These days, it's
becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet
with just one source of income. Thus, more and
more people are investigating the possibilities
of starting their own extra-income business. Most
of these part-time endeavors are started and
operated from the comfort and privacy of the
home.
Most of these people are making the extra money
they need. Some have wisely and carefully built
these extra income efforts into full-time, very
profitable businesses. Others are just keeping
busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never
before. The important thing is that they are
doing something other than waiting for the
government to give them a handout; they are
improving their lot in life, and you can do it,
too!
The fields of mail order selling, multi-level
marketing, and in-home party sales have never
been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra
income producing ideas appeal to you, then you
owe it to yourself to check them out. But these
aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start
and operate from home, with little or no
investment, and learn as you go.
If you type, you can start a home-based typing
service; if you have a truck or have access to a
trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling
service. Simply collecting old news papers from
your neighbors can get you started in the paper
recycling business. More than a few enterprising
housewives have found success and fortune by
starting home and/or apartment cleaning services.
If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make
good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers
to restaurants and offices in your area on a
regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby
into a lucrative personalized coffee mug
business. What I'm saying is that in reality,
there's literally no end to the ways you can
start and operate a profitable extra income
business from your home.
The first thing you must do, however, is some
basic market research. Find out for yourself,
first-hand, just how many people there are in
your area who are interested in your proposed
product or service, and would be "willing to
stand in line and pay money
for it." This is known as defining your
market and pinpointing your customers. If after
checking around, talking about your idea with a
whole lot of people over a period of one to three
months, you get the idea that these people would
be paying customers, your next effort should be
directed toward the "detailing" of your
business plan. The more precise and detailed your
plan - covering all the bases relating to how
you'll do everything that needs to be done - the
easier it's going to be for you to attain
success. Such a plan should show your start-up
investment needs, your advertising plan, your
production costs and procedures, your sales
program, and how your time will be allocated. Too
often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs
jump in on an extra income project and suddenly
find that the costs are beyond their abilities,
and the time requirements more than they can
meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before
you get involved, and the clearer you can
"see" everything before you start, the
better your chances for success.
Now, assuming you've got your market targeted,
you know who your customers are going to be and
how you're going to reach them with your product
or service. And you have all your costs as well
as time requirements itemized. The next step is
to set your plan in motion and start making
money.
Here is the most important "secret" of
all, relating to starting and building a
profitable home-based business, so read very
carefully. Regardless of what kind of business
you start, you must have the capital and the
available time to sustain your business through
the first six months of operation. Specifically,
you must not count on receiving or spending any
money coming in from your business on yourself or
for your bills during those first six months. All
the income from your business during those first
six months should be reinvested in your business
in order for it to grow and reach our planned
first year potential.
Once you've passed that first six months
milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary
for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of
your labor. But the first six months or operation
for any business are critical, so do not plan to
use any of the money your business generates for
yourself during that period.
If you've got your business plan properly
organized, and have implemented the plan, you
should at the end of your first year be able to
begin thinking about hiring other people to
alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this:
Starting a successful business is not a means
towards either a job for yourself or a way to
keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning
of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with
you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other
people doing all the work for you, even run ning
the
entire operation, while you vacation in the
Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular
income from your initial efforts.
For more details on market research, business
planning, advertising, selling, order
fulfillment, and other aspects of home-based
businesses, check with the Stone Enterprises
website from which you received this report.
