Millions of people, all over the country, dream of starting their own business from home, but this process is a long and trying one, and there is no guarantee that it will work out at the end of the day. So, where to begin learning about how to start a home base business? You begin by determining what kind of skills you have that would enable you to make profits from them. Do you have special qualifications such as accounting certifications, or do you simply want to sell products online? Do you want to become a freelance writer, or would you like to make a living visiting patients as a physiotherapist? Once you have determined what it is you are going to do, you can then move on to the finer points of starting a home based business.Researching your New BusinessBefore you can quit your job and begin working from home, you will need to make sure that you know exactly what type of business you will be running and what you will need to do to run it properly. You can start out with the location of the business; is it a viable option to run the business from home? Do you have enough space to set up an office and will you need to accommodate clients in your home office? If there is not enough space within your home, you might want to consider hiring a separate office that will meet all of your business-related needs.The next factor that you will need to consider is what you are going to be selling. Selling services, instead of products, means that you will not need storage space, and you might not need to invest a lot of capital into the startup.Saving the Capital to start your own BusinessStarting your own business from home can be a very exciting prospect, but you should not convince yourself that you will be making tons of money within the first few days; in fact, it might take up to six months to be able to support yourself on the profits of a new business, and you will need to make sure that you have enough capital to get through the leaner months. During the first six months, you will not only need to have enough capital to pay your personal bills; you will also need enough capital to run your business during this time, and this will take some planning.Advertising and Expanding your BusinessIt is important not to get over excited once your business starts bringing in profits, especially when you begin thinking about advertising and expanding your business. Many startup businesses fail because they spend too much, too quickly on expanding and advertising their business. Although these are integral aspects to consider, especially if you want to grow your business and increase your profits, but you need to make sure that you take a sufficient amount of time to determine whether it is the right time to widen the marketing budget and expand only when your company is ready to take on the extra expense of this process.Learning how to start a home base business is not difficult; you simply need to be prepared for the task ahead, and this comes with a lot of research, sufficient capital and the dedication to work long and hard to make your dreams come true.
What Are The Benefits From A Home Based Business?
Job security is a thing of the past, in this fast and furious world that we find ourselves in. Keeping up the pace at which we work is a challenge, and the pressure to succeed escalates daily. We feel out of control, working 50, 60 or more hours per week. Meeting deadlines, long hours, daily travel, which for some can be extensive, competition even angry bosses can all be ‘in a day’s work’! And that’s while you have a job. But for how long? Jobs aren’t easy to come by, and they are also not as easy to keep. Gone are the days when you had the same job until retirement. Now is the time to be looking for different directions and careers. Now is the time to take matters into your own hands, and work for yourself.Home based businesses are great. If you choose wisely, and have good management and leadership, you can have huge amounts of success, and working for yourself instead of a boss is very rewarding.Here are eight exciting benefits to owning a home based business.
Low overhead costs
No boss, no employees
You get back control of your life
You work when and where you want
You decide how much you earn, not your boss
Personal growth
More opportunity
Freedom
Even if you need to continue working at your current job, there is no reason why you can’t run a home business part-time, and the best part is, it can be earning a second income for you. Plenty of people started their home business as a part-time option, and have now resigned their jobs and work from home full-time, and enjoying enormous success. It’s very possible.So what do you look for in a home business:
Low set up costs
Strong company with integrity
Full training and support
Solid compensation plan
Residual income
Keep these five basic components in mind when looking for your business concept. They cover the most important factors you require when looking for a good business, and there are plenty to choose from. In fact, working from home is becoming the business model of the future. It’s an ideal source of income for anyone. That’s right. Anyone can run a home business, and with the right training and a desire to succeed, they will make a good income from it. If you choose a business with a compensation plan that includes residual income, the opportunities are even greater. Residual income is becoming more popular than superannuation.The 21st century is the age of technology, and we have the ability to profit from this great era in which we live and work. We should be making the most of every opportunity, and taking control of life, future, and financial situations. Making the decision to own a home based business is strong positive step toward a very successful future and lifestyle.
Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions
Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:
An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.
If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.
Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.
After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:
Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.
A Case Study
Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.
Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.
Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.
I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.
There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.
According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?
As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.
When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.
While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.
So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:
The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.
Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.
If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.
When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.
And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.