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Home Business Finance Options

Starting a home business is a great idea.  But even the best ideas behind a small business can run aground if there’s not enough financing.  Still the primary reason for a small business to fail is because it’s under-financed.  With the US economy at a downturn, getting funding for a small business is a tough task.  Using the credit card as a way to raise financing is tempting but should not be a first option.  There are other ways for a small business to get funding.

Raising funds or capital the traditional way, a local bank is the first recourse.  In acquiring a loan, it helps if a small business already has a good credit record.  The small business owner can apply for a loan using business assets as collateral.  For the home-based small business, he can apply for a personal loan against a bank account.  The account stays intact and earning interest at the same time it’s being used as collateral.

The small business owner might also want to consider borrowing against personal insurance.  The insurance company would have standard rates for this in the insurance contract.

If the funding is needed to acquire capital equipment, the small business might want to take a look at chattel mortgage for the equipment.  In most cases this is more advantageous than buying the equipment on credit.  In some instances there’s no cash out needed in acquiring the equipment.

If the funding is needed to acquire vehicles or real estate, it’s more advisable to lease the vehicle or land.  Of course, this requires a clear and thorough leasing agreement on payment schedule and other terms, including additional insurance coverage on the vehicle or property.

Asking for additional funding from friends and relatives is a win-win situation for both parties.  Your friends and relatives know you personally and would be in the best position to help someone close to them. 

On the other hand, potentially, this is a very fast way to lose friends.  Try to entice the would-be lender with a some interest on the loan as well as a repayment schedule and an opt out clause.  An opt out clause allows the lender to remove the money at any time.  For the lender, they might be getting better terms with the loan than keeping the money in certificates of deposit.

Another source for funding would be business associations and small business agencies or non-profit organizations and Government Small Business Loans.  Increasingly, there are more small businesses which take advantage of peer-to-peer or P2P lending.  There are several websites which cater to this type of loan facility.

The small business owner might also consider asking financial assistance from acquaintances, associates. Local businessmen or retirees are a good pool of potential investors.  Presenting the financial plan is very important.  It’s like selling the concept of the company and why the funding for your small business is necessary. 

To keep the prospective investor interested, explain why the business is important to the community.  Include a single page summary of the opportunity the financing is needed for.  Present a fair and objective valuation of the company, it’s financial history and current state and it’s worth.  Make the potential lender feel like a partner in the business success.

Small businesses by their nature will meet limits of its funding.  A startup’s first year expenses is twice the budget.  Finding additional funding sometimes seems like a continuous process for the small business owner taking the time away from actually running the business.  But it is a necessary process and there are avenues for relief both through the traditional bank loans and non-traditional funding methods.

Oh, and don’t forget about home business tax deductions to save on your expenditure to help with your cashflow.

A ChecklIst For Home Based Business Start-Up

Starting a home business can be a great way for you to earn money without having to worry if your resume will fit your company’s mission and vision, or if you will get along with your co-workers, or if your shoes and clothes will fit in with everyone else’s outfit at the office. You do not have to worry about gas or your commute or if you will miss the train, and you don’t have to worry about leaving your child at home while you start eking out a living. A home-based business will be hard to set up, however, so you will need a home based business start up check-list to get you started.

First, you need capital. To make money, you need money, whether to hire people to help you, or to invest in marketing. There are many ways that you can start up a home-based business: you can start on the Internet, in which case you need to spend a bit more on electric bill and outfitting your computer if you need to have better software on it; you can also start with arts and crafts at home, in which case you will need to have your own arts and crafts and invest on materials first. Whether you need a few cents or a thousand dollars, you need to see if you have enough money for a start up. Remember: you may also need some fees in order to file business permits if necessary.

So how do you keep track of your capital? You will need to do some basic accounting and budgeting, but if you have no experience in allotting your capital, you will need to talk to accounting and budgeting experts, or better yet, to people who have already set up their own home businesses.

In order to keep track of your capital, you will need to know exactly what you need. You need to set aside money if you are going to hire and pay people, buy materials or software, use your car or vehicle to transport things or deliver finished products, register your business and pay government fees for your documents, market your products and services, and even set up shop in your house and convert a part of it into your home office.

You will also need to be strict with yourself. Although you are working in a home business and having your home as your office, you do not have the license to lounge around and not do anything, especially when you are only starting. You will need to have a strict schedule: allot a certain time of your day to marketing, another part of the day to evaluating your marketing techniques, another part of the day to evaluating your products and services, and another part of the day to seeing how well you spent your money and how much you earned. Keep to this schedule and you will form a habit out of self-discipline.

These are only a few things that you need to remember when you are starting a home business. Although you are working from your home, many of the rules of the corporate arena still apply to you. If you are able to exercise discipline not only in work, but in budgeting and pacing yourself as well, you will not have a hard time earning from your home-based business.

 

 

 

999 business ideas: 700-709

You don't dare click here…..

700. Make kites which feature Union Jacks, Stars and Stripes or the colours of popular football teams. Package and have stocked at suitable retailers. 

 

701. Open a market stall which sells hats and other headgear. Your stock will include: ladies hats, scarves, men’s caps and Balaclava helmets. 

 

702. Start a firm which designs and manufactures notice boards for the home and office. These might have a special feature, for example, cover the boards with a fabric which has an exotic design or make boards which have an unusual shape.

 

703. Produce a correspondence course about how to design saleable knitting patterns. The main market for this would be people who want to design knitting patterns for profit rather than for enjoyment. 

 

704. Take everyday objects such as clocks, water taps and calculators. Remove the outer casing and mount them to make educational aids or ornaments. Also you might label the most important parts of each object.

 

705. Recreate classic chess games on video. Start a business which hires and sells these to chess enthusiasts. Set up a mail order business which sells books and products related to ventriloquism. Produce booklets and cassettes which give instructions about ventriloquism and ideas for stage acts. Also sell props and dummies.

 

706. Start a miniature brassware ornament of the month club. Or produce a mail order catalogue which has a very wide range of brass ornaments. 

 

707. Bring out a correspondence course about how to compose and write hymns. Advertise in the religious press. Also arrange for agents in foreign countries to sell the course.

 

708. Produce an encyclopaedia of self-improvement on audio cassettes. This should cover all subjects related to self-improvement and might be 20-50 cassettes in length. Sell in monthly instalments or as a complete course. 

 

709. Set up a market stall at a tourist town which sells all kinds of belts from the highly fashionable to the personalised. 

Work At Home Scams And How To Avoid Them

There are billions of people who want to earn a good income with minimal effort from the comfort of their house. With the rise of the internet, home based jobs and business opportunities are on the rise day by day. Though there are literally thousands of legitimate companies that provide real work at home jobs to people, there are still chances of scammers.

Since working at home is fascinating to just about all people, false job offers are prevalent on the internet. Some common work at home scams are more noticeable, such as envelope stuffing.

Work at home scams can take many forms. Most of the companies do not secure frequent salaried employment for the home based workers. They do not talk about how many hours you would need to work without earnings. Some others call for you to spend money on instructions before obtaining the job. Some companies demand paid training. Therefore work at home scams cost victims thousands of dollars and also valued time.

In order to avert being a dupe of work at home scammers, you should scrutinise the company before accepting any job. It is a fact that legitimate companies provide all the information in writing you require. Here are some tips work at home scams:

1. If you need to furnish personal data, avert giving it to an unknown person or company. Supply personal data only to the company that you can confirm is legitimate.

2. You can check out the company by typing their name of the company in the search box of the Better business Bureau. If there is any complaint about that company, avert contact with them.

3. There is no simple road to wealth. All jobs require some effort to earn a better wage. Thus, beware of companies that promise to make you rich overnight, on that point there is no such thing.

Re-shipping fraud is becoming a popular work at home scam. With this type of job, the home based worker needs to receive, repack and then mail the products to a foreign address. They are promised a significant amount of money. But the worker may not know that the merchandise was paid for with stolen credit cards.

The home based worker would therefore become a part of receiving and mailing of stolen goods without their knowledge. The worker gets the merchandise, repackages it with their own funds and are told they will be repaid on there next pay day, it gets worse!

They are then told, their wages will be via cashier’s check, but oddly it’s for far more then they are owed. The worker is told to deposit the check and send the difference to the employers offshore bank account. Eventually, the cashier’s check bounces and they owe their bank the amount of the whole check.

If you wish to choose a legitimate work at home job, then do not accept any job offer that promises to provide a high wage for a part time job. Some companies will promise you get rich quick systems. Remember only hard work and commitment can help you earn a great wage from home.

If at any time you are needed to pay for start up kits, then never send money to such companies. A legitimate company does not charge anything to hire you. If you are not certain about the legitimacy of a company, then ask for references.

For further free information on Legitimate Work At Home Jobs visit Free Work At Home Help

999 business ideas: 780-789

You don't dare click here…..

780. Commission artists to do original paintings of horses and horse racing. Set up a business which distributes and sells these paintings. For example your might display the paintings in a mobile showroom which visits horse events. 

 

781. Start a service which makes audio tape recordings of wedding ceremonies. Video cameras are either not allowed in church or produce poor pictures. However, discreet microphones can record the ceremony. Copies on cassette can be sent to friends and relatives at home and overseas. 

 

782. Set up a business which makes wooden dog kennels in kit form. Sell by mail order from ads in dog lovers publications or get them stocked at pets shops. 

 

783. With the permission of the appropriate authority, if needed, sell nuts in an open space of a city centre to passers-by and tourists for feeding the pigeons. Or, at a suitable seaside resort, sell bits of fish to holiday-makers who want to feed the seagulls. 

 

784. Set up an enterprise which manufactures hutches and coops for small animals, birds and poultry. Sell in kit or finished form by mail order. 

 

785. Produce a selection of posters which feature photographs of elaborate models. Mount these on display units and get model shops to show them.

 

786. Introduce a service to your area which releases lighter than air balloons at weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. Buy a cylinder of gas and turn out the balloons yourself. Offer potential clients a selection of quantities for different prices. 

 

787. Start a business which delivers bulky pet food direct to the public. Build up a round of regular customers. Call on houses throughout your area to sell your service. 

 

788. Begin a business which organises wildlife observation holidays. These might be based in a forest, for example, unspoiled coastal area or mountainous region. Produce a brochure and advertise in wildlife magazines.

 

789. Start a second-hand art bookstall and take it to antique markets or fairs. Obtain your stock by placing ads in art or book collectors magazines. State that you wish to buy collections of second-hand art books. 

999 business ideas: 770-779

You don't dare click here…..

770. Compile a guide to educational and leisure holiday courses. Have this published in book form and sell by mail order and through bookshops. This has the potential for a successful annual publication. 

 

771. Start a mail order firm which sells live insects, insectaria and other products related to keeping and breeding insects. Advice might also be given on what insects to keep. Your service might be called ‘Select an Insect’. Also publish a newsletter with a title like ‘Insect Keeper’. 

 

772. Design and produce a stock market investors log book. The purpose of this log book is to record and chart: the prices of individual shares, purchases, sales, dealing costs, profits and losses. Sell by mail order and direct mail to investors.

 

773. Produce a series of audio cassettes which contain quotes from the bible. The quotes on each cassette might be selected according to a theme. For example: How to meet bereavement and sorrow, how to meet the challenges of everyday life, and how to live in harmony with others. 

 

774. Design and produce animation kits for amateur film makers, each kit consists of numerous paper characters with moveable joints and a selection of background scenery. An amateur film maker can use a kit to make hobby and animation films. A kit might have, for example, a Wild West theme.

775. Pay a taxidermist to prepare, stuff and mount fish. Produce a mail order catalogue about your mounted fish. Advertise in angling publications. Also sell through gift shops and fishing tackle shops.

 

776. Start a mail order business which sells a wide range of dog products, for example: kennels, muzzles, shampoos, collars, ornaments, etc, all with a canine theme. 

 

777. Develop your dog grooming skills to a professional standard and open your own dog grooming parlour.

 

778. Use leather to make your own brand of top quality dog collars and leads. 

 

779. Become a pets portrait photographer. You have to prove to potential customers that your portraits are far superior to any amateur photographs. This can be done by displaying your work on a stall in a public place and selling your service to people who take an interest in your work. 

999 business ideas: 810-819

You don't dare click here…..

810. Start a service which organises the painting of murals in bedrooms, dining rooms, residential games rooms, etc. Advertise in up-market publications.

 

811. Call door-to-door and offer to take top quality passport photographs. Take the photographs in the customers house. Someone returns at a later date to deliver the photographs and collect payment. All family members might have their photos taken for passports, ID cards, bus and train passes, etc.

 

812. Start a production line which turns out hand-painted wooden egg cups for selling at shops. Or at a market stall paint personalised egg cups while the buyer waits.

 

813. Set up a caddie service for photographers, film makers and video makers. Hire out yourself, and others, to carry equipment for people in these groups. Place ads in suitable magazines to offer your service and send a leaflet to photographers who do location work for businesses.

 

814. Produce coloured acetate paper printed with painting by number designs for shops. The designs could include elaborate ‘sale’ signs and pictures with a Christmas theme. A shopkeeper sticks the acetate sheets to one side of a window and paints the design or picture on the other.

 

815. Begin a firm which produces and distributes a range of I’m in love’ products. These will include T-shirts, car stickers and badges.

 

816. Bring out a board game about buying and running a shop. The shop might be a newsagent or the game might involve several types of shops. Sell from ads in publications which list shops for sale.

 

817. Rent out model trains by post to railway enthusiasts. This service would allow enthusiasts to examine and use a wide range of trains. You could include an option for the customer to buy if they are particularly fond of any model.

 

818. Make simple footstools – up to twelve inches in height, for standing on to reach things from shelves. Sell through local shops. 

819. Contact the owners of houses with small letterboxes and offer to supply and install a large letterbox.

999 business ideas: 790-799

You don't dare click here…..

790. Publish a newsletter for those who want to make money dealing in antiques. In the newsletter highlight trends in the antiques business, give tips and hints about finding bargains, tell subscribers how to sell for the highest prices, etc.

 

791. Produce and distribute a video encyclopaedia about flowers, plants, trees or birds. This should present films about your chosen subject in alphabetical order. Try to get national and international distribution organised.

 

792. Sell by post information and advice about antiques. Provide clients with a confidential service which identifies and values antiques from descriptions and photographs. Also give advice about care, cleaning and storage of individual items. Produce leaflets about your service. 

 

793. Take a course in basketry. As you develop your skill slowly begin to sell what you make. When your work reaches a high enough standard, go into business full-time.

 

794. Start a service which provides businesses with a security conscious paper collecting, shredding and disposal service. Have impressive leaflets printed to promote your service and send them to businesses. 

 

795. Create a home-based debt collections service. Get a job with a debt collection agency and learn all you can before you strike out on your own. At first specialise in one type of trade and, if successful, expand into collecting  debts for other trades. 

 

796. Produce a series of audio cassettes about Confucianism. Have them stocked at health food shops and bookstores. Or sell by mail order from ads in off-beat publications. 

 

797. Design and manufacture business maternity clothes for businesswomen. Have them stocked in maternity and other women’s clothes shops and sell by mail order.

 

798. Make videos for people who want to sell their business. Each video is designed to show a business in its best light. In the video, interview customers, look at its standing in the community, etc. Your video should help achieve the highest possible sale price for the businesses whose sale you promote.

 

799. Put together a correspondence course about how to write jokes for profit. Base this on a method which is your own invention. For example, jokes are like the keys on a piano: there’s a limited number but they can be played in an infinity of combinations.

999 business ideas: 890-899

Click Here for your Silver Spoon

890. Design and make, or import, kimonos. Sell by post or get them stocked at suitable retailers. 

 

891. Start a mail order business which sells started kits for being an amateur musician. Put the kits together from products which are already on the market.

 

892. Begin a business which makes cushions of unusual shapes. For example: star shaped, heart shaped, horseshoe shaped, or round with a hole in the middle. 

 

893. Use the craft of embroidery to make attractive A-Z index cards. Instead of printed cards marked with

letters of the alphabet, you make the letters with embroidery. A card index system can now look luxurious. Package the cards and get them stocked at bookshops and stationers. 

 

894. Make either, commemorative wall-hanging tapestries or reproduce parts of the Bayeux tapestry. Use press advertising to sell these as highly collectible artefacts. 

 

895. Hire a hall at a city centre location – Saturday would be the best day – and sell women’s clothes at low prices.

 

896. In a tourist area open a market stall where you can print personalised T-shirts on the spot. Or start a mail order service which prints personalised T-shirts. If screen printing is used all the equipment can be made at home. Obtain and read books about screenprinting to get the know-how.

 

897. Start a postal service which hires out children’s educational videos. A selection of videos should be offered for each age group. Produce a catalogue about your videos and advertise your rental service in a wide range of publications.

 

898. Bring out a product which consists of lots of small coloured wooden cubes. These can be used over and over again to make mosaics. Have this product stocked at shops or sell by mail order. 

 

899. Design and make kits for making soft toy dolls. Place ads in craft magazines and sell by mail order.

999 creative biz ops: 820-829

You don't dare click here…..

820. Bring out a video which consists of a long recording of an open fire. By playing the video anyone can have the charm of an open fire in their home without the mess and the hassle.

 

821. Make peg abacuses. Each abacus is a wooden block which has rows of dots instead of beads. A row has one peg to indicate the value of that row. Package these and sell as either a children’s educational aid or a novelty for adults. 

            

822. Write and produce a correspondence course about how to start and build a successful craft business.

Subjects covered by the course might include: How to choose and design a winning product, how to sell craftwork, how to use other craft workers in your business, etc.

 

823. If you have a porch, hold a porch sale. Raise extra cash by displaying your unwanted items at your sale.

 

824. Set up a direct mail business which sells business books. This type of business offers the greatest potential for profit if you publish the books you sell. Do this by 1) Writing a book of your own; 2) Advertising for authors’ manuscripts; and 3) Contacting literary agents. 

 

825. Start a trade publication for small mail order businesses. Give the latest news and views relevant to small mail order businesses. Distribute by post.

 

826. Publish a newsletter for those who want to make money from manufacturing kits. Kit manufacturing provides a spectrum of opportunities. Deal with all aspects of starting a profitable kit making business.

 

827. Put together a correspondence course about how to become a professional investment adviser. Sell through ads in the financial press.

 

828. Learn the craft of woodcarving. When you become skilled earn money from carving popular first names in relief and turn these into brooches. Also turn out other carved jewellery such as pendants, bracelets and earrings.

 

829. Produce a selection of memory adoption cassettes. People often wish they had more pleasant childhood memories than they do. These cassettes would consist of recordings of pleasant memories. A listener can adopt these memories and pretend they are his or her own.


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