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The following article was published in our article directory on August 18, 2012.
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Home-Based Businesses- Why you Should Start One.

Article Category: Business

Author Name: James F Hughes

As strange as it may seem now, up until the industrial revolution of the 19th century, the home was the center of economic life for most people. One thinks of the various artisans and craftsmen, in small towns and villages scattered throughout New England, all working in shops attached to their homes. The industrial revolution, of course, caused a concentration of capital, and people, in major urban areas to facilitate large- scale manufacturing. Interestingly enough, even in the aftermath of the industrial revolution, home-based businesses continue to be a mainstay of the United States' economy. In fact, in a study produced for the Small Business Administration, and released in 2004, the authors asserted that "...Home-based businesses, which make up roughly half of all U.S. businesses, are of particular interest because of their potential as a wellspring of economic activity...." (Beale, 2004) Although major corporations produce the lion's share of our gross domestic product, home-based businesses are still very important: Given the advent of the internet, one might well anticipate that home-based businesses will come to play an even larger role in the economy of the future. In this brief article, I will discuss some of the reasons that you may want to start a home-based business. I will have a word or two about choosing the right business (or, more precisely, some things to avoid when choosing). Finally, I will touch on several issues relating to the accounting and business management aspects of a home business, as well as consider several approaches to marketing your home-based business. To begin: Why should anyone want a home-based business?
There are many reasons for considering a home-based business, regardless of your situation in life. Although this is not an exhaustive list, here are some very good ones to start. First there is the trade-off between money and time; when you work for someone else, you trade your time for money and end up with too little of both! Next consider the situation for young families. In order for both parents to work, which is often unavoidable, some arrangement has to be made for day care; the extra income from both spouses working is depleted with the extra expense of day care. Working away from home entails some commuting time and expense. According to an article in The Economist, the average commute time in the United States is 50 minutes a day. (R.A., 2011) In addition to the time lost, there is the expense of transportation. A final reason for having a home-based business is to have a "plan-B" in uncertain times. Whatever your time of life, young parent to retired senior citizen, everyone needs to have an additional source of income to: pay off debt, save for retirement, prepare for your kid's college, or supplement retirement income. The right home-based business can handle all of the above and more. This brings us to the question "How do I choose the right business?"
For some of us the choice of a business is pretty easy, in my case (I am an accountant) an accounting practice was logical. For others, any area personal of expertise and interest may supply the impetus; music teacher, photographer, graphic designer, or home remodeler. Finally, if none of these sorts of businesses appeal to you; you may want to look at one of the many home-based business opportunities that are constantly being advertised. In order to choose wisely please keep a few points in mind. The first and probably most important consideration is the reputation and stability of the company promoting the opportunity. If the company has not been in business long, proceed with caution. Although internet research may uncover problems with a particular company, don't rely too much on what you read on-line; positive reviews may even have been written by the company's owner. Look for a company that has been in business for a number of years. A company's membership in the Better Business Bureau is also reassuring. Another consideration is how much of an initial investment is required to start the business. Unless the business is a franchise, any initial investment should be minimal; only pay significant money for assets such as software, specialized equipment, or a franchise. If the home-based business is hyped as requiring little or no work on your part, or if the business is promoted as a way to become wealthy in short order; run the other way! A side note, anytime I see promotional materials for a business opportunity that feature happy people standing on outrageous yachts, I think "scam." A final consideration in selecting the right business is your own disposition and skill set. As an example, unless you are naturally outgoing and can handle rejection, don't become involved in anything that requires cold calls to sell product; you will not make the calls and you will feel like a failure, or you will make the calls and be really unhappy. Once you have decided on a home based business it is time to think about managing the business.
Proper management of any business requires attention to several areas including accounting/bookkeeping, taxes, regulatory compliance, planning/ budgeting, and marketing. When your business is starting out, unless you have a complicated business like manufacturing, a simple paper and pencil or Excel accounting system should suffice. As your business grows, you should consider transitioning to a computerized accounting system such as Quick Books. The important point is that you must maintain adequate records of your revenues and expenditures to satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service, as well as many state agencies (sales tax is an example). Whatever system you use (this may sound self-serving coming from an accountant, however) avoid the temptation to save a few dollars on your taxes by using Turbo Tax. At least at tax time, spend a little money to have an accountant go over your books and prepare your taxes; you will be dollars ahead in the long run. A quick example, I have a client who started a small business and used Turbo Tax for his first two year's taxes. He came to me when the first nasty letter from the IRS showed up. To make a long story short, when I finally straightened out his penny-pinching Turbo Tax mess, the IRS sent him a check for the $3,000 he had overpaid while saving himself an income tax preparation fee! As important as proper record keeping is for a home-based business owner, regulatory compliance can be just as important and more difficult to accomplish. Several key points to consider include the following. First, do you have employees? If so, you must be fully up to speed on payroll taxes and workers compensation requirements. Also, be certain that you know the distinction between an employee and an independent contractor; classifying an employee as an independent contractor will save a few dollars in taxes (quite a few, actually) however, when the IRS finds out about it you will have a really bad day. Depending on the business that you start your regulatory compliance can be very complex. If you are not able to devote the time to fully understanding the requirements, pay someone to take care of this for you. A final general business management consideration is goal setting, planning and budgeting; as the old saying goes "Any road will get you there when you don't know where you are going." To be successful in business, you need to have a plan of what you want to accomplish, with at least basic time lines built in. Tied closely to your business plan should be a budget, preferably by month. A basic budget will take the form of an income statement and be used to track revenue and expenses against your plan. A quick example will illustrate the process. Your goal is to increase sales by 10% a month each month for the next year. In order to reach that goal you have planned to spend a certain amount each month on advertising as well as add some additional labor to improve customer service. Your budget would then be built to reflect the 10% increase in sales each month and the incremental advertising and labor expenses. At the end of each month, you would compare your actual sales, advertising, and labor to plan and use the comparison to determine whether to continue or modify your original plan. At some point, after you have everything else established the subject of how to advertise your business will come up.
Advertising, or more precisely marketing, is critical to the success of your new business; unless customers know about you they will not buy your goods or services. Marketing is changing rather dramatically as the world moves to the internet. According to one recent estimate there are currently 239 million internet users in the United States alone. Incidentally, the number of people estimated to be using mobile devices to access the internet is 113 million. The old model of marketing; Yellow Pages, radio, newspaper, and television, is a "shotgun approach; most of the people who encounter your message are not looking for your service. Internet marketing, by comparison, is a surgically- precise method when properly executed: It is also significantly less expensive, if you know what you are doing. The beauty of using internet marketing is that the customer finds you at the point when they need your product or service. The starting point for any internet marketing program is a website. Unfortunately, most websites are little more than, to paraphrase Gerald Van Yerxa, the CEO of Website Marketing Pros, "on line catalogues." Many business owners, I must confess that I have done this myself, use conventional advertising to drive traffic to their website; counterproductive and expensive. The goal is to have a website that is properly designed and search engine optimized (SEO). When your website is working as it should, you will land on the front page of a Google search for the key words that are important to your business without relying on pay for click advertising. In order to optimize your website you have two choices, learn how to do it yourself (and spend hours maintaining it) or, find a reliable company to do the work for you. A note of caution here, many companies will build a pretty looking website; few actually know how to do search engine optimization.
In conclusion, a home-based business offers many advantages as either a supplement to, or replacement for, a conventional job. When you have successfully launched your own business from home you will enjoy the many advantages of being your own boss. Best of success in your endeavor and may God bless you richly.

Beale, H. B. (2004). Home-Based Business. Washington, D.C.: Microeconomic Applications, Inc.
R.A. (2011, October 16). How long are American commutes? The Economist.

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