Archive for Home Business Thoughts
Congress Creating Hardships for Home Based Businesses
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For the record, I’m neither a Republican nor Democrat. I’ve been a registered Independent since I was 18. I’ve always voted for a person, not a party. And yes, I’ve voted for D’s and R’s both.
Starting and running a business is difficult. There are new challenges everyday and there’s always uncertainty. That’s true whether you have a home based business or one run out of an office somewhere. During the last 18 months, Congress has added to that uncertainty and is making it much more difficult for those of us who run businesses.
How so? Lets start with the healthcare bill. One of the reasons for passing the bill was to reduce costs. And yet, what we’re hearing from across the country is that premiums are going up 20-30%. That money comes right out of our bottom line. And it’s not that most of us will get anything more for the higher premium.
And we get hit a second way. Not only do our higher premiums come out of our pocket, our customers may have disposable income, so they can buy less from us.
There’s also uncertainty over Cap and Trade. Economists say that if passed, this bill will increase all energy costs. Since we work at home, that impacts us more directly than the person who works in an office and can adjust their thermostat during the day to save on costs. Will this pass? I don’t know, but Congress continues to discuss it without making a decision.
The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. Congress has known about this for month, but has done nothing about it. Will taxes rise next year? I don’t know, but my point is that Congress is talking instead of doing.
So what’s the point? With all the unknowns and the uncertainty caused by Congress, it makes it harder to run our businesses. Setting prices becomes hard, especially if you have long term contracts. Deciding how to invest in your business becomes hard because you don’t know what will happen to your customers buying pattern. Money you spend today won’t be available as a reserve for tomorrow. If you guess wrong, you may miss an opportunity, or might even go out of business.
And remember, this impacts not only you, but your customers. The more uncertain they are about their economic future, the more incentive they have to save instead of spend.
What can you do? If you have a home based business, contact your elected representatives. Find out how they intend to vote? Find out when they expect to make some decisions that will take away some of our uncertainty. Push them. Get involved. Why? Because the health and success of your home based business is at stake.
Have a Home Business that Excites You
Posted by: | CommentsA friend invited me to a networking event for a college alumni group. I didn’t attend that college, but my friend said they like to use the event to connect with other graduates and meet new people. So I grabbed some business cards, the directions to the event, and I was off.
When I walked into the room, the first person I ran into was someone I’d met years ago but had lost contact with. In fact, it was the person who designed and printed business cards and stationary for one of our businesses. It was nice re-connecting and hearing how her business had grown and evolved. During the conversation she was so enthusiastic, it was hard to get a chance to speak. She has had some challenges, but it was clear she was enjoying the business.
After a few minutes, I moved on and continued to make my way around the room. I saw a few familiar faces, but most of the people were new. One woman I met was from Peru. She had studied here in the States at a culinary school and was now selling deserts from her homeland. She had a big smile on her face as she talked about the product and being able to use what she’d learned in school.
Near the end of the event I was chatting with the person who had invited me. The crowd had thinned out and everything was winding down. As we talked, we saw a man standing nearby. He had a plate with snacks, but was standing alone. Since this was a networking event, my friend and I decided meet him.
The conversation started with the usual. "Hello. What’s your name? I’m Philip and this is Eric. What do you do?" He said he worked in the family’s real estate business.
As we talked with him about the business and his role in it, his responses were lackluster. There was no energy or passion in his responses. My friend asked him what he had studied in school and how did that relate to the work he was doing. He said he’d studied in the hospitality industry, hotels and restaurants, but that it had nothing to do with his current work. His work is simply a job.
Then he said what he really wanted was to have a Bed and Breakfast. In that moment, his voice picked up. There was a brightness in his eyes, and his whole physiology changed. He stood up straighter and looked more vibrant.
He may be good at his "job", but it isn’t feeding his soul. His passion isn’t being fed and it shows in how he spoke to us during the first part of the conversation.
One day I hope he gets his dream. I suspect it will be a delightful place to visit.
We are creatures of emotions. When we do something because we have to or we think we should, the job may get done, but at what price?
When we do something because we want to, and because we have a passion for it, we feel good about. Apply this to the home business you choose.
If you don’t love what you’re planning to sell, don’t start the business. You’re only exchanging a job you hate for a business you aren’t enthusiastic about.
Success a passion go together. And you spend too much time working in and on your home business not to love it.
Lessons for Your Home Business from Bernie Maddoff
Posted by: | CommentsYou’ve probably heard about Bernie Maddoff. He just went to jail for creating a 50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme and will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
In case you don’t know what a Ponzi scheme is, here’s a quick overview:
Investors are enticed to put up money based on the promise of above average returns. The promoter gives a good sounding story about how the returns will be generated. People hear about the rate of return and want to join.
The reality is there is no investment. The first investors get their money from the investments made by later investors. Eventually the scheme, or pyramid, collapses.
Bernie’s story made all the newspapers but the truth is this process gets played out everyday in a much smaller way.
Lets say you get a credit card and you make a few purchases. When it comes time to make the payment, you only make the minimum. You keep that up, paying the minimum payment each month. Then something happens, maybe you lose your job or your expenses go up. You don’t have the money to make even the minimum payment.
Fortunately, you have another credit card that allows for cash advances. You take an advance and make a payment on the first card.
Next month, still no money so there’s another advance. Only this month you now have two payments – 2 credit cards.
You can see where this is going. Unless you increase your income or reduce your expenses, you’ll never catch up. In which case, I hope you know a good bankruptcy attorney.
Two lessons from all of this:
First: Be sure you manage your debt appropriately so you don’t end up in this situation.
Second: The US government is giving away billions as part of a stimulus plan. Next year’s deficit is estimated at 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS. Estimates for the next 10 years show budget deficits every year … Even with significant tax increases. My reading of this says the only stimulus available to small business is the one we create for ourselves.
NOW is the time to start your own business.
NOW is the time to set it up properly.
NOW is the time to be sure it’s run for extremely high profits and sustainability.
The government may be there to help us out, but I’d rather be prepared to provide my own bailout.
How about you?
Optical Illusions in Life and Business
Posted by: | CommentsWhat you see, may not be true.
Here in Las Vegas we have a wonderful Magician (Illusionist) named Lance Burton. We’ve seen his show many times. He’s so successful that his contract continues to be renewed and he gets to thrill sold out audiences each night. Like every good magician, he refuses to tell how he does his tricks. Each time I go to his show, I sit in awe. How the heck does he make things disappear?
There’s another famous act here – Penn & Teller. You’ve probably heard of them. (Teller is the one who never speaks.) One of the differences between them and Lance Burton is that part of their act includes a description of how they do their illusions. Of course, that makes the audience even more alert and hopeful of figuring out how they do the things they don’t explain. I still can’t figure out how they catch a bullet in their teeth or any of the other spectacular stunts they pull.
What does this have to do with having a successful life or a successful business?
An illusionist uses our assumptions, beliefs, and perceptions against us. They get us to “see” and “believe” what they want us to, even if it’s not true. And isn’t life like that? We “see” an event or situation from our perspective and believe it to be a certain way. Yet if we look at it from a different perspective, it often appears very different.
What we realize is that much of life is an optical illusion. It’s not really as we see it or how we have interpreted it.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were someone like Penn & Teller who could tell us how something really works?
Stimulus or Self Help? Wait and See or Home Based Business Now?
Posted by: | CommentsRegardless of your political affiliation, a general consensus of the recent stimulus package is that it will be a while before the average American will feel a benefit.
I’m reminded of the phrase, "If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me" – I can wait for the stimulus to get to me, or I can take action to help myself.
Personally, I prefer to take action. In this time of uncertainty, one of the best actions to take is to have your own business. Especially one from your home so you can control more of the variables associated with having a business. For example, no long term lease or employees to worry about.
If you have the resources (time, money, etc), now is a great time for a full time business. But even a part time business has advantages. You can make some money to supplement your income, or it can be a safety net in case you lose your full-time job.
I don’t know about you, but I prefer to rely on myself and not the politicians.