The Global Home-Based Business Phenomena
Published August 25, 2009 | 
There has been a business phenomena quietly taking place the past 10 years: home-based businesses, with approximately 14.2 million U.S. businesses, and several million more across the global economy being run from home, why? Because of the availability of cutting-edge technology, entrepreneurs are realizing they don’t have to sacrifice family and productivity to profits in the process of successfully operating a business, and caught up in the downsizing forced by the current global recession, many have been able to recognize opportunities created by the same recession.
The negative regards attached to home-based businesses for years have disappeared, and in many states, home-based business is now considered legitimate & respectable, with the greatest change in home-based businesses the past decade being the broad range of business choice, and location hasn’t put a limit on the number choices, as a large variety of businesses, from all types of industries, can be run successfully from home.
Starting a home-based business can be a complicated undertaking and the following checklist covers the most important points that you will need to consider, and will help you stay focused as you try and get your business off the ground.
1. Create a business plan. This is the most important thing you can do before you start your business, and it can’t be emphasized enough that even if you are the only one that will ever read it, it is critically important to plan out your business in a clear, concise and well thought-out business plan including the timeline of important milestones you hope to accomplish, and many of the following checklist items will be included in your business plan.
2. Establish your business entity. You will need to decide if you want to run your business as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation, and be sure to take into consideration your personal assets situation and discuss your options with a professional before deciding which type of legal business structure is right for you.
3. Get your sales tax certificate. Make sure you are in compliance with your state’s laws and get a sales tax certificate, which is also important if you want to receive special pricing from suppliers.
4. Check with your local zoning commission. You do not want your business shut down prematurely due to zoning laws you need to make sure you can legally run your business from your home before you put in too much time and effort.
5. Purchase insurance. Determine what kind of insurance you need, and purchase this before you actually open your new business, as commercial liability issues are not something to taken lightly.
6. Organize your office. A well-organized office space leads to a successful business, so make sure that your office is in a place in your home where you will be able to focus on running your business with minimal distractions.
7. Purchase your equipment. Make sure that you purchase any required office equipment ahead of time.
8. Set up your domain name and website, any social networking platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), or eBay seller account, before you start your business. You will need to purchase a domain name and set up your website so that it is ready to go live when you open for business, and by planning your social media market strategy concurrently with starting your business, you will be able to include your domain name and social networking platforms on your promotional material.
9. Make your schedule. Even if you do not want to work 9 to 5, it is critical for you to create a schedule that follows somewhat normal business hours to ensure that your customers can reach you, since they may not be aware that your business is in your basement and you have to get your kids to soccer practice.
10. Organize your inventory. If you plan on stocking merchandise in your home, you will need to make sure it is well-organized to facilitate a quick turnaround time, make sure that they are easily accessible and free from dirt and debris, and if you are a smoker, make sure you store your inventory in a smoke-free area.
Finally, the fact that you operate your business out of your home doesn’t set limits on the amount of success you can reach, as only you will be the greatest influence on the levels of success you ultimately achieve, so be sure and allow for business growth as a component of the financial projections contained in your business plan, along with a thorough analysis of your target market, and you will greatly increase your chances of Entrepreneurial success as the global economy starts the long process of recovery.
Not Sure Yet if Social Networking is for You
Published August 14, 2009 | 
So you have been looking into LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs to try and figure out what the importance of social networking is to economic development organizations, municipal organizations and businesses, and you are still trying to determine if you need to take that first step towards the development of social media technology for yourself and your organization.
Of course, there are many people that have embraced social media, find it a lot of fun, and have connected with hundreds of others that they would not have thought possible just a few months ago, and they represent the majority of users and members of all social media platforms, which leaves the remainder that are still trying to figure out if it will really help in growing their specific organization or business.
There are a few good reasons that indicate why all businesses and organizations should begin using social media platforms if they have not already:
- Social networking sites have become the easiest way that people can share information about your organization, as you can easily upload any of your presentations, pictures, documents, and videos that people will be more than willing to share with their friends and associates.
- A critically important reason is that social networking sites is a great way to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) and rankings of your organization’s website, since every link that points back to the organization’s website adds to the improvement
of the websites page rankings, and organizations should most definitely take advantage by including links to their website in other posts and any of their social networking pages. - As a source of gathering information, social networking can be used to both gather and share customer feedback, and in the future, links to social networking sites will become a standard piece of information along with phone and fax numbers as ways to communicate with any company or organization, and in addition to gathering customer feedback, social networking platforms can be used to share this information, because customers can quickly find and read recommendations from their friends, associates and peers.
Finally, one of the questions that most comes up, is how much time is required for social networking? It really all depends upon what you define as your social networking goals, at a minimum, you only need to check in a few times a week to add comments, pictures, 
videos or other documents and information, and to quantify the time it takes on a daily basis, for those who want to find new friends or generate leads, one or more hours per day will typically be they average time spent, and people that are most involved with social networking and add least 10 comments per day, will of course spend more time.
Now that you realize social networking is for your organization or business, rest assured that it is not too late to start taking advantage of the benefits social media technology offers and can bring to you in greater awareness and connectivity with your market, the first step to starting the social networking process is developing a well thought-out and focused strategic plan of the results you want and expect, and how you are going to accomplish them, so what are you waiting for, get started planning.