-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 138 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS
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If you want to get rich overnight then buy a lottery ticket, but
if you simply want to get rich you need a plan. I'm sure that many
of you have an idea that could make you millions, but most of you
won't be patient enough to cash in. If you're the boss, it's your
responsibility to come up with a clear, concise plan of action
that will lead you to your goals. When we first started working
at home we were holding down jobs outside the home as well. We
took over 6 months designing, writing, planning, and testing our
system before we even thought about going public with it. Although
we didn't see a dime of profit for over 6 months, the time we put
in over those 6 months was the key to our success now. Don't
be greedy, don't rush things, take your time and success will
come.


FEATURED ARTICLE
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10 Essential Ingredients of a Business!
by: Simon Baxter

1. *Equipment*

Yes I realize this appears pretty obvious, but I
have come across people who have not really
thought this out thoroughly, in order to get an
Internet Business of the ground you need as
follows:

a) A computer (make sure this is not one that the
kids can get hold of)

b) Reliable Internet Access via a modem, ASDL or
ISDN.

c) Telephone and or Fax.

2. *Desire*

If you want something enough you will do almost
anything to get it.

You need to be filled with adrenalin and
excitement for your ideas to succeed.

3. *Motivation, dedication and persistence*

Trying to get an Internet business of the ground
will certainly test your determination.

You need to be able to keep going even when the
going gets tough.

Would YOU give up if:

Your web site suddenly self destructs?

Your visitors evacuate in droves?

You lose money due to some unscrupulous dealings?
(Not on your part I hasten to add:)

Someone steals your business ideas and web site
design?

You receive a stream of complaints?

You suddenly get a bad dose of flu?

and many more problems that you are sure to
encounter.

4. *Time*

You certainly can earn a modest extra income
working weekends and the odd evenings, but to
realize a greater profit and to be able to rely on
your Internet income to become your main source of
income, you will need to dedicate a great deal
more extra time especially in the beginning when
you are trying to get your ideas of the ground.

5. *A product or service to sell*

You need to develop a product or service for a
niche market, this can be by way of your own
product or service or you can sell as an affiliate
for other Companies, who will pay you commission
on the volume of sales that you make.

6. *A business plan*

Even if you do not need to borrow money to fund
your business it is always a good idea to put
together a business plan, so that you can track
whether your purchases and sales are following
your plan to make profits or whether you will have
to re-think things through.

If you do need outside funding for your business
you will need to include in your business plan
such things as -

Sidebar------------------------------------------
(Please note the following is for professional
businesses that require outside funding but it is
still a good idea to prepare a cut down version of
a business plan to find out if your idea will bear
fruit in way of profit - Also it is quite common
for new businesses to lose money in the first
year, break even in the second year and head for
profit in the third year)
End sidebar -------------------------------------

a) Details about yourself, your product, the type
of people that will be interested in your product
and how you will go about marketing your product
or service.

b) Projected Profit and Loss Forecast - this
should include your estimated sales less all
estimated purchases, utility charges, labor costs,
packaging, delivery, office space charges,
interest charges on any loans etc. (A one year
forecast should suffice)

c) Projected Cash flow Forecast - this should
include the money you expect to receive in each
month less all expenses out for the month. (Again
a years cash flow should suffice)

d) Projected Balance Sheet - this should include
the values of ALL your asset's less ALL of your
liabilities such as outstanding loans, tax bills,
Hire Purchases, the balance outstanding from your
bought ledger etc.

e) (For Outside funded businesses only) A trial
balance sheet - this proves that your figures do
in fact actually work (not necessary for a small
home business).

Any good accountant can prepare all of these
figures for you from figures you provide. Also it
is just worth mentioning here that Banks, Loan
Companies and Business Enterprise schemes are well
aware that all figures are guesstimates, but it
proves to the source that you have in fact thought
out you business ideas thoroughly.

7. *A Domain name and web host*

Even if you are selling on behalf of Companies as
an affiliate, you will need your own domain name
and web site host to be taken seriously.

8. *Capital*

Depending on what it is that you want to achieve
you will need anything from $200 available to you
for your web site, product or service development,
to purchase your Affiliate Products (I am a great
believer in testing anything you intend to resell,
so that you know the benefits and any flaws in the
product or service you are selling)and a small or
large monthly advertising budget.

9. *Online Marketing knowledge*

It is advisable to read everything you can get
your hands on relevant to Internet Marketing,
visit our web site regularly and read up on
everything in our marketing section and you will
also find valuable content within the other pages
of our site.

10. *Contacts*

Build your own contact database either by joining
Opt In Email programs or by publishing your own
Ezine and adding subscribers by all the methods
that are available to you (without SPAMMING).

I hope the above has given you some idea of what
to do to start an online business. If it is only
a little extra income you require each month then
you do not have to take my suggestions too
seriously, but if it is financial security and
freedom that you are after, you must enter into an
online business in much the same way as an offline
business. There really are NO GET RICH SCHEMES,
not honest ones anyway:)

------------------------------------------------------
Simon Baxter is an Internet Marketer and reviewer
both online and offline. He is a peoples man and
derives great pleasure from helping people reach
their goals.

His web site *Affiliates Resource Center*
helps affiliates to do just that.
http://www.netincomesite.com


DOWNLOAD OF INTEREST
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The download of the week this week only applies to Windows 2000 and
Windows NT users. If you haven't already, please download the Code
Red Virus Patch from Microsoft's website. Although the media has
made it appear that only web servers are at risk, the Code Red
virus attacks corporate networks, web hosting servers, and personal
computer systems with equal force. If you don't think that the
Code Red Virus is something you have to worry about you couldn't
be more wrong. It is true that the original variant of this virus
won't do much damage to your PC, but you can be sure that the
copycat viruses currently circulating certainly will. Do yourself
and the net in general a favor, if you're running Windows NT or
2000 get the Code Red Virus at http://www.microsoft.com now!


WHAT ARE THEY THINKING
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As you all realize, banks are generally only open 5 days a week
from 9am-4pm, post offices are generally only open 5 days a week
from 7am-5pm so why does everyone think that web run, home based
businesses are open 24/7? I'll get an email at 4am from a client
and another at 6am wondering why I haven't yet replied? What in
the heck are these people thinking? We make it clear that we
work from home and that we are a small operation but for some
reason clients expect responses 24/7, even on holidays! The
bottom line, if a person can't go to the bank, or can't go to
the post office, they shouldn't expect an immediate response
from the average small business owner. If the banks and the post
offices don't have the money to staff their offices 24/7 why
in the world do some people think that the average small
business owner does?


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