Work From Home Ideas - A New Beginning
This Work From Home Ideas blog will be devoted to providing you with ideas on what work from home business ideas work and what does not work.
Working from home is probably one of the greatest dreams that most people have at one or more times in their lives. Unfortunately, most people never take the first step towards bringing their dreams into reality.
One of the biggest problems people allow to prevent them from working at home is being overcome with details. Yes, details are important, but they can quickly become a ball and chain that ends keeping you from moving forward.
This blog is not meant to provide legal advice, but hopefully provide you with some work from business ideas and help you overcome some of the mental obstacles preventing you from starting your own home based business.
There is no way one book (or blog) can provide you with all the "what is legal, what is not" requirements for every municipality in the USA or the world.
Many, if not most, home based businesses in the USA and in other countries, operate under the radar of the local overlords who, if you ask, will surely find some way of extracting a new or little known fee from your pocketbook.
If you are not disturbing your neighbors with a flow of customers to and from your house, but are only receiving or shipping stuff via UPS or the post office. In most instances, this is none of the local overlords business.
You do have to be careful though of the local busybodies or the self appointed kings and queens of your neighborhood. An example we have in our own neighborhood is a young lady who applied for a permit to provide daycare for children before and after school.
It seems the self appointed queen and king of our development took 14 pictures of the young entrepreneurs lawn and took it to the township zoning board. This young entrepreneur had allowed her grass to grow to high according to the self appointed king and queens rulers and they attempted to use this as evidence that the young lady would also not follow the 'rules' when taking care of the children.
Thankfully the zoning board voted unanimously to 'ignore' the king and queen and gave the young entrepreneur her permit.
Another misconception by most people is that they have to file for a fictitious name for their business. This is almost always 'true' IF you are using a fictitious name.
My husband and I have operated numerous businesses over the last 20 years and have done so using our last name as part of the name, examples: YourLastName Catering or YourLastName International, etc..
In most municipalities and states, if you operate a business using your real name as part of it, you do not have to file for a fictitious name. Every little governing kingdom has its own rules though, so be sure to check it out by calling your county seat.
Something to keep in mind when you are dealing with the local overlords, never take the first answer you get if it isn't the one you want. If someone tells you that a fictitious name filing is required if you are using your own name in the business title, ask to speak to their supervisor and keep going up the line if you have to until you get the answer you want. Then be sure to get that persons name, extension and write down the date and time you talked with them and be sure to file it away for safe keeping.
One requirement you will most often be required to obtain will be a sales tax license (depending upon which state you live in). Contact your states department of revenue for an application which in most cases is available on their web site.
Another perceived requirement to start a business is developing a business plan. Yes, you should sit down and plan what and how you are going to proceed with your business, but taking the time to prepare a formal business plan is usually a waste of time.
If you think that you will need financing for your business, then you may need a plan when going to the bank or other financial institution. You should strive, however, to start your work from home business using your own funds or a little financing as possible.
Of all the businesses my husband and I have operated, we have never once taken out a loan and we have always had our business purchases be self financed.
Self financing the growth of your business is very important. You should always keep a portion of your revenue in reserve to spend on new equipment, supplies, advertising, etc.. Investing in your business can and will most often provide you with a much better return than investing in the stock market or savings account.
Still another expenditure that can be avoided when first starting a work from home business is the services of a CPA. Yes, I know CPA's will disagree with that but for a small home based business, there are plenty of computer programs out there to help you keep track of your income and expenses.
Then when tax season comes along, there are several programs that you can get which will walk you through the completion of your business tax return. In the 20+ years my husband and I have owned several different businesses, we have only once hired a CPA and that was to help us with our taxes regarding an investment not related to our business.
Last, but not least, try to start a business doing something you like or have an interest in. This is not a requirement for success but it can certainly help you achieve it more quickly.
That's it for this first post, I hope you have found it interesting and useful. Keep checking back for updates and feel free to leave your comments.
Maw Maw Debbie "The Consummate Entrepreneur's Wife"
Working from home is probably one of the greatest dreams that most people have at one or more times in their lives. Unfortunately, most people never take the first step towards bringing their dreams into reality.
One of the biggest problems people allow to prevent them from working at home is being overcome with details. Yes, details are important, but they can quickly become a ball and chain that ends keeping you from moving forward.
This blog is not meant to provide legal advice, but hopefully provide you with some work from business ideas and help you overcome some of the mental obstacles preventing you from starting your own home based business.
There is no way one book (or blog) can provide you with all the "what is legal, what is not" requirements for every municipality in the USA or the world.
Many, if not most, home based businesses in the USA and in other countries, operate under the radar of the local overlords who, if you ask, will surely find some way of extracting a new or little known fee from your pocketbook.
If you are not disturbing your neighbors with a flow of customers to and from your house, but are only receiving or shipping stuff via UPS or the post office. In most instances, this is none of the local overlords business.
You do have to be careful though of the local busybodies or the self appointed kings and queens of your neighborhood. An example we have in our own neighborhood is a young lady who applied for a permit to provide daycare for children before and after school.
It seems the self appointed queen and king of our development took 14 pictures of the young entrepreneurs lawn and took it to the township zoning board. This young entrepreneur had allowed her grass to grow to high according to the self appointed king and queens rulers and they attempted to use this as evidence that the young lady would also not follow the 'rules' when taking care of the children.
Thankfully the zoning board voted unanimously to 'ignore' the king and queen and gave the young entrepreneur her permit.
Another misconception by most people is that they have to file for a fictitious name for their business. This is almost always 'true' IF you are using a fictitious name.
My husband and I have operated numerous businesses over the last 20 years and have done so using our last name as part of the name, examples: YourLastName Catering or YourLastName International, etc..
In most municipalities and states, if you operate a business using your real name as part of it, you do not have to file for a fictitious name. Every little governing kingdom has its own rules though, so be sure to check it out by calling your county seat.
Something to keep in mind when you are dealing with the local overlords, never take the first answer you get if it isn't the one you want. If someone tells you that a fictitious name filing is required if you are using your own name in the business title, ask to speak to their supervisor and keep going up the line if you have to until you get the answer you want. Then be sure to get that persons name, extension and write down the date and time you talked with them and be sure to file it away for safe keeping.
One requirement you will most often be required to obtain will be a sales tax license (depending upon which state you live in). Contact your states department of revenue for an application which in most cases is available on their web site.
Another perceived requirement to start a business is developing a business plan. Yes, you should sit down and plan what and how you are going to proceed with your business, but taking the time to prepare a formal business plan is usually a waste of time.
If you think that you will need financing for your business, then you may need a plan when going to the bank or other financial institution. You should strive, however, to start your work from home business using your own funds or a little financing as possible.
Of all the businesses my husband and I have operated, we have never once taken out a loan and we have always had our business purchases be self financed.
Self financing the growth of your business is very important. You should always keep a portion of your revenue in reserve to spend on new equipment, supplies, advertising, etc.. Investing in your business can and will most often provide you with a much better return than investing in the stock market or savings account.
Still another expenditure that can be avoided when first starting a work from home business is the services of a CPA. Yes, I know CPA's will disagree with that but for a small home based business, there are plenty of computer programs out there to help you keep track of your income and expenses.
Then when tax season comes along, there are several programs that you can get which will walk you through the completion of your business tax return. In the 20+ years my husband and I have owned several different businesses, we have only once hired a CPA and that was to help us with our taxes regarding an investment not related to our business.
Last, but not least, try to start a business doing something you like or have an interest in. This is not a requirement for success but it can certainly help you achieve it more quickly.
That's it for this first post, I hope you have found it interesting and useful. Keep checking back for updates and feel free to leave your comments.
Maw Maw Debbie "The Consummate Entrepreneur's Wife"
posted by Maw Maw Debbie @ 9:57 AM
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