Archive for June, 2008
Operating A Business From Home
Convincing your family to like your business opportunity is hard. On the one hand, running a home business with one or more children in the household seems like a recipe for disaster. Raising children can certainly be a full time job in and off itself. Adding entrepreneurship to your routine might be just enough to drive you around the bend.
On the other hand, its been done for thousands of years. While the modern concept of a home business or a home office may seem relatively new, people have been mixing trade and family life for a long time. Certainly the traditional family farm is a mix of home and business as are any number of other trades and retail stores. Kids can learn a heck of a lot about life from having a business right there in front of them. Valuable lessons about trust, responsibility, work ethics, and human interaction are available on a daily basis.
Many kids get involved in the home business opportunity magazine. Over time, it may grow into less of a home based business and more of a mid sized family business. Or you may find your kids taking the entrepreneurial lessons they have learned from Mom or Dad and putting them to use through the proverbial lemonade stand, a lawn care business, or in this high tech age, a teenage computer consultant business.
Whether running a home business is right for you and your family is a matter of personal choice and will be influenced by the kind of business and the nature of your personal values. Running a home business opportunity magazine or and a household with children will require you to be a time management expert. You will need to schedule your work time and stick to your schedule. The older the kids, the easier it will be but kids and businesses have at least one thing in common, both are very demanding.
Many home business people work out of their home so that they can spend more time with their children. In that case, you have probably picked a home business conducive to stop and start activity. Others, however, may consider using day care just as they might if they were employed full time at a traditional job. Having even a few hours a day to yourself during which you can concentrate exclusively on your business opportunity magazine or arrange to sit down with an accountant can make a world of difference.
If your are not comfortable with formal day care, you may be able to form an alliance with a few other home businesses nearby to share baby sitting chores. Perhaps three of you will agree that one person will look after all the kids one day a week which gives you each two days a week without the children to focus on your business. Running a home business is all about finding creative ways to make things work.
Obinna Heche. Los Angeles – California
Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://moremoneyeverywhere.com/shop
Running A Business From Home
Are you talking with friends and neighbors about your business opportunity? Make sure that your family understands what is appropriate to talk about outside of the home business. If you run a residential cleaning business and your kids are running around town telling everyone how filthy mrs harrisons house is, you will not be in business long. Customers may cluck disapprovingly about harrisons housekeeping, but they will be quick to find a new cleaning service that knows how to keep quiet.
Your family members are not the only ones who may need some guidance and limits once you set up your home business. Once the chatty neighbors understand that you are home all day, stopping by to say hello seems like such an easy, friendly thing to do. Especially when you first open your florida business opportunities, you will find many people will stop in to see what you are up to. At first, this will be a great opportunity to get the word out about your product or service. Tell them all about it. Show them your home office or work area. Tell them all about the advantages of doing business with you. Ask them to send business your way.
But you will also want to mention your hours of operation. Talk a little bit about how busy you are setting up the business. If subtle reminders do not work, do not be afraid to simply say that you have to go work. If you know that some of your neighbors are leery of having the traffic or noise of a home business in the area, find ways to point out the advantages of having a home business in the neighborhood. For example, having someone around all day is a deterrent to theft and vandalism. Lower crime rates can lead to lower insurance rates.
Home business people can help out by letting a dog out when the owner is unexpectedly delayed getting home from their traditional job. A home business can serve as a safe house for school kids who find themselves sent home early from school unexpectedly. Regarding your neighbors, you will have the same challenge with the telephone. Friends with time on their hands will give a call just to say hello. Do not be afraid of finding a kind way of letting them know that you are running florida business opportunities and have things to do.
That said, use your ability to set your own schedule to build those friendships in ways you could not when working full time. Can you take some time for lunch? Invite your chatty friend to come over then or go off to a local restaurant and treat yourselves to lunch. In many cases, business opportunities are all about living a lifestyle that keeps your priorities in order. Some home businesses have the potential of making neighbors a bit feisty. An automotive body shop or wood working shop can be noisy for example. You will want to do your best to keep your neighbors supporting your desire to run a business out of your home.
Obinna Heche. Los Angeles – California
Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://www.abedon.com/obhmy365.htm
Does Your Business Really Need a PBX Phone System?
Upgrading to small business PBX systems is an easy way to increase productivity and lower the cost of doing business. When a company grows and adds more employees it’s time to consider making changes. Companies with 5 or more employees often take advantage of the benefits provided by small business PBX systems. By selecting a VOIP hybrid PBX system, free long distance calls can be placed over the internet.
With small business PBX systems there is no need for a receptionist. The auto attendant feature allows businesses to provide incoming callers with important messages such as directions, hours of business and a short description of the company’s products and services. A menu with touch tone options allows callers to select the department or person they want to talk with. The cost savings achieved with these small business phone systems can be spent on important business factors such as advertising.
Small Business PBX Systems – Phone Lines
With a PBX system, employees share a specific amount of outside phone lines so there is no need for expensive external lines connected to each office telephone. Let’s take a look at other important system features that increase efficiency and significantly improve the professional image of small businesses.
Typical Features of Small Business PBX Systems:
- Auto fax detection in small business PBX systems automatically redirects faxes, which eliminates the need for a dedicated fax line and saves money.
- Automatic route selection automatically matches up specific types of telephone calls with particular telephone lines, such as long distance calls.
- Call cascade in this type of small business system can be set-up to redirect an employee’s incoming calls to co-workers extensions when he is not available. Clients and potential customers reach a friendly company representative and not a voicemail box.
- Call forwarding.
- Call queue in lets the caller leave a message, stay on hold or go back to the auto attendant. Employees are alerted when they have calls in queue waiting for them.
- Conference calls capabilities eliminate spending money on outside sources.
- Dial-by-name directory.
- Interactive voice response.
- Voicemail feature in small business PBX systems eliminates paying a monthly voicemail fee to telephone companies.
- Voice paging system.
- Toll restriction prohibits unnecessary, costly long distance telephone calls by employees.
- Transferring calls.
VOIP Hybrid PBX System
Businesses that select a VOIP hybrid PBX system can take advantage of placing their calls on the internet and avoid expensive toll charges for calls made all over the world. Employees working from remote locations have access to the company’s telephone system and can utilize softphones to access their voicemail.
The VOIP hybrid system has an advantage over pure VOIP due to utilizing standard telephone lines and high speed internet for making and receiving calls. If the internet service goes down, companies using a VOIP hybrid PBX can avoid the disaster of not being accessible to clients and prospects.
Purchasing small business PBX systems from resellers makes the phone system more affordable. This system will increase employees’ productivity, help the office run smoothly, save money and allow employees to handle callers in a professional manner.
Christine O’Kelly is an author for Best Deall Allworx, a leading provider of Allworx small business PBX phone systems. Best Deal Allworx offers a variety of feature rich small business phone systems designed to improve efficiency and professionalism.
A New Twist on Using Bandit Signs for Real Estate
There are many places where you can put out bandit signs. Not only can you put them out on stands near the road, on the highway or in front of your property but I have businesses that allow me to put them in their window and I either pay them rent, a property commission or I pay per lead.
Just keep some signs in your car and stop by 1-2 businesses each day and ask the owner if you can put your sign in the window. As an example, I did this with a local auto repair shop and he has sent me several leads and one of them closed. I purchased the property for $80k and sold it for $100k. The buyer put in $7k and sold it retail for $139k. Now that’s a win, win transaction.
In NC where I do some business, you cannot pay a person a referral fee for an actual transaction but you can pay for a lead. Just be careful and know your state laws. If you’re in a state where they don’t allow paying referral fees you have to pay per lead. Don’t try to do something that’s going to get you in trouble. It will shut you down and give you a bad reputation. Check with your local real estate investors association or contact the state real estate commission to learn your states laws.
In my area, where there are lots of new home communities, there are sign placement companies who will put out open house and new home communities signs for builders on Friday and come and pick them up every Monday morning. If you have these in your area you can hire them to put your ‘I Buy Houses’ sign right along with the new home signs. Think about it. Most people who want to buy a new home already have another one they need to sell first so you are probably the first one they’ll call since you caught them at the exact time they’re looking to buy a new home. When you see all of the new home signs out together then call one of them and just ask who puts them out.
Here’s another idea. Put your signs out near retirement homes and communities. There are many people who drive by them going to the community or retirement homes and they’ll see your sign as many have property they need to sell.
Hire Others for the Grunt Work
When putting out signs in different areas, I don’t put them out myself. You can get a college student, teenager, etc. You could even contact a local church and ask them who may need work or see if you could get the youth group to put them out for a donation. Be sure to check out liability issues as you don’t want to do anything where someone gets hurt, and if they did you don’t want to be liable. I pay $2.00 per sign and they have to bring me back pictures of everywhere they have placed the signs which is included in that two dollars. This is a quality control measure.
I don’t really need the picture, I just want to make sure they’re not going out and throwing them in the dumpster and coming back to collect their $2.00 per sign. If you’re rehabbing properties, and you have a down day; get your rehab contractor to put up some signs. Most don’t mind it, especially if you have a rehab contractor that has helpers. They’ll go out and pay them $1.00 and you pay them $2.00 so they’ve made a profit for the day. great idea, huh?
For more articles and a 10 part e-course on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! plus over 50 training audios, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access
How to Set and Achieve Your Goals in Real Estate
Ask yourself two questions. Do you have a Will? And do you have written goals for the next one, three, five and ten years? If you answered yes to the first question but no to the second, you are planning more for your death than your life. I challenge you to start setting some goals but remember if a goal isn’t in writing, it’s simply a conversation. It must be in writing and it must have a deadline. Here are a few guidelines:
Be Specific
Be specific and include details but start rough. This means you want a Mercedes. You don’t have to get into color, options, etc. just write it down. Make your list huge. Come back and prioritize and determine what you want in one, three, six and twelve months, then three, five, ten and twenty years. The more goals you have, the happier you will be, the longer you will live, and the more prosperous you will be.
Goals Must be Believable
Your goals must be believable or you will not pay the price. They must be just out of your reach, but know you can reach them, if you really strive to do it.
Goals Must be Measurable
Don’t set a goal to be financially independent. You can’t measure that. Break it down to the ridiculous. I have learned that successful people set their goals quickly and make adjustments as they go along. Successful people don’t vacillate in indecision.
Goals Must be Congruent
Goals must be congruent with your actions. You cannot set a goal to work harder, longer hours AND a goal to spend more time with your family. Those are not congruent.
Visualize What You Want
If you see yourself as already having achieved the goal, you will fake out your mind and it sees the goal as having been achieved. It’s called make it till you make it. Take a moment each day and visualize life as it is would be with your goals already accomplished.
Number Your Goals
Number your goals in the order of importance. Not only is the goal important but so is the reason. Sure your want more money, but why do you want money? Whatever it is, the reason must be there. The reason is more important than the goal itself.
Review, Monitor and Make Adjustments
Review, monitor and make adjustments to your goals. You have to be flexible. Some things are not going to happen, you have to face that but you need to continuously strive to get better every day.
Goals Must Have a Deadline
Your goals must have a deadline. A goal without a deadline is just a conversation. Set your goals in these four basic areas:
Financial
Set goals based on income, equity or net worth and cash flow. All of these are financial goals.
Fitness
This is your health. If you don’t feel good, you are not working at your maximum capacity. I want you to set some fitness goals to stay healthy. Start small and don’t try to tackle all of them at.
Family
Set family goals. What is an example of a family goal? Maybe you want to take four vacations a year. Maybe you want to visit a new state, three times a year or five times a year. You get the point.
Friends
Think about the people you associate with. Your ten closest friend’s annual salary and divide by ten that is pretty close to your income. Who you associate with, is who you are like, so keep that in mind. Don’t get rid of your friends, just get more that are where YOU want to be financially.
For more articles and a 10 part e-course on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! plus over 50 training audios, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access