Archive for the 'Startup' Category
Posted by: arlene on Monday, 18th Jan, 2010
Running a business from home is going to mean a lot of hard work — more than you ever dreamed. As a one-man or one- woman outfit, you’re going to be responsible for absolutely everything to do with the smooth running of your day to day affairs. To tell the truth, it’s going to be anything but smooth.
Big business runs on teamwork — someone creates an idea, another tests and develops it, others manufacture it, market it and a host of extras package it, deliver it, invoice it and collect payment on it. And when something goes wrong, they all blame each other. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Monday, 18th Jan, 2010
Now that you have the start of your brand new business at your fingertips, let’s take a look at you and your attitude to being in business.
Let’s make it professional. Don’t fool yourself with the idea that working from home will be easy. While you won’t have to join the morning rush-hour traffic to work, you also won’t have the benefit of the discipline that a 9-to-5 office day and a bevy of co-workers imposes on the rest of us. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Sunday, 29th Nov, 2009
Once you have decided that starting your own business suits your abilities and is what you really want to do, then you need to consider what sort of business you are going to run. In fact you may have thought initially of the business you wanted to start and then considered if it was the right step for you. The basis of your business is a business idea – one that is likely to be viable and, when put into practice, will give you a good quality of life in more than just financial terms. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Thursday, 3rd Sep, 2009
The business plan will have at least two functions:
- It will help clarify in your own mind exactly what you intend to achieve with your business.
- It will show potential investors that you have thoroughly researched and prepared everything for starting a business— that you have a serious proposal worth consideration. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Thursday, 20th Aug, 2009
Do you have any talents which can be exploited profitably? If you can answer ‘yes’ to any of the following questions, you need look no further to see what to base your business on.
- Can you write readable, interesting, factual or fiction material?
- Can you take and process photographs of a high quality?
- Can you sing, without fear, alone in front of a large audience, well enough to earn applause? ..more
Posted by: arlene on Thursday, 11th Jun, 2009
The Internet
Although it is still relatively new in the craft world, another option for mail order selling is having a website through which you can sell over the Internet.
It is not without teething problems, particularly when it comes to money transactions. A craft business owner suggests using your website to display your products with price lists and colour charts. But to do the actual orders via email or fax. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Sunday, 7th Jun, 2009
Working creatively with wrought iron could be a means to starting a lucrative home-based business in your area. Projects could include: table and chairs; fire screens; wall-mounted pot-plant holders; brackets; candlesticks; name- signs for business premises and private homes; lanterns; door knockers; gates and gardenware; wind vanes; boot scrapers; toasting forks; magazine racks, and lamps. You could also accept commissions for larger items. Designs may be simple or you could specialize in fancy scroll work. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Saturday, 6th Jun, 2009
Jewellery making can be practised at different levels, involving varying degrees of skill, more or less sophisticated equipment, and materials ranging from pebbles and shells found on the beach to alloys and precious metals like gold and silver. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Thursday, 4th Jun, 2009
Duration of the interview
How long a given interview lasts is, of course, very largely determined by inherent factors. The time devoted to an interview should be sufficient to ..more
Posted by: arlene on Thursday, 4th Jun, 2009
Today you will seldom find home-based entrepreneurs struggling on their own to meet deadlines. Help, whether in the form of people or equipment, makes life easier. Many people contract or employ others to help them on a part-time, full-time or as-needed basis. Another way is to invest in a personal computer or word-processor, photocopier, or fax machine. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Wednesday, 27th May, 2009
Now to sell to a shop
Make a list of all the shops that would be likely to stock your product. Because you’ve done your market research, you should be able to accurately pin point who to go to. The range of areas you sell in can be quite wide. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Wednesday, 27th May, 2009
If your product is easily and inexpensively produced, supplying a retail shop can be a very good option. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Monday, 25th May, 2009
Ulm secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do.
So! You’ve decided to quit your job, or you’ve been retrenched or you’ve retired and now you’re going to work from home. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Monday, 25th May, 2009
No large manufacturer of consumer goods ever invests in a product without testing it first. You must do the same. Show it around. Compare it to products already available. Get feedback from people whose opinions you trust. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Monday, 25th May, 2009
Just to whet your appetite here are a few of the vast number of craft choices and possibilities: ..more
Posted by: arlene on Wednesday, 20th May, 2009
This differs from the weekend, outdoor, craft market in that it is an indoor shop that is basically a co-op for crafts and is open all week. These markets are becoming very popular. For crafters, it means that their work is constantly on display. Likewise, the consumer is delighted to have easy access to exclusive and unusual handmade articles. These markets are becoming increasingly popular particularly with tourists. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Wednesday, 20th May, 2009
Supplying raw materials vary, from providing very specific products for a niche market or product to providing a wider range of supplies.
Ways of operating this business are:
- from home, particularly if you’re teaching
- a mail order business
- a retail shop.
Research the market well and imaginatively — and take the opportunity to be inventive. Look at what is being produced and then look at the component parts that make up that article. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Saturday, 11th Apr, 2009
Focus on trivial issues
Sometimes the owner becomes so engrossed in tiny details or an irrelevant issue, that important issues are ignored or glossed-over. For example, the owner may spend days reading through computer magazines simply to choose a personal computer. The problem often occurs when the business is experiencing some kind of difficulty and the owner finds it uncomfortable to think about the difficult problems and resorts to solving a few easy ones. It is a way of escaping from troubling concerns while at the same time feeling that useful work is being done. ..more
Posted by: arlene on Friday, 3rd Apr, 2009
After taking out an estimate of the value of the property, how many years‘ purchase of the pre-tax profits does the balance of the price represent? Many small businesses sell on around one to one-and-a half years‘ purchase of the profits, though the figure tends to be higher in the south of England.
If you are paying £54,000 for a business which is earning pre-tax profits of £18,000, you are buying it on three years‘ purchase. This is equivalent to a return on your money of 331/3 per cent before tax. If it costs you 17 per cent to borrow the money, a 331/3 per cent return is as low as it is sensible to accept. Businesses often sell at, say, one-anda-half years‘ purchase, a return of 662/3 per cent, but because this ignores your salary it is not a true return. ..more
