Business start up opportunity tips

Tips and information for starting a homebased business; 

Starting a home based business should be an exciting time filled with anticipation for your success. However it can also be a bit overwhelming and scary at times. When you first begin your search to discover the perfect business you will find that there are tons of various "opportunities" to choose from.

Things to keep in mind:

Be wary – if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true. No one is going to hand you the key to success for free. If someone has honestly learned how to start and run a profitable business and wants that information to be available to others they need to charge you for it.

Think about it, they have spent the time learning this business in the first place. They have taken the time to write the best information "blueprint" they possibly can. To make this information available to you they have expenses for advertising and website hosting. If this information is available in print and online then they have the cost of printing it, packaging it and mailing it. No getting around it they have expenses. They need to charge a fair amount to cover their expenses and get paid a little for their time and effort.

You get what you pay for:

While this is true in many cases such as, when you pay for boneless chicken breasts you are getting quality white meat with no bones. Pay for a chicken neck and you get a chicken neck, that’s it, cut and dry. If you buy a gallon of yucky green paint you know that it’s not going to turn into a beautiful shade of blue when you get home with it.

But how many times do you see ads for similar products, one cost 5.00 another 40.00 and another for 150.00 ? Does that mean that the most costly one is best?

Not always, Remember what I said about the information costing the person who wants to make it available. Consider how much it’s costing them, true their time and experience is invaluable but once you look past that, you want to consider how much IS a fair price. You know that they are paying for advertising, printing, postage, most likely a web site and for their credit card processing. So you realize that they need to cover all that and make a profit.

BUT does a 30 page manual or a CD cost them enough to justify 150.00? Doubtful. But then again will 5.00 cover it? Most likely not, the print must be very large and the information very small. In this case the honest seller is most likely to be the one who sells it for 40.00. However if it’s a fairly "basic" business and you need the "how to get started info" then you most likely only need the "legalities" of what you must do and how to do it and maybe some good tips. A short manual for 10.00 - 15.00 will probably fill your needs. You don’t need a 100 page essay on "How To Clean Your Oven" you just need a simple guide. Just use your common sense to make the best decision.

Read between the "keywords" lines:

Of course sellers try to use all the right "keywords" not only to get their site a better listing in the search engines but also to get you to buy. Whenever you read someone’s ad, make sure than you FULLY read it. Don’t just skim over it and connect with the keywords.

Of course certain words are meant to trigger you to buy but you NEED to read all the information to find out exactly what it is they are selling. "Buy this product and be rich in 10 days" might sound like a good plan but what exactly is the product and what do you have to do with it for all this money to appear? You need to know, do they provide you with a free website? If so, do you have to buy website hosting from them ? Do you have to buy a mailing list from them to "resell" this product to make all that money? Do you have to set up a merchant account through them to charge for this product?

The point is that many sites SELL you the "plan " but for the action to be taken you have to buy more, more and more to make that money. Most times with these it amounts to having you sale the same thing you just bought – a promotion package to sell – and it never goes any further into doing what you had thought it was going to be at all.

Then you have the "buy now" keywords, beware, watch out! I’m always leery of any sales ad that says something to the effect of :

"You must act now! The retail value is over 800.00 but today your price is only 39.95!"

"My partners already say I’m nut’s so the price will be going up, double maybe even triple today’s price at any time"

And of course the old standby:

"We will only be offering this to a select amount of people and then this offer will be closed so get in now before it’s too late!"

I always had a "gut feeling" about these types of ads so I would put them in my favorites and then check again next day, next week, a month later and sure enough, there they were still there with that same "now or never" gimmick.

Sales pitch 101 says "call the customer to action" most sales are "impulse buys". That’s why so many use these tactics, they want your money! If a person is selling a true valuable product then they are confident enough in it to relax "sales pitch 101" and let you make an educated decision about making the purchase. They know that what is truly needed is to have the price clearly listed and purchase options easy.

Having a sale price is ok, everyone runs a sale now and again that’s not a "red flag". Or simply stating that the price listed is for a limited time is ok also. That is just to inform you that the price is subject to increase due to their expenses. They aren’t pressuring you but rather, informing you so that if you come back later and see that the price has gone up you won’t say "HEY WHAT’S UP WITH THIS?

Pick something you love – we’ve all heard this:

That's easier said than done! While it’s true that if you hate snakes then you wouldn't want to start a snake farm. But then again you can’t always expect that you are going to LOVE and embrace every part of the business you start. Why can't LIKE be an option?What is most important is finding something that you do well and mildly enjoy. If you actually love it, great! That’s a bonus but don’t close your eyes to all the opportunities just because it’s not on your "love list"

There is so much more to being a business owner than the "task" part of it. If you are a people person you may really love calling on your clients even if you only like the "work" you are doing for them. Most of your joy will come with the knowledge that you own and operate your own business. That gives you a feeling of self worth and pride!

Examples:

You may not be in "love" with housecleaning but you don’t hate it. Maybe you do it well and have developed talents and "tricks" that you are somewhat proud of yourself for discovering. You KNOW that your homemade recipe for bathroom cleaner works better than any store brand. That in itself may give you satisfaction knowing that you are using YOUR cleaner and providing excellent service.

I helped my daughter set up her Office Cleaning Business. She wasn’t a cleaning fanatic but she knew that with 2 kids and a husband working dayshift that it was a business she could run and be able to set her hours around her schedule. Her passion is for driving around so that fit in and she does have a knack for organizing her time. A few months after helping her, I wrote the "How to Start" manual. I realized that while she knew what she wanted to do, she had no clue of where to start and how to go about it. That is most likely true for many so I wanted to help make it easier for others in that same boat...

If you enjoy mowing and tending to shrubs then you might want to look into landscaping. However you may want to consider the climate where you live. In some areas of the country you can provide this service year round. Others you have to consider what you will do in the off season. I have seen a couple of good website that sell manuals for getting this business started so you do have some resources out there. It is well worth reading how others have done it so that you don’t waste time making mistakes that their experience can help you avoid.

Many of us have dreamed of running a mail order business. If you can find the right products and have experience in marketing than it may be an excellent business. You do need to be aware that it is much harder than it looks! First of all you need to have a decent cash reserve to start, it’s not an inexpensive business to get into.

You must have good vendors that provide quality products at a price that allows you to make a profit. If you use drop shippers then you need to be sure that their products are of good quality, are in stock and that they ship promptly. There are some company’s that "ware house" thousands of products and can even provide you with catalogs with your business name and contact info on them. Be wary – many of these have been over promoted and have thousands of people already selling their items.

When first searching for my "business niche" I attempted one of those. After thousands of dollars for catalogs, mailing lists, paying the postage to mail those catalogs and ordering several of their kits so that I could see the products and have some inventory on hand I never received one order.

I then resorted to going to the flea market to at least sell my inventory and re-coup part of my money. Lo and behold I found a dozen other vendors with the exact same products!! It got worse, customers wanted to "deal" with me to the point where it ended up being that I PAID them to carry off much of it. I know that it sounds like I am against mail order. I’m not, It was my dream but it didn’t work out at all and turned into an expensive nightmare. I just wanted to share my experience so that you will know that it’s not nearly as easy as some company’s make it sound.

Unique service businesses:

Mobile service businesses are another great home based option. You own and run a real business but still cut out those over-head expenses and you do not have to abide by "regular operating hours".

These days you can find mobile car wash, mobile gyms, and mobile safety glove sales even mobile pet wash. The great thing is, they are low cost to start and maintain. The hardest part is learning how to market your business. Look them up and find persons who have been there and been a success at it rather than go it on your own if you want to fast track it in any of these.

This is where my husband and I found our niche. In 1999 we started our own Mobile Oil Change Business. We were able to do everything from out of our own home so that fit perfectly with our home based business plan.

True, it was not easy at first and yes we did waste a lot of money and even had to go back to working regular night jobs for awhile. But it was something we felt good about and were willing to plow through whatever it took to succeed. In less than a year we had turned things around and started helping others who were struggling.

 We can help you with the Mobile Oil Change Business at: www.melrics.com for the rest you’ll have to do some searching.

All said and done:

I’ve given you the best tips and ideas that I can come up with. Hopefully some of this has been of help. The main thing is to remember; starting your own business should be exciting. If you are looking at an idea that flat out does not appeal to you but you think it might be prosperous – think hard about it first. If you can find some parts that seem encouraging, that would be fun or exciting, then it's worth considering. Decide it there is enough good in it to make it worth doing long term. If not, don’t do it!