust to run most of your day to day operations and pay that person enough to stay reliable.Money: As an owner, your overhead in this business model is fairly substantial. You have leased space for your business, insurance, paid electric/utilities, heat and water. Then you have inventory and computer and software to manage it. Usually a cash register, and you must register with a bank as a merchant to process Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover Card payments. Not to mention any other equipment needed to maintain the business.Knowledge: How to run a small business is not taught in college. If a person does not have a relative under whose tutelage he/she can learn, they must be self-taught… in the school of Hard Knocks. Most small business beginners are shocked to find that filling out paperwork takes the equivalent of one day per week. If they don’t know basic bookkeeping, they hire an Accountant. If they need advice on business structure, whether and how to use a Corporation, a Limited Partnership, or a Limited Liability Company (LLC), they hire an attorney.In either case, they exchange money which they need for knowledge which they also need. This is a wise trade, since a small mistake made early can compound to a big problem later, but it is costly. Not to mention the sole proprietor cannot approach the competitor down the street for guidance on how best to organize his/her store. So like a person entering a dark room, they must feel their way carefully or they will trip over what they can’t see. Even with care, ignorance is not bliss and can cost the owner dearly… maybe cost the enterprise to fail. Take a look at this article ( http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/02/01/retailers-close-stores-24-7/1873745/ ).Risk: The new businessman has “tied up” in the venture several thousands of dollars which they cannot afford to lose. Also, hundreds or even thousands of hours of their lives invested as well… which in time can never be recaptured. Look at what happened to Hostess, maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread.As you can see, the traditional small business venture can run upwards of tens of thousands of dollars with more “work” involved than having a job. You simply bought yourself a job with the business.Franchising, on the other hand, is that you plug into an already proven system. People think you are “buying a franchise”, but actually you invest your assets in a system to utilize the brand name operating system, and ongoing support. Think of one of the largest franchises of our time, McDonald’s. People who buy a McDonald’s franchise buy into the system already in place of producing Big Mac’s and Filet o Fish without having to “reinvent the wheel”. All you have to do is follow the “system” and your franchise will be successful, so they say. But the desire to “be my own boss” is not fully satisfied by a franchise. Franchisees cannot think of themselves as an independent owner. If they do they will be tempted to try to change the system. Does Mickey D’s sell hot dogs at all? Of course not! The home office does not permit anyone to “tinker” with their formula. The franchisee owns the assets of their own franchise, but is licensed only to run someone else’s business system. The desire to become a franchisee is grounded on belief that they can be more successful using someone else’s brand, and operating according to their methods, than they would be if they opened up their own independent business and competed against them. The problems with most franchises like McDonald’s, is that: it costs substantially more than a small business, there are royalty fees (usually 5-10% gross profit), loss of personal control… need to quit your full time job and be “locked in” to suppliers chosen by the franchisor, the inability to will your business to your family, a one-sided contract drafted by franchisor that may not fully protect your territory and interests. However, a franchise allows for: opening more quickly, developing a profitable customer base faster, has less risk, national advertising presence, built-in name recognition, strong support system that can be called upon for advice, readily identifiable trade name and goodwill associated with it, centralized, and collective buying power.Now that you understand the differences between the two, what we need is a home based business that can adapt the best of both worlds: a way to generate full-time income with part-time work, a system that produces residual income that keeps coming in although one’s advancing age eventually prevents putting in much, if any, time.More and more companies are entering forms of innovative cooperation with outside marketers. Reducing their own in house personnel has prompted them to enter strategic business alliances or joint ventures in which two or more business entities help each other. Since the 80′s, three powerful trends have converged.First, threatened by corporate layoffs, highly capable men and women are looking for ways to diversify their income. Quite a few have asked themselves, “why go back to a corporation, even if I can find one to hire me, and risk being cut by the same layoff axe in a couple of years? Why not become an Independent Contractor?”Second, not everyone laid off was “dead wood”. When companies cut their ranks by tens of thousands, they also cut thousands who were productive. They need to hang on to the productivity of the people they did not keep. So they started scrambling to find Independent Contractors to reach their marketThird, since the early 90′s, the introduction of the personal computer and soon after, the internet have allowed small, part-time businesses with few or no employees to compete on a level playing field with anyone in the world. Some of the smartest businessmen in the world have found a unique way to harness these trends to their advantage.This is where MLM and e-commerce come in. Successful business models that harness the power of the internet and e-commerce along with the concept of independent contractors has made MLM companies a major power house in business today. Companies like Avon, Mary Kay, Herbalife, Amway, Melaleuca, Primerica, Pampered Chef, Ambit Energy, and many others have all realized the top 20 reasons for non-traditional business.1) Low investment- usually less than $500 to start, depending on the Home Based Business opportunity..2) No Boss-the independent contractor determines how much money to make and how hard they want to work.3) Ability to work from home- daily commute consists of walking to your coffee pot on your kitchen counter. (That’s why it’s called Home Based Business!)4) Fewer, more flexible hours- people are just too busy now a days!5) Time-compounding through duplication- what you do and teach others to do the same adds to your business exponentially. Would you rather have 100% of your own efforts or 1% of 100 people’s efforts?6) Minimal legal liability- no person in a “downline” can create vicarious liability for the sponsor.7) No special licenses or training to join- unlike a realtor or insurance agent.8) No discrimination-8) No discrimination-a Network Marketing type of Home Based Business rewards a person for movement of product and sponsoring others to do the same, regardless of sex, race, creed, or religion.9) Tax Benefits- ability to claim home office deductions, utilities, gas and mileage, and business conferences, even while on vacation as deductions.10) No employees- one works with, but not for the parent company.11) No risk- startup costs are trivial compared to traditional small businesses and franchises.12) No accounts receivable and collection headache- “cash and carry” type business.13) Inexpensive, usually free training- upline mentor has vested interest in helping downline grow so the mentor will provide any and all training to help their downline. Like a good parent guiding their child teaching them what and what not to do.14) Early Income-possibility to recoup initial investment in first month in business.15) Unlimited income potential- Network Marketing has no floor. You could make nothing at all. It is because of no floor that it has no ceiling either. The sky’s the limit!16) Inelastic Demand- a good Network Marketing company offers products or services that are top-quality, which people want, need and can afford, and have to buy again. Repeat business.17) No regulatory Problems- the Parent Company takes care of all of the regulators and taxing authorities so the individual marketer is freed up to be creative.18) Insulated against disaster- no single location; rather, it connects the country and the world with small individual participant-outlets.19) Time flexibility of training/support system-time cost super small compared to medical school, business school, or even law school. You are in business for yourself but never by yourself.20) Willable to one’s children- Network Marketing business can be transferred to one’s heirs usually estate-tax free. It’s the transfer of cash flow not assets that allows your heirs to keep the wealth.Now that you see the many benefits of Network Marketing compared to traditional business, it is clear that this concept is by far the simplest and fastest form of generating extra income, regardless of what your mother-in-law, or brother-in-law think they know. So, again the question is, is this right for you? Only you can answer that, however, if it is right for you, how do you get exposure for your new MLM business? Very simply put, you need powerful training at little or no cost that will flood your inbox with potential customers and business partners in the easiest way possible. For a step-by step guide on developing this plan and maximizing your income from your MLM opportunity,click here to access a free training series.. “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” – Demosthenes
Plan To Succeed With Information Product Creation: Why You Need To Split Your Process Up
One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.
However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.
Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.
But why?
In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!
So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)
The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.
Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.
Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.
By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.
You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.
Thoughts on a Home Based Business
The Internet has fundamentally changed the collective psyche of modern man like few other agreeable phenomenons in history. Bill Gates has gone on before about “business at the speed of thought”, and for once I agree. We just can’t get things done fast enough because we can’t do them quite as fast as we think! It’s pretty unnatural, but that is not the point of this article.With the internet and the realisation of the virtual office space, home based business has become a reality. It’s my idea of how to begin working smart and it’s always amazing to see just how many people are still working dumb, in my opinion anyway. Surely if there was the possibility of creating a balance between being in the office and working at home, why do so many people who work behind a desk and computer screen still endure the daily traffic nightmare to do just that? I guess that’s the answer – their jobs are so bureaucratized that not sitting behind a desk all day is not classified as work!The opposite holds true for a home based business. Risks and rewards are off the scale in comparison to the corporate office environ. The opportunities available to an individual who has a good business idea and an internet connection are truly amazing.Start-up costs in comparison to a brick and mortar operation are almost nonexistent and support resources online can be abundant to the point of being confusing. What I think is so interesting about being online is the ability to almost literally extend your mind to the rest of the world. It’s leveraging at its best and it’s available to serve you if you really want it. Quite frankly I don’t think there are any more excuses about not being able to do what you really want to. It’s actually right there and it’s your choice to use. At least that is how I have found it.On a more practical note, with your own home based business there is no storefront or office to rent, fewer or no additional phone lines to pay for, little or no additional utility expense, little or no additional furniture to buy. If you have a burning desire to be a successful business entrepreneur one day, then starting a Home Based Business is the best way to get your feet wet and display the inherent skills you possess. A home based business has been the starting point for many a successful businessman.Starting a home-based business (HBB) can be rewarding experience for many but it does have its share of frustrations and disappointments. With advantages like flexible work hours, satisfaction of being your own boss, no commuting, tax benefits, it also has disadvantages like increased risk, loneliness, and added responsibilities. Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and start your home-based business, it will need an identity of its own. Creating an identity for your home business is not particularly difficult, but it pays to go about it in an orderly fashion so you won’t have to go back and re-do a lot of the steps you’ve already taken.So, if you have a strong desire to make something happen and you feel you know where you want to go, then there is nothing really stopping you other than the starting hurdle and maybe your own self doubts. What is really great about an online business is that you can start off part-time and gradually learn and develop with minimal risk. Probably one of the most important things to have starts with “P” and it’s not price or purchase. It’s persistence!