Starting a home based business is a good option for those who want to have a great work life balance. Care should be taken to make sure money is not poured down the drain in the name of starting a business. People preach the many pitfalls that can be avoided and the wise do take heed and tread with caution.Is it all Doom and Gloom?The fragile world economy features in the news everyday and so does how things are expected to get even tougher. A lot of people are anxious about how to support a decent lifestyle. For most families it is almost impossible to cover expenses on two salaries with increase in food costs, household bills and other basic needs. A home based business is a great consideration for anyone who wants to supplement their income or create flexible working hours to meet family demands, get rid of unemployment or solve other issues.Working from home is a great way to earn some extra income and for some people their entire income comes from their home business. The best thing about this type of set-up is the low start-up costs. A home based business is not as easy as it sounds though; it requires a lot of planning with the right knowledge and skills.Pillar 1 – If It Is Too Good To Be True It Probably IsYou probably have seen a lot of adverts online about how someone made £10,000 in one day. We will all like to strike it lucky and find that deal of a lifetime. But beware, if you are thinking of working from home, do not get sucked into these false claims of making millions in a few months. There are businesses that generate a healthy profit but think about it, if those claims were true everyone will be doing it.Consider the risks involved before you take up any offer for a home based business. Carry out adequate research about the business before you commit funds to it. Search yourself, if this is what you really want to do or if you are doing it for the love of money. Remember the love of money can only satisfy temporarily.Pillar 2 – Start with Minimal CostStarting a home based business should not cost the earth. Just because you are not renting an office space, does not mean you should blow your budget on a state of the art computer system, an executive desk and a recliner chair with a built in massage service. Manage your budget effectively especially when starting off as money may not come in immediately but bills still need to be paid. Beware of the stationery habit; it can spiral out of control especially for those who work from home.Pillar 3 – Dream Big Start SmallDon’t bite off more than you can chew when starting a business from home. Consider your working hours, family schedule, space within your home and other important factors before you commit to your customers. Do you have the space to store the raw materials for your products? Can you manage more than 10 clients a month without impinging on family time? These are some of the important factors you need to consider when you start your home based business. Remember your business reputation is at stake if you do not deliver on your promise.Pillar 4 – Easy MaintenanceMany people who choose to work from home are probably tired of the status quo. So why complicate things even further by setting up a home based business that is too complicated to run. This opportunity should give you the chance to follow your passion and run a business too. Working from home should be a pleasure not another daunting task you hate to wake up to. You should set things on your own terms and within certain guidelines. If you intend to laze about the house and pretend to be working, you might as well stay in your current job. It takes a lot of dedicated hard work to get any business off the ground – a home based business is no exception.All these pillars might sound like child’s play when it comes to starting a home-based business, but one wrong turn can lead to a frustrating experience. Make sure you follow your passion when starting a home based business and understand the basics of running a business. Consider the 4 pillars stated above in addition to other relevant information when starting out to help you stay on the right track and enjoy the process.
A Home Based Business and the 4 Pillars
Considerable Factors Involved in Product Creation & Marketing
The niche you have chosen should allow creation of more than one product or service. With the technological advancements in the hosting industry, from automated control panels and scripts that simplify creation of accounts, to complete turnkey solutions; there is no need to worry about spending time on the real products sold to the customer. The main ones are keyword selection, sales copy principles, graphics, affiliate programs, product creation, online payment processing, auto responders, and search engine optimization.
Once you’ve earned money from this type of information product business, you can invest in the creation of your own products if you want, or start offering more informational products that allow you to sell your knowledge. But the creation and production costs of a similar big ticket in sequence product, although higher, are still pretty low. A key by-product of this process will be the creation of 3-D, Computer Assisted Design art.
The Association for Financial Professionals permits the following activities for repatriating funds: Research and Development activities, advertising and marketing programs, hiring and training new recruits, acquiring patent and other rights to intangible property, improving transportation, funding capital investments with the purpose of job creation and job retention & funding product responsibility or environmental claims.
It prohibits certain activities like: Tax payments, Payment of executive recompense, Payment of dividends, Redemption of stocks, Debt investments and Portfolio investments. Therefore, before repatriating the money, you must consider whether it is worth or not.
Checklist on what artist and product development necessitate includes: Exceptional vocals, musicianship and/or songwriting skills, Continued education and enhancement of musical skills, Quality equipment, Performance ability, Image creation and maintenance, Plan of action, goal setting, excellent promotion materials including photographs, press releases and artwork, Business management skills, Marketing, Publicity and Promotion knowledge, Online and Offline Professional management, Basic knowledge of recording, producing, engineering, and mastering, Basic knowledge of manufacturing, distribution, and sales online, brick and mortar and air-play, Good choices in members, staff and advisors, Physical and mental preparedness, Basic knowledge of finances, accounting Law and legal issues etc.
The goals for doing so are for the product owner to: Communicate the whole, Determine and communicate when releases are needed, Determine what functionality is sufficient for each release & focus on business value derived from the releases. The delivery team on the other hand will see the whole, learn about the steps to realize the vision, learn the business priorities, provide technical input to the roadmap and provide estimates for the projected features. The salesperson must lead the prospect through the various decision criteria needed in order to secure a sale. Whether your idea is the development of a product, launch of a service business, or even the creation of an event or program for a non-profit, creativity is the root of all entrepreneurial efforts starting with the vision itself.
People quickly learn to spend their time on marketing and product creation, rather than repetitive tasks. Apart from empowering companies and individuals, there should be a particular focus on identifying labor intensive businesses that have the potential to make a significant and positive impact on employment creation as well as those businesses that have a product or service offering for export markets with the final objective of booming local economies.
Do We Need Sex Education in School for Teens?
There was a time when talking about sex simply did not happen. That was many moons ago. Now, teens are beginning to have sex at younger and younger ages, and this changes the playing field. Everyone knows that parents need to talk to their kids about sex education, but the lines are not as clear about sex education in school settings. How can we educate our children about sex without endorsing it and should that be a decision made by our school system? This is just one of the many considerations on this important social subject.
The Argument For Sex Education in School
Those that support this say it is because the kids are not getting the right amount of information at home, and that the school is only enhancing the subject for the parents that do talk with their kids. Schools have been known to give out condoms, and take other steps that help to ensure our kids do not get pregnant. They say that sex education helps those kids that are sexually active to do so safely. Some even claim that sex education in schools actually helps to prevent sex at a young age.
The Argument Against Sex Education in School
As a parent, I firmly stand against sex education in school. The reason is rather simple really. Sex education in school can run contradictory to what a parent feels is appropriate, and the parent should have the final say. Here is an example:
Sally is taught at home that sex before marriage is wrong, and that she should not engage in sex until that time. She is also taught about the dangers of sex, and the consequences that can arise such as early teen pregnancy and disease. Then Sally goes to school and attends her class on sex education. The teacher in the class delivers the message that students should wear condoms if they are sexually active, and other similar messages while at the same time, giving out condoms.
While these messages are accurate, they are also indicative of an acceptance of sex among teens and send a mixed message. This sends the wrong message to teens in comparison to what Sally is taught at home, and can confuse the lines that a parent has drawn for their children.
Sex education is something that should be taught at home, and then supported at school through basic sex education classes. Where the system has broken down is in the subject matter. Teaching children about how sex works and the consequences of early sex is a good thing. What they should and should not do is the area for parents, not schools.
While both arguments certainly have merit, I feel that parents should be aware of everything being taught to kids at school where sex is concerned. Parents are not informed of these important facts, and when they are contradictory to what the parent feels is right for their kid, it is simply wrong. Perhaps the right solution would be a combination of parents and teachers attacking the problems facing our children. This could only happen through closely working together and that is sorely lacking in the schools of America today.