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I wish I could honestly say that everyone could be a successful small business owner if they put their minds to it. But I can

When you run a home based business it can be very easy for you to perform your job functions and your living functions in the same room. Before you know it, youre working on the home computer out of your bedroom, using your kitchen as a warehouse, and using your livingroom floor to spread out all of your filing and paperwork to help you find that one file you are looking for.1. Keep It SeparateIf you can, keep your work and your life separate. The absolute best thing you can do is to have a two-story house, using the bottom level for your business and the top level for your home. If you can’t achieve that, then you will have to set up some other boundaries. A room divider can be a great way to divide a space if you plan on dividing a room into two portions. If you can, label rooms as either work rooms or personal rooms. Not only will this help you to keep organized but you will be able to confidently prove to the government that a specific percentage of your home is being used exclusively for business. This means that you can write off that percentage of your mortgage or rent.2. Separate Work Time Also, Play TimeHave a daily schedule of when you will work and when you will be doing personal things. For example, you can say that you will work 9 - 00-5 - 30, or if you want to get up earlier, 7 - 00-3 - 30. In this way you can keep track of your billable hours if you are providing a service from home. In any case, without a plan youre inevitably going to do far too much work or far too little.3. Define The LinesFor those that have a family, you will definately want to separate the time you spend with your family and the time you spend working. When your children end up needing attention while you are working with customers you will undoubtedly come off as unprofessional. Your clients may think twice about doing business with someone that has other obligations to attend to. In general, make sure your family knows business rooms are off limits at all times.4. Get A Second Phone Line Also, Answering MachineIf you don’t already have both of these, you will want to pick them up right away. An answering machine will allow you to follow up on business leads that you would otherwise not recieve when you are out of the office. More importantly, a second phone line will allow you to place customers on hold so you can deal with more than one simultaneously.

Article Source: www.iSnare.com

During summer, those of us who are self-employed tend to pull back from our businesses somewhat. The heat of summer, vacations, kids out of school, and so on, logically bring about a slower pace. We benefit, mentally and physically, from such time to recharge and rejuvenate. Sometimes though, it

One of the most important concerens when running a business is finding out who your potential competition is. If you can find out what your competitors are up to, then you are already one step ahead of the game. This is because you will know what products and services the competition is offering and you will be able to counter those with items of your own, preferably marketed more attractively.1. Where To StartDon’t fall into the all-too common method of using a search engine to find your competition. Plenty of businesses take place outside the Internet. Plenty of house-cleaning services are run by young adults and pay is given out under the table. Alternatively, you might find that many businesses operate without web sites - the businesses may be listed in the yellow pages or your local newspaper. Be sure to cut out any ads you find and keep track of your competition closely.2. Don’t Be A CopycatOne of the most common themes in businesses is innovation. Every once in a while, an innovation or new technology will come along and change the way that people work within a particular industry. After that, everyone will jump on the bandwagon in an attempt to get a piece of the pie. You will be going up against huge multibillion dollar corporations that have bigger advertising budgets and the connections to make any product faster and cheaper. Thus, your claim to fame will no longer depend on following a sucessful industry, but rather diverging from it. You want to do what other people are doing but in a way that is different. The idea isn’t to reinvent the wheel, merely to distinguish yourself in the marketplace enough that people will recognize your brand of wheels. Often, distinguishing yourself can be done simply by selecting a memorable color scheme and logo. Other times it’s all about the design - making things smaller and more pleasureable to the eye.3. Provide Better ServiceIf two companies each offer the same product at the same price, what factors will determine that retailer the customer chooses? Service is the most important - how friendly your staff are and how close the store is to the customers place of residence. You can also add further value to your services or products by offering a money back guarantee, offering an extended warrantee, or offering free technical support.4. Keep It SimpleA lot of businesses could do better if they only made the product easier to use. A common theme is to make the product only require three steps to use. Use plain english when describing your product and how to use it, although not so simple as to make the people you are explaining it to feel dumb. Many consumers end up returning perfectly good products not because they aren’t good but because they simply can’t figure out how to use it.

Article Source: www.iSnare.com

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