Running A Home Business Tips

The failure or success of a business often relies on the most fundamental operations-the ones that often get overlooked as a tipping point process in the daily business cycle. Fortunately, one of the leading business sites, offers advice and solutions that help businesses succeed. These 10 easy-to-follow steps will help your home-based business become a success.

1. Plan ahead. Take the time to make plans for every eventuality that may arise. From natural disasters to unexpected financial problems, you will need a plan that you can readily access to get you through a difficult time.

2. Put money aside. Don't begin your business with delusions of overnight success. You'll need funds to tide you over while your business grows. Put some money aside to tide you over until you do start earning revenue.

3. Organize your time. Being a responsible business owner means managing your time wisely. Initially you will need to spend extra time making your vision a reality.

4. Organize your space. You can't run a business effectively if you are wasting time looking for an important receipt under reams of loose paper. Take time to organize your home office and make sure you can function efficiently.

5. Stay focused. Family responsibilities, chores, TV and the warmth of your own bed can all distract you from the task at hand. Remove as many distractions as you can from your home office and stay focused.

6. Figure out tax laws now, before it is too late. Do your research now so you will be prepared come tax time.

7. Advertise. You can't afford to wait for your customers to come to you-you need to go out and get them. Advertising is an investment, and spending money now to market your business effectively can pay big dividends.

8. Get the proper equipment. Office equipment is an extra expense, but you need the hardware to run your business correctly. To compare features and prices

9. Cover your assets. Don't wait for a natural disaster to destroy your entire inventory-now is the time to purchase the insurance you need.

10. Don't get discouraged. Success does not come overnight. It will require dedication, hard work and a lot of extra effort to make it a reality. This is your dream; do all you can to keep it alive.

Home Business Should be for Family

If you own a home business, does your family participate or do you work alone?

I've heard tales, and for a short while lived them, about how a spouse will eagerly start a home based business of one sort or another and before they can even get their feet wet in the business - - BAM the other spouse starts belittling and generally putting a damper on the once enthusiastic entrepreneur's ambitions.

Luckily for me, my husband saw that I don't just talk about something that I intend to do, I do it - - so he's since changed his tune; especially now that I make as much from my home businesses as I did from my prior job, and we don't pay child care. Ha!

Anyway, it's been over 2 years since all that mess transpired, and I've seen and heard just about every story imaginable on the subject of home business start-ups/failures. I've also learned that most spouses, family members and 'friends' react in such damaging ways out of either fear or ignorance. I suppose some are just plain mean, but well, that's another issue we'll leave for Dr. Phil or Oprah.

For lucky business builders who have encouraging families, the work at home life is good, very good. My 14 year old daughter is my part-time Assistant, and her small salary is tax deductible too, so there's another plus in starting a business.

Creating a better future for the family is probably the most recurring 'Why' that I hear from new business owners. With such a strong reason driving the decision to work from home, then why shouldn't the entire family be involved? It's for them after all.

Find a way that even the littlest member can take part in the family business. Remember too that helping with chores, running errands, baby-sitting for younger sibs, taking turns with dinner etc. are all just as important as being able to do home office work, if not 'more' important in the long run.

If you're currently suffering with a spouse or partner who just doesn't 'get' what you're doing - please don't give up. Keep on building and trying and help them 'get' it through concrete results. Usually, with some home businesses, positive results that a 'non-biz' type can wrap their minds around, does take time. Unfortunately cash talks, however, and they may not take you seriously until you can show them your first check; and with persistence and consistency - - You will.

Do We Really Need A Home Based Business?

In strategic planning they always tell you that you must always have a contingency plan. This means that you must create different probable scenarios of what could happen during the process of your original plan, and create a plan for each probable scenario.

Of course a plan is made because we need to reach a certain objective. Our objective in this case is to generate an income that would enable us live a kind of life that we aspire to live.

Since we do not have any money to start a business on our own and generate that kind of income we revert to the usual plan which is to find a job and then find our way up the organizational hierarchy of the corporate structure. Let us see what probable scenarios can come up here:

1)    We are very successful and at the top of our game. We are moving up the corporate ladder and our income is nearing our goals and could very soon surpass it.

This is the most dangerous of all scenarios. It is very hard to cross our mind to take a moment and think what if something went wrong and all this success was taken away.

We all know that corporate life is never safe and anything can happen at any time. Even if we succeeded and were able to become at the top level of an organization, one day will come that we will have to retire and stay home. What are we going to do then?

2)    We are working very hard but for some reason we do not seem to be progressing. What usually happens here is that we start looking for another job that would satisfy our needs and our growth expectations and plans.

We always think that the other job is greener and our chances there for development are greater. When we finally make the move, we realize that we have ran away from the previous problems with the old job, just to realize that we are facing a completely new set of problems with this new job.

3)    We feel that our work is not appreciated and there is danger at any time that we might lose the job that is generating an income for us, and we say "an income" because we are still far away from what we aspire to achieve.

The above are not all the life scenarios that exist; as you may have your own established and successful own business which is not home based or online. Still we would say that diversification into Home Based and specifically Online Business is essential. I would only take the factor of the explosion of the internet and the abundant opportunity that exists there and stop the conversation there.

You can think of all the above scenarios either as separate examples or phases of one person's life cycle. So we need a plan "B," a contingency plan for these scenarios. Of course we can complicate things further by creating a different set of solution plans for each scenario, but that means that we will have to run into writing a long report of about 100 pages.

So let us look at the different probable solutions we have at hand:

1)    Investment Options such as stocks and other similar options: This could be a good option for the first scenario, but it is also highly risky. This solution will not cater for the retirement part which involves not having anything to do after you leave work. Still no one can deny that this option could turn out to be extremely rewarding.

2)    Always keep yourself in the market so that you can switch jobs at any time. This tactic has many medium and long term disadvantages. But top of mind disadvantages include:

a.    Not going anywhere in any organization because you are not giving it enough time.

b.    Your chances of finding the next job could gradually diminish as your CV will show the unsteady behavior.

c.    You will not concentrate on the job at hand since you are always looking for the better job.

d.    And many more disadvantages


3)    Have your own business: This option seems very good, but if we are looking at it in terms of investing a lot of money and borrowing from the bank to be able to operate the business, then this stops being a plan "B." This means that you are already changing lanes without even signaling. Although it can be rewarding, but again we have to stress that this is not a contingency plan. This means you are changing your plan.

4)    Home Based Business: Now this option is similar to the previous one but with a twist. Because home based business does not require a large investment and does not require your total attention and devotion for it to succeed, you can for sure call it a plan "B" since you are still working at your job. Advantages of this solution:

a.    Low and in many cases extremely low initial investment

b.    You do not have to work full time

c.    Does not require you full attention

d.    You can work at your own set hours

e.    If anything goes wrong with your original work, then you can shift gears very quickly and you will be able to absorb the shock without any panic.

f.    And many more..

All the above advantages could become disadvantages if you don't take your home business seriously. If you keep postponing things you need to do and making it the least of your priorities then this business will not see the light of day.

A home business is a wonderful thing to have working for you especially when you don't need it. Because then you will be working relaxed and enjoying what you are building for your future. You will not be stressed out and wanting it to succeed in one month.

With a home based business you have to be patient and consistent and eventually you will achieve your dreams.

Business Opportunities for the Home Worker

Call me a homemaker. Call me a domestic engineer. At the core of it all, I'm a stay-at-home mom. Some say that stay-at-home moms have the hardest job in the world. This may or may not be true, but one thing is: the job doesn't pay (at least in a financial sense). That's why I decided that, once all of my kids were old enough to go to school, I would go from a homemaker to a home worker.

Once I made the decision to become a home based worker, it was time to find the right home based business opportunity. It wasn't as though someone was standing on a street corner with a sign that said, "Money for Moms." And I wasn't going to go around with a sign that said, "Mom Need Money." Instead, I booted up my computer and went online in search of the right home based business.

I was surprised by what I found in the way of business opportunities for a home worker. There seemed to be something for everyone, but I had a hard time figuring out which were legitimate and which were scams. Luckily, I found a website that had done much of the groundwork for me and provided a number of pre-screened opportunities for the home worker. With those resources, I was able to get started.

At first, I started small. I wanted to make my own hours and be there for my kids when they got home from school. So, I decided to start taking online surveys from home. I signed up with a company and began to make between five and seventy-five dollars per survey. Each survey took between five minutes and a half hour to complete, and the money would show up in my PayPal account between two and six weeks after I completed a survey.

Once I dangled my toes in the water, I wanted to add to my income, so I decided to learn how to write Google AdWords ads. Google AdWords are those little text ads that you see on the right side of search results pages and on some websites. I discovered that I had a knack for it, and started to make decent money.

Before long, it dawned on me that in order to ensure I had a steady income stream, I had to diversify my sources of revenue. So, while I continued to take surveys and write AdWords ads, I also launched my own websites so I could do affiliate marketing and sell products. I know this sounds hard - especially for the home worker who doesn't know the first thing about building a website - but it was actually quite easy. I found that, if you hook up with the right companies, they will actually build and host your websites for you. They will even train you and give you marketing tips in order to drive traffic to your websites.

Today, I feel like I have the best of both worlds. As a home worker, I can choose my own hours and be there for my kids, but I can also earn a good income to help support my family.

How To Write A Startup Business Plan

Why Do I Need A Business Plan?

Why do you need to write a business plan? There are a number of reasons. Writing a plan dramatically increases your chances of success as an entrepreneur.

Here are just a few reasons why you would want to write a business plan.

1. Evaluating initial startup costs.
2. Determining what it will take to make a profit.
3. Analyzing your competition and it's success and failures (which you can capitalize on)
4. Well defined rolls of all people involved in the company.
5. Investigating your market and developing a strategy.
6. Anticipating problems before they occur.
7. Defining a clear goal and exit strategy for your business.
8. Convincing investors to fund your business

Some may scoff at all of the parts of a business plan, but remember that you are undertaking this endeavor to make money, not to just produce a product or service. Most businesses fail because they are hit by unforeseen expenses -- or situations -- that they should have anticipated ahead of times.

To give yourself the best chance of success, do your homework ahead of time and you'll be way ahead of most people.

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

A business plan is not a document set in stone and you will probably change it in the future as your business develops. When you are stuck on an issue refer back to your business plan and remember what your initial goals were and whether the situation has changed significantly enough that the plan needs to be reworked.

Planning your work is when you write your plan, but you can't just stop there. You must work the plan and stick to it as you move forward in order to meet your exit strategy or other goals for the company.

Step 1: Defining Your Product Or Service

The first step to writing your business plan is defining exactly what your product or service is. This is what you will approach a potential customer with.

How would you explain your product or service to a potential client?

What would you tell them about it?

How would your product or service relate to other businesses?

Describing your product or service should fit within 1 paragraph with supporting paragraphs underneath it. Most people, when dealing with something innovative or something that is identical to a competitor, try to cop out of this and say "it's just too complex for my product to be described". That's hogwash.

Every product or service can be defined. If your product or service is so innovative that it can't be defined then the chance of it succeeding is very low.

Here are a few examples.

* Google was simply "a better search engine that works"
* Apple was simply "a computer that can fit on a desk"
* Microsoft was "an operating system that can be mass distributed"
* Amazon.com was "a mail order bookstore with an online front end"

Describing your product is not a hard thing to do. Implementing a strategy to sell, distribute or market your product in the long run has the most impact on whether your business will succeed.

Step 2: Who Are Your Customers?

Defining your target market may be a little difficult if you think your product can be used by anyone, but it can be done. Simply putting "everyone on Earth" is not a practical target market.

Whether your product or service can be used by everyone is not the key, it's who can afford and needs your product.

Is it small businesses? Does it fit the consumer market that cooks a lot? Is it Internet users who are looking for dolls?

Defining your exact target market is key to setting up a proper marketing strategy. Without knowing who your potential customers are you will be casting your line into a vast ocean rather than a stocked pond.

Another part of this is determining if your target market can afford your product and will they purchase it from you.

If your product can only be used by boys age 14-18 and the price of your product is $1000 your market will probably be very small.

This is all part of the plan, don't be discouraged if you find that upon doing research your product or service doesn't make sense. It's better to evaluate things now and scrap the whole thing than to accept money from investors and finding out later that your business doesn't stand a chance.

Step 3: Market Strategy

Who is your competition? How will you reach your target customer or client? These are all questions that need to be defined.

Find two or three competitors and evaluate them. Where are they successful? Where is their main revenue coming from? What things have they tried and failed? What things do they lack that you will provide?

Analyzing the competitive landscape is an important part of determining if you can succeed. You may even realize other areas that your product or service needs to focus on to have a chance of succeeding.

How are you going to reach your customer? Will it be through catalogs? Advertising in the local paper? Word of Mouth? Direct sales?

Investigate the costs of implementing a strategy of reaching your customer and client base.

If you are selling a product how much will it cost to get your products on shelves or to set up a e-commerce website?

What are the costs involved to place advertisements?

Simply having a product or service and not having people even knowing that it exists is a certain road to failure from the start.

Step 4: Financing And Capital

What are your initial expenses for starting your business?

You need to analyze all costs for beginning your business and how much capital you will need to keep the business running. If there is payroll involved you will need to factor in payroll taxes as well as salaries. You need to know how much in legal costs you will incur incorporating and for lawyer and accounting services.

If you are providing a product what is the cost of having it produced and an inventory for it?

Letterheads, logo's, business equipment, software and business cards all fit in this category.

There is no hard and fast rule for how much capital you will initially need in terms of months in advance. Most businesses underestimate how much initial expenses and ongoing monthly expenses they have.

How will you fulfill orders? If via mail you will need to factor in packaging and shipping expenses.

If you are stocking a store with your item you will need to factor in delivery charges and expenses.

Once you have determined both your ongoing monthly expenses and initial expenses then you can evaluate how much initial capital you will need and where you intend to get it.

Will your financing come in the form of angel investors, venture capital, self financed or friends and family? Securing this financing could have expenses you have not counted on, be sure to include these expenses as well.

Step 5: Operations

You need to define the operations of your business and how your product or service will reach a customer from development all the way to end user. If you are providing a product you will need to define the whole flow.

Here's a few questions for a product based company.

How will the product be produced?

How will it be stored?

How will it be delivered?

How will customers place an order?

How will an order be processed?

How will a customer get a receipt?

Where will fulfillment take place?

How will money change hands?

When will the customer receive their product?

How will customer service be handled?

For a service based company most of the above questions have their equivalent.

These questions need to be answered. It shows that you have thought ahead on how your business will operate.

Step 6: Putting It All Together

Once you have analyzed your product, your customers, your competition, market strategy and financing it's time to put it all together in a document known as a business plan.

There is no single format for writing a business plan. The best way to write a business plan is to study business plans. You can find some business plans on the web to study.

Here is a basic overview of the things you should provide in a business plan.

1. Cover Sheet
2. Statement of Purpose
I. Part 1: Business Analysis
a. Description of the Business
b. Marketing Strategy
c. Competitive Landscape
d. Operating Flow
e. Management and Personnel
f. Exit Strategy
g.Insurance Information
II. Part 2: Financial Information
a. Equipment, Supply List and Assets
b. Balance Sheet
c. Break-even Analysis
d. Pro-forma Projections Including
i. 3 year summary
ii. Detailed projection by month of the first year
iii.Detailed quarterly projects for year 2 and 3
iv.Assumptions or how you reached your projections
e. Pro-forma Cash Flow
III. Part 3: Supporting Documentation
a. Tax returns of the principals involved in the business for the last 3 years
b. Franchise contracts, proposed leases and purchase agreements
c. Any licenses or legal documents the business needs
d. Resumes of all the principals involved in the business
e. Letters of intent from suppliers and other services

Remember that not all of these things need to be included right off the bat. If you are not going to have proposed leases at this time while you are starting your plan, it can go on your task list of things to do.

The most important part is getting started on your business plan so that you can spot the things you need to get done to complete it.

Most investors are not going to just hand you money without a pretty solid business plan though, so if you're not too good at doing the financials you better get to work on learning how to project pro-forma cash flow and projections.

Once you have your business plan you are well on your way to creating a successful startup!

Working At Home As A Customer Service Agent

Working At Home As A Customer Service Agent

New York Times specifies that customer service work at home job opportunities have increasing in United States. Customer service jobs also called call center jobs require employing agents in work at home customer service jobs. The main advantage of this type of work is that it provides income to stay-at-home parents and physically challenged people.

Customer service work at jobs ranges from call handling to technical support. If you want to such a job, you would need some basic essentials like a modern computer with internet connection, basic computer knowledge, latest operating system, a phone connection, excellent communication skill to handle varied customers and of course some educational qualification.

How to get a customer service work, home job?

If you want to get a legitimate customer service work at home job that would provide you smart income, then try to follow the under mentioned tips:

1. The first step in betting a work at home customer service job is to understand the type of employment. It is not that much difficult. The concept is that the company hiring your service routes their incoming customer service calls to your home phone.

2. Then understand the type of duties require to be performed. Most of the customer service jobs include taking and logging orders, processing transactions, providing assistance to customers as per their requirements etc.

3. Discover the benefits of work at home. In fact work at home customer service jobs are boon to stay-at-home mothers, disabled people, retired seniors and college students. If you are not able to step out of home but need to earn some income, then you can select any of the customer service jobs according to your ability. Since agent hiring, training and scheduling jobs are being conducted online, you need not even get out of your home to get a job.

4. Once you have decided to work at home, and then do lot of homework to select a legitimate home based customer service job. You need to browse through the list of companies and websites regarding this.

5. Then submit your application and resume to the company you wish to. Always take care to prepare the application properly just like you may do in case of other jobs.

There are numerous benefits of doing customer service jobs at home. That's why one quarter of customer service agents in North America start work at home. The convenience and independence are the two main advantages of customer service work at home jobs.

Every business requires creating customers and it is very important to retain an empathetic and trusting relationship to ensure customer commitment. Faithful customers surely add to long term success of any business and so their requirements should be fulfilled as soon as possible.

Hence the overwhelming need for customer service jobs arises. This situation provides more job opportunities for you. If you have the ability to do services regarding this, then you can earn some smart income at your convenient timings.

It is estimated that work at home customer service agents are earning more than the representatives working in traditional call centers. By employing work at home agents, the companies also reduce erosion in customer service jobs.

They can also save money on office rent, utilities and equipment. Therefore customer service work jobs benefits both the companies and the work at home agents.

Ways to Stay Motivated in Your Work at Home Business

Whether you're just starting out with your work at home business or you've had a home business for many years, you'll need to stay motivated if you're going to see continual success. Everyone goes through a home business slump occasionally, but it's those who stay motivated who will reach their goals. Here are five simple ways you can stay motivated in your work at home business.

1. Work from a List

Create a daily, weekly and even monthly list of things to do in your business. This sounds so simple, but yet a "to do" list is a powerful tool in helping you accomplish home business tasks. Prioritize your list each day so you can do those things that are most important first. If you have tasks that you absolutely dread, then put those tasks at the very top of the list if possible. This will give you a free mind for the remainder of the day to concentrate on the tasks you enjoy.

A list can consist of many things, from promotion steps to phone calls to make, and even a stack of papers that must be organized on your desk. Most successful business people create a list and then check off items as they are completed. This gives a sense of accomplishment throughout the day as you complete tasks. 

2. Search for New Opportunities during Slow Business Times

Having a slow time in your work at home business? Don't despair. And, whatever you do, don't go apply for a job at the local fast food chain - just yet! Stay motivated by seeking out other home business opportunities that may tie into your current business. 

Perhaps you offer a product or service that sells very slowly during the spring months. You could seek out related products or services that would be popular during those months to offset the other in profits. This will give you a chance to make money and enjoy multiple streams of income year round!

3. Take an Online Training Course for Better Education

Educate yourself through online training courses related to your field so you can learn how to maximize your skills and profits. There are many training courses available online today in the fields of web design, graphic design, online marketing, real estate, travel, office skills, medical, insurance, and finance. 

With online training, you choose only those courses that will benefit you and your work at home business. You can usually take the courses at your own leisure from home, and will pay far less than you would for a college course.

4. Expand Marketing Avenues

Don't settle for less. Use the wisdom and experience of others who have been in business a while to expand your marketing avenues. You might consider reading after top marketers to get Internet marketing ideas. Also, there are many ways to promote your work at home business off-line. 

To stay motivated, always test your efforts to see what results they bring. This is far more exciting than paying for ads and never knowing if they work or not!

5. Network with Others

Another way to stay motivated during a business slump is to network with others. Find others in related fields who can offer advice and encouragement about your business. A work at home business can be lonely at times because you never leave the house! Finding others online and off-line who do the same thing will give you an outlet for those lonely days.

Use these tips to stay motivated in your work at home business. You deserve success, so don't give up!

Ways to Make Money on the Internet with Top Quality E-books

With so many new online business opportunities available, it can be difficult to sift through the masses. Maybe you're low on start-up funds. Perhaps you have limited time to work on your business at the start due to your current employment away from home. Maybe you'd like an Internet business that's easy to operate and won't require a lot of stress. If any of these apply to your situation, then selling e-books might be right for you.

Thousands of people are earning extra income or enjoying a full time business in their home by selling e-books. E-books are available everywhere you go online, and cover a variety subjects from cooking to home decor to financial tips. They are easy to purchase thanks to online credit card processing, and they are easy to download and read at one's own convenience. The beauty of an e-book business is you'll have no inventory to keep up with, no overhead costs to produce the e-book (unless you invest your own time in writing one), and no shipping hassles. 

Let's explore five ways you can make money on the Internet selling e-books.

1. Pick and Choose from E-books that Interest You

The key to success is to build a solid business while selling items that interest you. Do you wish to help others with finances or to help them get out of debt? Sell e-books related to finances. Do you enjoy making crafts? Sell e-books about crafts. Are you a seasoned fisherman? Offer tips about fishing in an e-book. The list goes on and on, and you can make money on the Internet while doing something you actually love to do! 

You can write your own e-books, hire someone to write them, or sign on with a company that provides the rights to sell their e-books. If you use another company's e-books, this will save you the time and headaches of writing your own. You might also be able to pick and choose which e-books you'd like to sell. Then you will be able to offer only those that interest you.

2. Read the E-books

You should be knowledgeable about the products you sell. If you don't actually write your own e-books, be sure to read the ones you offer. This will allow you to answer customer questions, write effective sales presentations, and offer insight about the e-books to your readers. It's much easier to sell something you believe in, and you'll also want to make sure that what you are offering is of top quality. If you blindly sell someone else's e-books without reading them, you can hinder your own ability to make money online.

3. Promote E-books through Various Online Resources

Once you decide on a few e-books to offer, it's time for promotion. With any new online business, you'll want to start with a great website and effective sales presentations. Without these, you won't be able to convert the visitors to paying customers so your promotions will be in vain. If you're not a writer, hire a professional sales writer to create copy for you. It will be well worth the money later on when you're selling e-books like hotcakes! If you sell multiple e-books, be sure to set up a presentation for each separate e-book. This will give you more clout in the search engines and help to better target your readers.

After setting up a website, start submitting all your web pages to the major search engines. This can be achieved through an SEO promotion company or you can do it manually yourself. Next, look for pay-per-click opportunities at search engines so you can target your visitors. Pay-per-click enables you to pick and choose the keywords you would like to target. Your website will only show in the search results when those particular keywords are used. You will pay a small amount per click, but most of your visitors will be targeted with an interest for your products. Other effective forms of advertising online include press releases, e-zine (or newsletter) advertising, classifieds, auctions, and malls. 

4. Sell Ad-On Products to Benefit E-book Customers

Once you start selling e-books and build a customer base, it's time for ad-ons. You might sell products or services within your e-books through affiliate links. Or, you might offer newly released e-books to customers who have bought from you before. If you want to offer additional services besides selling e-books, you might use the e-books to gain a customer base first. Then, you can introduce your main services.

5. Teach Others to Sell E-books

Another way to make money online with e-books is to train others to sell e-books. You can offer commissions or rights to e-books and help others build a new online business. As you help others make money on the Internet, you will reap rewards as well. E-books are easy to sell for your own purposes, and they can be easily passed on for others to sell.

Selling e-books offers many advantages over selling physical products or offering various services. You can save time and money by offering e-books 24/7 and by automating your business to make it work for you. Start searching online today for e-book opportunities so you can reach your goals soon!

Take Your Small Business Past the Next Level

As you may know, I spend a great deal of time coaching and helping others build their virtual businesses. But the one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the lack of patience 80 into 0%. I don't know - but I am going to give it a try.

The best way to begin training people is to relate a story to them they can identify with. So here goes . . . In 2003 a person (let's call her Joan) paid me to set up an online web design business for her. I had experience in setting up the web design business named YouOnLine.Net back in 1998, plus I am on the internet 10-12 hours per day so I can keep up with new developments. Therefore, Joan knew I had the expertise to do the job right.

I spent a little over two months setting up Joan's business. From securing the domain name and SSL certificate to programming the HTML for the shopping cart â€" I did it all. In fact, on the day Joan chose to open her business, it would be fully functional and making money. Joan was happy, I was happy and I went back home feeling good about a new business being birthed and born.

But three weeks later (without warning) Joan hired an attorney who sent me a letter demanding all her money be returned. What happened?

After going through weeks of litigation (where the Complaint was finally dropped) I discovered that Joan had in her mind that she was going to make at least $5,000.00 per month. But when she only made $1,200.00 within the first three weeks she freaked out and thought the business was not going to work.

But Joan knew deep down that she was to blame for this decision. How do I know? Because Joan never contacted me about the problem. If I had done something wrong, Joan would have called me in a hot New York second. Instead, she chose to take the "sheepish" way out, regardless of who she hurt in the process.

However, this is only one example out of thousands. Yes â€" many people I work with and coach rarely understand the process of developing, building and growing a company. For some reason many people starting their business for the first time have this misconceived notion they will immediately make $1,000s of dollars without lifting a finger. I even had a customer call me on the phone and say: "I bought your book but have not made any money." I asked her if she read the book. She replied: "No. I didn't know I was supposed to read it. I just thought I had to purchase it."

Let me give you a little insider piece of wisdom: The infomercials are really giving true information. The only thing they don't tell you is that in order to make that kind of money, you must invest time, dedication and long hours building your company.

Here is a true life example of something that personally happened to me: One day I wrote a 15-page Report and converted it to PDF format. I sent out an announcement to my newsletter list and in one day, I made $6,000.00. I was shocked and overjoyed at the same time. However, I have not had that happen again. So I could go on television and say with all truthfulness "I made $6,000.00 in one day." But what I don't tell you is that I had been in the web design business for over 3 years and it took me that long to build up a newsletter list of people who would buy my Report. Hopefully my story will help you to look at infomercials for the truth they are, and the truth they are not.

What a Business Really Is

A business is similar to birthing a child. You first decide to have a business, and then you decide what type of business to start. Then you spend time researching and reading everything you can find on the topic that relates to your business.

Next, you obtain training in the type of business you are going to start. You need to know your product or service before you can sell it. This means joining organizations, networking with others in your field and/or working for an employer in the field so you can understand the inner workings of the business.

Next, you purchase the right computer system and internet connection to run your business, give your business a name, secure a domain name and get your entire business set up before you open.

Finally, when you do open up your business it is very rare that you will make any money within the first 4-5 months. Of course this depends on the type of business you decide to open, and if you have a customer base in place to market your product or service to. If you do not have a customer base, it can take awhile before you make any money.

Joan's Mistake

Where Joan made her mistake was in not understanding these simple rules. Although I provided Joan with URLs to organizations and other free information, she did not research them. Why? Because in all actuality, Joan was not looking for this type of business. She was simply looking for a way to make money.

Unfortunately, Joan had absolutely no idea of the gold mine she actually had. I had spent two months building her a functional business. Her first month brought in $1,200.00. That is amazing!! If you ask anyone who started a business how much they made their first month, even the best of them never made $1,200.00 the first month.

What Joan did not take into consideration was that her name was "unknown." People today are smart. They don't purchase from a company unless they trust them. Joan had spent no time building trust with her potential customers, yet she still made $1,200.00 her first month. I wondered what in the world Joan could be upset about. She should be celebrating. But Joan didn't look at it that way.

Are You Like Joan? If you are, you need to identify with your shortcomings right now. Then if you choose to continue being like Joan, it will be your own fault when you do not succeed in business.

One Last Thought

If you decided to become an Elementary Teacher, you would think nothing about spending money to attend college to obtain the degrees you needed. You also would not get upset if you had to start at the bottom and work for a lower salary when you begin your teaching career. Right?

If you decided to become a Paralegal, you would think nothing about spending money to enroll in a class to get your paralegal certificate. You also would think nothing about beginning your career working at the bottom until you received more on-the-job training. Right?

So if most people have the willingness to invest money and time into a career they enjoy â€" why do most people believe starting a business is any different? Answer this: Who do you know on the planet earth who started a business from the ground-up (with less than $500) and had a thriving enterprise making $5,000 per month within the first three weeks? Realize the truth: it is impossible!

Prayer of Relief

I pray this article helps to open your eyes to the truth about starting a business and give you the encouragement you need to build your business into a successful enterprise.

Business Planning Help

Business planning help is help that is structured to help your business in any way that you need it. It can help you to get your ideas worked out. It can help you to find the legal aspects of your business and take care of them. It can even help you make decisions that you are too close to making. Business planning help is a resource that will allow you to move forward without moving back first. That is something that many individuals struggle with.

So, where can you find the business planning help that you need?

• One of the best methods for getting the business planning help that you need is to contact an attorney. Yes, this may be more expensive, but when it comes to setting up and running your business, having someone with a legal edge to it may make it go much more smoothly. Even if you just get some solid advice from them, take advantage of them.

• Don’t forget your software. There are many software programs and applications available to the new business owner. They can do just about every aspect of your planning needs. They will help you get your ideas down, help you to get your ideas moving and allow you to track how well you are doing throughout. Legal, accounting as well as idea management is all included in this type of business planning help.

• Turn to those that you know and trust. There is no better teacher than experience. If you know someone that has begun their own business from the ground as you are doing, in any field, you may want to talk to them. Find out what they did and what they didn’t. Most importantly, find out what mistakes they made and learned from so that you do not go through those same problems yourself.

Business planning help is also available throughout the web a well. Get focused and get motivated to finding and implementing your business plan.