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7 Tips for Starting Your Home Based Business Online
Copyright 2006 Sergio Franchi So, you've decided to start a home based business online. Congratulations! and welcome to the fast-paced world of the internet and entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort will be worth...

9 Steps To Start A Profitable Online Home Business!
This article has the 9 steps you will need to take to have a Profitable Online Home Business! Some “Internet Guru’s” will disagree with me, as they think that there are only 8 steps, but they seem to forget about the most important step of all....

How to Profit from Creative Home Businesses
Ideas for creative home businesses are everywhere. Many of them are already in your head, and you just don’t know it. Here are some questions to get your own creative business ideas flowing: What hobbies do I enjoy? What do I already know how...

After several years of running two home based businesses I have learned a lot. If you are about to take the plunge please keep these experiences in mind and avoid some of my mistakes or repeat some of my successes.

Good Points About Your Own Business

You Are The Boss - Own your own business and you are the boss! You take the credit win, lose, or draw. Be prepared to admit your mistakes and enjoy your successes. There is no "boss" to blame.

Work The Hours You Want -That's right! Suppose your spouse works the late shift, you would rather be home during daytime to take care of the children or you want to go to that special event.. Self employed people can easily re-schedule their work to fit the family situation. This is generally true for many businesses owners. One of the hardest things I had to let go of is not always being available for customers.

No Commute - In some communities people give up 4 hours commuting to work each day.

No Office Politics - This is a plus. Of course, if you grow you will need to be prepared to deal with the politics of your staff.

Less Stress - I threw this in because in many respects there is less stress. You are making your own decisions. However, there is still stress but it is a different style.

Dress Codes - Let's not discuss how I am dressed for this discussion.

Spend More Time With Your Family - It took me a long time to be able to turn on the answering machine and relax. Be smart about your business day and how you manage the off hours. When you hear that phone ring or you see your inbox grow it takes time and discipline to know that you are off-work!

Time management is a vital part of being successful in any business. to help you with that goal I have a few book recommendations:

• Organized for Success!: 95 Tips for Taking Control of Your Time, Your Space, & Your Life ((Self-Study Sourcebook Ser.) )
  
  
• Organized for Success : Top Executives and CEOs Reveal the Organizing Principles That Helped Them Reach the Top
  

Realize Your Dream of Business Success - You are in charge. Your success or failure depends upon you and no one else. Running a successful business is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Now let's visit some of the downsides to owning your own business.

What can be wrong with running your own business.

Needing to Prove Yourself - Telling people about your business dream often means not being taken seriously. Well meaning friends and family will treat your "availability" as a vacation. Discipline will be a constant challenge. I sometimes borrow quotes from websites like WHoSezHome.com and post them on my computer. They inspire me and serve as a reminder to my family.

Freebies - Those close to you will see your business as a free resource. I give discounts, but I do not give it away. They have to be reminded that working for yourself still means that you are working for a business. What you do for free takes productive time and income out of your life. Be gentle, be tactful, and be firm.

Isolation - Working alone for eight or more hours per day can produce isolated
feelings that may leave you feeling alone. The interaction with co-workers, while not always fun, do give you a sense of being a part of a team. I have found that working at a Panera bread or similar coffee shop often helps you build a social group of like minded individuals. I also found that business organizations helped reduce the feeling of isolation.

Motivation - Earlier I mentioned WHoSezHome.com as an quotation and inspirational source. You will also find articles on this site which discuss the motivation you need as part of your business day. You need to listen to your internal coach who can help keep you on track to finish work assignments? Staying motivated can be as tiring and stressful as the work itself.

Staff - If you grow you will need a staff. Guess what, you now have the office environment that you wanted to escape from.

No Benefits - You will need to allow for health benefits and be aware that until you have other income producers working for you when you go on vacation no work gets done.

Income Levels will vary - Be prepared for the cycle of feast and famine. You will need to always be aware that from month to month you may see peaks and valleys in your income. If you are used to living from paycheck to paycheck you will need to discipline yourself to keep some in reserve.

You Are The Boss - This is both a good thing and a bad thing. No "idiot" to blame mistakes on. All problems rest on your shoulders and it will be impossible to leave work related problems at the office because the office is in your home!

Written by:
Art Sprague

owner of Art's Photography - A photography studio specializing in commercial and portrait photography.

Art Sprague Consulting - Web design for small business needing ecommerce and business development.