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START & RUN A REAL HOME-BASED BUSINESS
Introduction
Tone and Structure of This Book
Types of Businesses This Book Can Help
A Small Disclaimer on the Second Edition Changes
A Few Points to Keep in Mind
Part 1. MIND
1. A Little Credibility: Home-Based Businesses I Have Run
1992–1994: Intriguing Ideas
1995–1996: Night Owl Marketing
2001–2004: Night Owl e-Ventures
2004: Favorite Clubs (Under Night Owl e-Ventures)
2004–Present: Night Owl e-Ventures Inc. (“Inc.” Added in 2004)
2. The New Business Blinders
3. Starting And Naming Your Business
What Type of Business to Start?
Avoid Meaningless Roadblocks
Select a Business Name
Open a Business Bank Account
4. Partnerships Are Usually A Bad Idea: Here’s Why
Unequal Roles/Limited Skills
One Partner Is Simply Better Than the Other
Friends and Family Members in Business
Partnerships That Can Work
One partner has money, and will mostly remain silent
There is a true division of clearly defined skills
Two professionals passionate about their work get together
Husband and wife
5. Forget The Business Plan … But Plan For Your Business
Your Plan for Business
6. Psst — Your “Big Idea” Is Completely Worthless
Somebody Else Has Likely Already Thought of Your Idea
Nobody Buys Ideas
But What about a Patent?
Nobody Is Going to Steal Your Idea
The Outlet Protector
The Pizza Cheese Stabilizer
The Party Place Website
7. Make Sure You Choose A Business That Is Really For You
Consider Your Lifestyle
8. Ten Really Great Things About A Home-Based Business
1. You Are Paid What You Are Really Worth
2. You Call the Shots — All of Them
3. The Commute Is Usually Really Nice
4. More Time at Home
5. You Get to See More of Your Children’s Activities
6. You Get Out of Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do
7. No Coworkers
8. You Can Do Usual “Weekend” Things When You Wish
9. No Stupid, Arbitrary Rules
10. No Boss
9. Count On The Unexpected Happening
Things That Seem Simple Often Aren’t
10. Niche Markets
Other Types of Niches
A Small Numbers Game
11. Think Big, Even If You Are Local
But What about True Local Businesses?
Types of Businesses That Should Be Thinking Big from Day One
How to Sell to the World
Why Does This Happen?
How to Overcome This “Local Only” Thinking
12. Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Take Some Advice — or Not
13. Some Things Are Simply Worth Paying For
14. How Hard Can It Be?
15. Stop Dreaming And Start Doing
The Walking Test
To-Do Lists
Change How You Spend Your Time
16. You Do Realize You’re The One Who Makes The Work Appear, Right?
Lose the “Job Mentality”
17. Don’t Ignore The Things You Don’t Understand
18. Stop Wasting Time On Nonsense
19. Being Neat Means Business
Dress for Success — or Not
20. Do Things The Right Way, Or Don’t Do Them
21. Some Final Tips To Help Your Business Mind Stay Sharp
Part 2. BODY
22. How Much Money You’ll Need To Start Your Business
Immediate Income? Not Likely
Start-Up Expenses
Licenses and the business filing fee
A functional office/desk and a filing system
A computer, a printer, and an Internet connection
Software
A business bank account
A separate telephone line and a business phone
Website/email/web hosting
Business cards
Advertising
Insurance
Totaling the expenses
23. Outside Money And Funding (Don’t Expect Any)
Grants
SBA Loans
Venture Capital
So Where CAN You Get Money From?
24. Accounting And Taxes
Hire an Accountant
Keep Good Records and Receipts
Pay Your Taxes
Two Last Things on Taxes. Tax refunds
Write-offs
25. Policies And Forms (Yes, You Need These, And They Aren’t As Boring As You Think)
The Forms You Need
The Proposal Form
The Client Sheet
The Invoice
About Legalese
Policies and Guarantees
26. Accepting Credit Cards (You Must, And It’s Easier Than You Think)
Accepting Credit Cards Is Simple
Let Me Take a Moment to Dispel a Few Credit Card Myths
27. Lawyers, Zoning, Insurance, And Other Boring Things
Lawyers and Legal Issues
Zoning
Insurance
28. THE Makings Of A Functional Home Office
The Basics
The Three Different Types of Home Offices
The home-based business where you don’t do a lot of work at home
You actually do the work at home, but don’t see clients there
You work at home, and you see clients there
29. Business Cards And Brochures
Business Cards
Brochures
30. The Telephone
Answering the Phone
Messages
The Phone Itself
31. Vehicles
32. Computers And Software
Learn about Them
Make Sure You Can Back Up Your Data
Keep the Kids Away from Your Work Computer
Get the Right Software
All Kinds of Useful Programs You Never Knew Existed
33. Business Writing, Letters, And Sales Proposals
Business Writing
Business Letters
The Sales/Marketing Proposal
34. Traditional Advertising And Your Home-Based Business
Newspapers
Radio
BEWARE!
Television
Yellow Pages
Direct Mail
Using local coupon packs/flyers
Using targeted mailing lists
Using your own mailing list
Specialty Advertising
What to Say in an Ad
What to Expect from Your Advertising
35. The Internet And Your Website
Why You Need a Website
Reason one — people expect it
Reason two — image
Reason three — marketing
YOU DON’T NEED TO START WITH ANYTHING ELABORATE
Here’s How You Get a Website
Working from Home, At Home
Scams
One Last Thing — Website Conversion
36. Email (It’s More Important Than You Think)
Email Marketing
Dan’s Email Rules
37. Internet Advertising — Search Engines, Pay-Per-Click, Press Releases, And Other Things You May Not Know About
Paid or Free Directory Listings
Search Engine Ranking
Press Releases
Pay-per-click
38. Perils Of The 80/20 Rule
Resistance Is Futile — or Is It?
39. Money Talks (Or Doing Business On A Handshake Is Stupid, And Other Invoicing Issues)
Invoicing Advice
If you are desperate for business, you are more apt to have invoicing issues
If you do not have a strong relationship with a client, always get a deposit or prepayment
A deposit ensures the client actually wants the work done
A deposit helps you avoid the string-along client
Additional Invoicing Tips. If you can, invoice twice a month
Recognize that some clients take time to pay
Address Payment Issues Right Away
Don’t get emotionally involved with nonpayers
Tips to minimize nonpayment
COLLECTION TIP
Never get angry or make threats
40. Bartering
What Is Bartering?
41. Smoking
Part 3. SOUL
42. A Surefire Way To Get Your Spouse Or Partner On Board
43. Charge A Fair Price — For Both Your Customer And You
But What If I’m Charging a Low Rate to Build the Business? Is That Okay?
Don’t Work for Free
How to Bill — Hourly versus Other Methods
One Last Thing on Pricing
44. A Huge Mistake People Make In Marketing And Advertising
45. Once Opened, Doors Tend To Stay Open
Rush Jobs
Discounts
Introductory Rates
46. An Aspect Of Working At Home That You May Find Annoying
47. Days Off And Vacations
48. Keep Your Marketing Simple
But Wait — What Is Marketing?
Keeping Things Simple
49. Your Competition
You Can Learn from Your Competition
Your Competition Can Refer Business to You
You Need Your Competition
Criticizing Your Competition Is Unprofessional
Dan Furman Has No Competition, and Neither Do You
Cookies and the Like
So what does this mean?
How To Be Unique
No Competition
50. Be Patient, But Be Ready For Change, Too
Now, Be Ready to Change
51. Everybody Says They Care About Customers. But Do You? Really?
52. Cutting Ties: Some Clients Just Aren’t Worth It
Cutting Ties
Stop the Madness Before It Even Starts
53. Dealing With Busy And Not-So-Busy Times
Being Too Slow
Seasonal slowness (forced slow times)
Being Too Busy
Make Sure You Take Time To Work On Your Business
Putting Money Back
54. The Other Side Of The Coin — Being A Good Customer
Be Someone People Want to Do Business With
55. Some Final Thoughts
You Will Experience the Highest of Highs, and the Lowest of Lows
Spend Wisely
In Business, Money Means Everything
Just About All Business Relationships End
You Will Never, Ever Be Completely Comfortable — So Relax, It’s Normal
Afterword — Why I’m An Entrepreneur (Or, “Work Is A Four-Letter Word”)
Who Will Take Care of You?
Acknowledgments
About The Author
Other Titles in the Start & Run Series
Notice To Readers
Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook
Contents
You — owning a home-based business? Sure, why not? In fact, welcome to the club!
Let me be one of the first to congratulate you. You are probably very excited over this decision, and perhaps even a little bit scared. Don’t worry; being scared is perfectly normal, so let me just reassure you: Yes, you can do this. With some guidance, good advice, and hard work, you will be well on your way to successfully being self-employed in a home-based business.
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They say experience is the best teacher. Well, this book is entirely based on my real experience running home-based businesses.
To explain what I mean by a real home-based business, it might be easier to start out with what I don’t mean.
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