Your Business Plan - Simple and Basic

If you've been in business at least 5 minutes, you've heard that you have to have a business plan.  What does that mean exactly?  A 30 page document that looks like a legal brief?  A set of post it notes?  Neither. Both.

Your business plan doesn't have to be complicated when you are first starting out.  It just needs to answer the following basic questions to keep it simple:

1. Who - Name of your business & how are you different from other businesses in your industry
   
2. What - What do you want your business to accomplish? What's your mission statement?
   
3. When/Where - Where do you see your business in 1, 3, 5 years
4. How - How do you plan to accomplish those goals? (What are your plans for marketing?)

Now, if you are trying to obtain funding to further your business or get any other type of assistance, it will have to be more professional and detailed, including a detailed Executive Summary and detailed marketing plan.  But for the sake of aligning your business in the direction you want it to go, a simple one pager will suffice with simplicity.

I realize that what I've just listed is not a Business Plan in it's professional format.  However, the purpose of this blogs is to help newbie business owners with little finances to start somewhere.  As your business grows, you can go for more of the "professional" stuff.

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One of my small business websites is located at www.FreshRadiantSkin.com
If you are a woman of color, this site is for you.

Benefits of A Home Based Service Business

If you have decided that you want to start a home based service business but are having difficulty deciding what type of home based service business to start, then first consider the benefits.

A Home Based Service Business has many benefits including

• If you have a certain skill set or certain talents, you can meet a need that exists in the business world and get paid for it (cha-ching!)
  
• You can run your business right out of your home
• If your new service business consists of doing things that were once a hobby, hey you now probably have most of the supplies and equipment you need to take it to the next level
• You have very little overhead. No need to rent office space. You are already paying rent or a note on your home, not to mention other utilities. All that's left to buy now is any equipment you may need like a computer and fax machine (if you don't have them already)
• While you are accountable to getting work done for your client, you can now set your own hours

A home based service business is a really good alternative for people who have little money to get started. If you are like me, this is sounding better and better because most of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths yet we want to be able to have the work/home life balance that many companies out of the home do not afford.

Here are some resources on a few popular home based service businesses that you may be interested in:

Santa Letter Business (this one sounds like fun and would be a cool part time gig)
Transcription Business
Virtual Assistant Business

Is Becoming a Virtual Assistant for Me?

Most of the posts I've been writing on this blog have been for people who already have a home based business and want to be more successful at it. But what if you haven't decided on the type of home based business you want to start?

Well, there are many options out there but you have to decide what's best for you. So, with that I've made it one of my goals (don't you you just love that word?:-) to also try and help those who are still deciding on what type of business (products or services) they want to run from home.

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to "Becoming a Virtual Assistant"

What does a Virtual Assistant do you wonder? What doesn't she do (or he)! A virtual assistant in lamens terms is an administrative assistant that performs an array of jobs for large and small companies. The difference is the flexibility to work from home and rather than work for someone else's company directly, you are a contractor.

Virtual assistant responsibilities may include managing emails, handling client inquiries, maintaining schedules, transcribing, typing, creating presentations accounting and even setting up profiles and accounts on social networks like Twitter, Facebook or Linked In.

How Do You Know That Becoming a Virtual Assistant is right for you?

Well you can start by asking yourself a few questions:

1- Do I like performing secretarial/administrative tasks?
2- Do I have access to a computer, fax machine, phone, and internet access?
3- Do I have strong office and business administration skills? If not, do I want to learn them?

Learn More About Becoming A Virtual Assistant here

The demand for Virtual Assistants has skyrocketed in the last few years. Companies can hire a virtual assistant to take care of a number of jobs without having to provide a desk or even health insurance. Virtual assistants can save companies lots of money but they can make lots of money as well. I don't know about you but if I had the choice of working in an office for someone making what they determine I should make vs. working from home so I can be near my family and setting my own rates based on what IIII determine I should make, I'll take the latter.

image courtesy of www.cybergirl.net
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Michelle Howard Smith is President of Reviyve LLC, a n online based personal care products business and she's on a mission to help others fulfill their dream of working from home. To subscribe to one of Michelle's monthly newsletters, click Subscribe to Stress Less Newsletter OR Subscribe to Skin Naturale Newsletter

Daily Marketing Plan

Over the last few days ago I've really been thinking about ways to get my home business to the next level. I know that My Father God blesses everything I set my hands to but I have to ask myself, "Is what I'm setting my hand to being done in the most effective way?" By that I mean, "Do I have any direction?" Well, I discovered that I'm usually all over the place. I do a little of this and a little of that....Go on Twitter for a few minutes a week, no specific day; write an article or two once in a while; constantly changing the look and feel of my websites without really tracking them. Boy, I haven't even checked my Adwords and Adsense account in God knows when.

This behavior is not productive and I've discovered that while I am a full time working mom, I can build more success with my internet marketing business if I develop some consistency and a plan....a daily marketing plan that is.

Building a successful online business is a lot of work. There are so many things that MUST be done on a consistent basis in order to maintain traction in the online world. So, now that I'm working from a daily schedule, here are the things I focus on:

• Spending specific time reading articles and commenting on Linked In
• Spending regular time interacting with folks on Twitter, participating in discussions related to my business and sharing information
• Writing 2 articles per week (1 for each of my sites) and submitting them to article directories like Ezinearticles.com
• Bookmarking my articles on social bookmark sites like de.li.cious, stumble upon and reddit
• Checking my ppc ad accounts once a week to check my ad performance
• Writing 1 Squidoo lens weekly to share information about topics and products related to my business and then bookmarking those lenses
  
• Working on my company newsletters once a week so I can have completed content by the first of each month
• Checking the stats for each of my websites and tracking changes
  
• Emailing my list specials on a weekly basis tailored just for their needs
• Blogging on my 3 blogs twice weekly (sometimes scheduling posts when I get a ton of stuff to say all in a short period of time) - 2 of my blogs Fresh Radiant Skin and Stress & Alternative Pain Relief are for me displaying my knowledge in my fields of natural skin care and alternative pain relief & stress management. My 3rd blog, the one you are now reading is for me to give back to the online community. I believe in helping others succeed one because no one ever just "arrives." We all have help along the way. Another reason is because I will also be helping pave my own way to success. In each of my blogs I like to display my personality so that you all can get to know me. I'm pretty transparent really. I like to joke around, exhibit a little sarcasm and even get a little serious when I'm sharing the latest news in the industries. However, I also love to write and converse with others in general which is why I hope my readership will pick up. How quickly you all will discover how much I have to say!
  

So, I have a set amount of time for myself each day to complete these tasks and I highly recommend the habit of working from a schedule to anyone building a home based business, especially an internet marketing business. When scheduling time for yourself to complete tasks, it's important to remember that discipline is essential. Don't do other things like check your email first or you may never get to your "assigned" tasks. Check your email after you've completed your To Do scheduled items. This will keep you on track as well as help with your time management.

Finally, remember that Rome was not built in a day. Don't get discouraged. Hard work barely fails to pay off. You can be successful and I hope that we can be on this journey together. I will share my learnings while building my business and I hope you will share yours.

God Bless and Here's to Fruitfulness in Business!

New Blog Feature

In an effort to help individuals build their home based businesses, I will be adding a new feature to the blog. Every Sunday I will feature an entrepreneur or small business owner who is building or has built a successful home based business. This will help by providing encouragement along with helpful advice for those who have a home based business.... Stay Tuned for my first featured entrepreneur TDN Creations:

If you are interested in being featured, please visit: http://findafeature.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-feature-10-steps-2-success-ongoing.html for complete details.

To Your Success!

Organizing Your Business

When it comes to success at home based business, a very importantant aspect to building your business is to organize your business affairs. Believe it or not, many home business owners don't have the basics in place.

There are a few items to have in place to organize your business so that it runs smoothly. For the next few posts I'd like to discuss a few things you need to do to organize your home business for success:

• Organize your finances
• Legalize your business
• Create a professional image
• Assign workspace and make boundaries
• Obtain and organize neccessary supplies and equipment

In this post, let's talk about organizing your finances. Depending on the type of home business you are running, the amount of financial assistance you require will vary. However, one thing that every home business needs is an operating bank account to manage sales and expenses. Even if you are a sole proprietor, it is recommended that you do not mix your personal funds with that of your home business. This way you can effectively keep track of the monies you are spending on your business and there is no ambiguity (there are clear lines separating the money you use and spend for your household vs. that of your home business). I chose to have two business checking accounts for my home business. The reason I chose two checking accounts is so that I could separate the money that I need to save, pay taxes and pay tithes with from the money I use to pay my home business expenses with. I have both accounts at the same bank so that I can easily transfer funds between the two accounts as well as see all of my transactions in one place.

As a Christian, I give 10% of everything I earn to the Lord. He has graciously blessed me with my own home business and I can't think of a better way to thank Him than to help finance the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone should have the opportunity to know Jesus. He is so good and faithful. Just when I feel like throwing in the towel, He sends someone to encourage me. Ok, so while I went a bit off topic for a moment, I thouht it important to mention why I tithe because I know some people were probably wondering about it. Back on track now...

My Personal Home Based Business Websites:
Dead Sea, Bath & Body Products, Aromatherapy Candles, Gift Baskets & Gift Sets
Stress Relief Products, Magnetic Therapy & Alternative Pain Relief

Another channel for obtaining finances is small business credit cards. Since you will not be mixing your personal finances with your home business finances, you will need a business credit card to easily facilitate paying for supplies, etc. An important thing to note however is that you should limit most of your credit card charges to items that will pay for themselves by generating income relatively quickly (ex: you sell hand gloves for $20 that you have the manufacturer ship directly to your customers. When a customer purchases a pair of gloves for $20 on your website, you then go to the manufacturer and purchase the gloves on your business credit card at your wholesale cost. Once your customer's payment clears, usually in 2-3 business days, you can then make a payment on your credit card to cover the charge.)

There are other types of loans such as personal loans you can apply for but I don't recommend theses for a home based business. A big perk of a home based business is the ability to have low start up costs. Some people choose network marketing home based businesses which have little to no start up costs. Others choose to sell homemade products and sell them on a website with very little to no fees such as e-bay, webs, etsy or artfire. Whatever your particular home based business, just make sure your finances are in order. I personally do a bit of both because I enjoy designing my own products as well as networking and promoting other products that I don't make but have the ability to improve people's health. Besides my personally managed websites, I'm a distributor for Young Living Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, I truly enjoy this home business. I personally experience a wealth of benefits with these oils. If you are interested in distributing or just being a customer of Young Living's products, visit the main website at http://www.youngliving.org/. You'll need distribitor # 1066504 to purchase or become a distributor.

In a few days I'll talk about the next thing on the list to organizing your business affairs...legalizing your business.