Start Your Business!

Start Your Own Business

Where do big companies come from?  In most cases, from home.  The giant consumer goods producer Procter and Gamble started off as a humble home business; Microsoft started from a garage; so did Google.  When it comes to starting a business, it’s all about taking action.

Now you don’t need to aspire to become a giant company owner (although there’s absolutely nothing wrong if you do).  A small home-based business can generate significant revenue.  If you can generate a steady second-stream income for your household in the amount of say $50,000, that would certainly make your household considerably better off, wouldn’t it?

Now here’s something to consider: a survey by Money magazine found that one out of five home-based businesses generate an annual gross income between $100,000 and $500,000.  Some home-based business owners gross more than $1 million every year working from home. 

You think that home-based business is rare?  Guess again.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 18 million home-based businesses in the United States, generating revenues somewhere around $427 billion every year.  More than half of the people running these businesses do so on a part-time bases.

You should really start to seriously consider joining the band wagon.

There are all sort of things you can do to generate additional income.  Utilize your hobby or what you believe you have experience doing.  That can be a service (scrapbooking, editing resumes, or translating documents), a product that you create (jewelry, cookies, or organic cleaning products) or you can buy something and resell it.  You can turn your hobby into business.  You can even take the skills that you use in your daily job and offer them on a freelance basis.

So here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Make a Decision

It all starts here.  Decide that you’re ready: “I’m ready to run my own business.”  Find a spot in your house.  Pick a day on your calendar.

Your first day in business can be focused on finding resources on how to start a business and start reading them.  As a matter of fact, you should spend more than one day doing your research.  This website has provided several resources that you can choose from.  Use them!

Step 2: Pick an Area

Maybe right this minute you have no idea what to do.  That’s fine.  Keep looking; just don’t take a decade doing it.  It’s all about making decision.  The best place to start is, of course, your hobby.  Do you scrapbook? Do you make cards?  Do you collect train models?  In this day and age, you can find a niche market in almost anything.  Use your hobby as a business idea.

Step 3: Get Help

With so many resources out there, you don’t need to do everything by yourself.  Visit some of the websites listed here (click the Link menu).  Check out some of the blogs as well.  You can learn a lot from those who’ve tried before you and succeeded.  Remember, 18 million home-based businesses are operating in the US alone.

Step 4: Make it Legal

Now this is the part that often deters many aspiring entrepreneurs; don’t let it!  Your government WANTS you to run your own business and have set up tremendous incentives for you.  In the US, there are basically three legal structures available: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.  For more information on this subject, go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov and request Publication #334, “Tax Guide for Small Business.”  The Small Business Association SBA provides a “Starting Your Business” section in their website that can give everything you need to know about the legal aspects of starting a business.  Just click the Link menu and visit their website.

So there you go.  One last food for thought: experts believe that the next wave of millionaires is likely to be dominated by small-business entrepreneurs, especially those with home-based business.  You can be one of them.

Let’s set one thing straight: starting your own business is no get-rich-quick scheme.  But if you have determination and dogged commitment, your business can be something you’re proud of.  Your hobby can make you rich.

Praise for "Hobby for Profit"

"If you're looking to turn your hobby into immediate and ongoing money, you need the "Hobby for Profit" program. You'll get a step-by-step plan that starts you on your way to profitability in less than 30 days....all you need is an idea and the willingness to follow the advice.  It's easy to understand and it really works. Highly recommended!

Nick Nichols, CEO and Founder

eBiz Marketing Systems, Inc.