A Prosperous Home Based Business - What You Should Learn
1. Keep a record of your business related mileage. You can
use this information to receive a tax break. They credit you
per mile that you drive, which adds up to a nice sum at the
end of the year. Create a spreadsheet to help you with this
process and keep a copy in your car to remind you to write
down your information at the end of a trip.
2. Starting your own business in your home can be a great
experience but you must separate a specific working area.
This will allow you to feel like you are going to work and
know that it is time to focus when you are in this area.
This will also help prevent family and friends from
disturbing you.
3. Make an office for yourself. If you don't have a whole
room to use for your business, at least create a dedicated
space for your work. That way you will be clearer about
what you're doing. When you're in that space, work.
When you're not in that space, don't work.
4. Make sure your computer is protected. Since it is your
main way to do business and make money, you will want
to make sure you don't lose it. Keep your data backed up
on a separate hard drive and install virus scans and
firewalls. This way, you can be fully protected.
5. Keep a detailed log of all business expenses, including
miles driven and supplies purchased. Make sure to attach
relevant receipts. This will help you when you need to file
taxes. Additionally, if your business is ever audited, it will
be much easier to face the audit if you already have
detailed, day-by-day accounts.
6. Be professional in advance. Get everything you need to
show that you are a professional business person in
advance, This includes business cards, a business phone
and business email address. Make sure that all the
pertinent information is printed on your business card,
and when you hand one out, try to take the name of the
person that you have handed it to.
7. In order to find success in running your own home
business, you must be totally comfortable promoting
yourself. As the owner of a home business, you will need
to talk up your business to a large number of potential
customers. You have to be able to make your customers
feel that your business and products are of the highest
quality. Learning to successfully self-promote, is one of the
keys to making big time profits.
8. Write off your workspace. If you can create a dedicated
room for your home office, you can write it off as a
business expense. This covers a percentage of all costs,
including mortgage or rent payments, utilities and
insurance. Calculate the square footage of the area you
use compared to the total square footage of your house,
and divide the bills accordingly. Be careful though - the IRS
will look closely at this type of expense.
9. Before you even begin the first steps of a home business,
make sure you have a comfortable office with sufficient
supplies. Although it may seem trivial, people find it hard
to get down to work if they are not comfortable with their
space, or they do not have the proper supplies.
10. If your company is successful celebrate but always keep in
mind that a large part of success is luck. This will help to
keep you humble as well as avoid being arrogant with
people who have not been successful. It will also help
keep you aware of future obstacles that may be coming
quickly.