What Kind of Business Can You Run From Home? Characteristics of a Successful Home-Based Business

What kind of business can you run from home? The truth is that with the power of the internet today, just about any business can be run from the comfort of your home. The list can and will include everything from selling automotive parts nationwide using an online store to providing a dog walking service in your local community.

Instead of asking yourself, what kind of business can you run from home? You should really be asking yourself, what kind of characteristics do successful home businesses have in common? That is what you really want to know because that kind of information will afford you the best opportunity for success in what ever business you decide to pursue.

In this article we'll be taking a closer look at some of these characteristics so that you'll be better informed and be better able to make more informed decisions as to what type of business you would like to start from your home. So let's get started.

There are many examples of home based businesses that you'll be able to find on the web today, but how many of these businesses can you really be successful pursuing? The truth is, not very many. It's a well known fact, that well over 90% of all online businesses fail within their first year. But don't let that discourage you because there are some legitimate home based businesses out there that you can be very successful with. Here are some of the characteristics that these businesses have in common:

High Earning potential

Having a high earning potential and/or return on investment (ROI) is critical towards any business being successful. It's one of the reasons why we chose to create our own business in the first place, to make money. Every successful business has a detailed plan on how the profits are to be made and allocated to everyone participating in the business.

Affordable Price

How much it costs to get into the business can greatly determine the success or failure of the business. This cost should include everything you need to become operational. Successful businesses often have a price point that is both attractive and affordable to all their potential customers.

Strong Customer Support

Every successful business has some type of support system set up for their customers. Whether it's through a call center, ticket system, chat, or having a dedicated mentor or coach, having a good support system in place is a key element towards the success of any business.

Hassle-free Guarantee

Having a hassle-free guarantee is another feature that is found in most successful businesses. This guarantee removes the "risk factor" that a potential customer may have towards making a purchase. It also tells the customer that the business stands behind its product.

High Growth potential

The ability to grow and evolve is another characteristic that is present in all successful businesses. Without the ability to grow, a business will soon fall behind its competition and eventually stagnate within its own field. Successful businesses live and grow on the cutting edge of its own particular niche.

Finding the right business to get into is a very important decision for anyone that's looking to start their own home based business. Use the above information as a guideline to better evaluate and compare any business opportunity you may be interested in. And always be sure to do your homework and your research before making any long-term or costly decisions.

Thinking With a Business Head

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Mindset plays a pivotal role within all walks of life. Having the right mindset is important to achieving success within any working career, especially within business. Having a good business head can actually make a difference between failing and succeeding in business.

However how do begin to acquire a good business mind?

Below are 5 tips on how to start thinking with a business head.

1. Define your purpose/goals

The best way to start adopting a positive mindset is to identify your goals and what you want to achieve within a certain time frame. One effective way of doing this is by writing a list or putting images of what you want to achieve, into a special book. You will then need to focus daily on this list or images and imagine the emotions that you will feel when you achieve those goals. This process will help you to remain focused on your goals even when you experience setbacks along the way. Goal setting is a crucial element to creating success, therefore you will also need to plan in detail how you propose to achieve these goals. Writing a weekly planner can prove a very effective way of doing this.

One important aspect of adopting a business mind is to start believing in yourself. In order to achieve this you will need to first of all eradicate the "mind viruses", namely the doubts that stop you making the decisions needed to improve your personal and financial success. After all, other successful entrepreneurs have realised their dreams due to them having a different mindset to most other people. There are lots of self improvement resources available that can help you to create self belief and a positive mindset.

2. Connect With Your Customer

Regardless of what kind of business that you start, whether it is a bricks and mortar business or an online business, you will need to engage with your potential customers. That will entail doing whatever is necessary to ensure that they become your biggest fans to ensure that they keep buying from you time and time again.

Today's marketing offers many free ways of achieving this especially using social media websites. However, regardless of which marketing strategies that you use, whether it is article writing, blogging or video marketing, it is vital that you take a personal approach, almost like having a conversation with them, in order for people to connect and relate to you. This will ensure that you build up that all important trust with them.

Try to think the way your customer thinks and provide a solution to their problem. Offer your best advice to them for free, and they will be keen to learn more about other services or products that you offer.

3. Self Education And Training

As with any other career, self education and training plays an important role in creating a successful business especially with online businesses. With technology and information continually changing, it is important to constantly keep ahead with your business knowledge. Your business education can be achieved by reading, DVD's or even online training. The more in depth knowledge you have of your chosen business, the more respect you will gain from potential customers as they will regard you as an expert within that niche. You will also be more confident when selling your products or services to them too.

4. Enroll A Good Business Coach

One of the most powerful ways to achieve thinking with a business mind is to find a good business coach to mentor you in the right direction. Good mentors already have the powerful business head and mind that you seek and they will share strategies with you that will help you to also flourish.

They will also introduce you to their network of other like minded people who will also inspire you to succeed. It is a proven fact, that surrounding yourself with other successful individuals will inspire you to emulate their success. Having coaching and mentoring is the best way to achieve the results that you desire.

5.Be A Good Leader

Finally, once you have adopted a good business head and have created a successful business, it is important that you lead others to emulate your success in order to grow your business to the next level. Take time to listen to your staff, as often they will have very good ideas of ways to improve your business. A good leader will inspire others to believe that they can be more than they are and will lead them on to achieve more, whereas a manager will only see a person for what they already are.

Developing a good business head can be easily achieved. It merely requires adopting a positive mindset to believe you can achieve what you really are worth, self education and learning from other successful people. Putting all of these together will achieve better results for both your business and for you as a person.

My name is Roy Derrick and I have over 20 years experience in running my own business. Over the years I have set up and sold several successful businesses including a chain of retail stores and a construction company.

My wife Julie and I currently run a home based business that specialises in finding and sourcing the best ways to start a small, sustainable business working from home.

Business is our passion and that is why we set up Perfect Prosperity so that we could share our vast business knowledge with others to help them enjoy a better work/life balance.

Business Failures: They Don't Have to Happen

About half of all new businesses started in the U.S. will be out of business within five years. Or in other words, the long-term success rate for U.S. businesses is only about 50 percent.

But how often do business failures go unnoticed? The fact is, most business failures are noticed, but they're ignored. It's kind of like the hidden camera TV shows where bystanders witness something uncomfortable, like an old guy who ran out of gas and is trying to push his car, but nobody actually gives him a hand.

Look For the Signs

When a business is suffering, the signs are usually there. Even though sales may be steady and the business owner optimistic, it's a little like a train wreck for outside observers who know what to look for: You know it's going to happen, but you can't stand to look.

These businesses often have operating lines of credit and operating accounts, but frequent overdrafts, or they have a line of credit that has turned into an evergreen loan. If you're wondering why they don't pay their bills on time, it's simple: They have no cash flow.

Surprisingly, these businesses sometimes struggle for years with no real direction from the person who could be their savior: their banker. Nobody tells them anything, and the banker who "wined and dined" them to get their business when times were good is now looking for a way to exit the credit, leaving the business owner confused and wondering what happened to the "red carpet" treatment.

As authorities in the business community, bankers, accountants and business attorneys should be the ones to spot the early stages of business trouble. Who else is as close to a business' financial condition? The best way to spot potential business failures is to look for early signs of financial trouble, such as late or inaccurate financial statements, evergreen lines of credit, increasing A/P, and slow-paying A/R (e.g., an increasing amount of A/R that's over 90 days).

The Snowball Effect

The typical routine of watching and waiting for a business to fail is a detriment and disservice to the customer. Think about a snowball that keeps picking up speed and girth as it rolls downhill. As the business failure picks up speed, it eventually becomes too much for the business owner who doesn't possess the skills necessary to get the situation under control.

Remember that most business owners go into business with a trade skill, not an accounting degree. They may not know how to forecast, or even know what breakeven means, which leaves them not really understanding why they are losing money or having negative cash flow. The fact is, the average business owner doesn't have the knowledge or training to understand what is going wrong.

Unfortunately, the psychology of disengaging from a credit is often exactly what it shouldn't be: adversarial. How can this be managed in a win-win way? How can you tell a business owner you can no longer support him or her without sounding like you are leaving the business in a lurch?

The good news is that there is a way you can join hands with these businesses and be part of a successful solution that also helps you keep a valued customer relationship. Even if you have to exit the credit, you can still keep the business' deposits while referring them to experts who know how to help improve their financial situation and cash flow.

Bring in the Experts

Asset-based lending (ABL) and factoring emerged from the need for better cash flow for businesses that are either too new to get traditional bank credit, or that need to exit a bank because they are no longer in compliance with loan covenants. In either case, you can refer your customers to an asset-based lender or factor that can administer the line of credit while you continue to meet all of the business' other needs, such as deposits and cash management services.

Since asset-based lenders and factors are accustomed to dealing with these kinds of financial problems, they can often increase the availability of cash while the other issues are being addressed. They can also be a part of the solution when a credit has been over-extended and things are still not improving.

Creative debt restructuring is very common, and asset-based lenders and factors are very well versed in how to handle these situations. In short, they are a great referral in the right situation.

Another expert that can help troubled businesses is a type of management consultant known as a turnaround expert. Even though they are an added expense when cash flow is already tight, they can more than pay for their services if they are good at debt restructuring and negotiations.

It Takes a Team

It often takes a team to help businesses succeed during tough times. The business may need an injection of cash that can be achieved with asset-based lending or factoring, as well as a good business advisor to teach them about the financial side of their business.

Finding quality business professionals who understand this niche can be the tough part. The Internet is a vast and scary space when business owners don't know what they're looking for. The terms used to describe these consulting services are not taught in school, and most owners don't know how to find this kind of help. This is where you can provide invaluable advice and assistance-asset-based lending, factoring and quality management consulting are all referral-dependent.

No business has to fail due to financial mismanagement or a lack of expert financial assistance. But owners need advocates surrounding them who are proactive in identifying when they may need a helping hand-and then making the right introductions.