HOW TO START A PROFITABLE HOME-BASED BUSINESS

    In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends
    meet with just one source of income.  Thus, more and more people are
    investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income
    business.  Most of these part-time endeavors are started and
    operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.

    Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have
    wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into
    full-time, very profitable businesses.  Others are just keeping
    busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before.  The important
    thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the
    government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in
    life, and you can do it, too!

    The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home
    party sales have never been more popular.  If any of these kinds of
    extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to
    yourself to check them out.  But these aren't the only fields of
    endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no
    investment, and learn as you go.

    If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have
    a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a
    clean-up/hauling service.  Simply collecting old news papers from
    your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business.
    More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and
    fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services.  If you
    have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by
    supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area
    on a regular basis.  You might turn a ceramics hobby into a
    lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that
    in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and
    operate a profitable extra income business from your home.

    The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research.
    Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in
    your area who are interested in your proposed product or service,
    and would be "willing to stand in line and pay money for it."  This
    is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If
    after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of
    people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that
    these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be
    directed toward the "detailing" of your business plan.  The more
    precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to
    how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's
    going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your
    start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production
    costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be
    allocated.  Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious ent repreneurs
    jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs
    are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they
    can meet.  It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get
    involved, and the clearer you can "see" everything before you start,
    the better your chances for success.

    Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your
    customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with
    your product or service.  And you have all your costs as well as
    time requirements itemized.  The next step is to set your plan in
    motion and start making money.

    Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting and
    building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully.
    Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the
    capital and the available time to sustain your business through the
    first six months of operation.  Specifically, you must not count on
    receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on
    yourself or for your bills during those first six months.  All the
    income from your business during those first six months should be
    reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our
    planned first year potential.

    Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a
    small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of
    your labor.  But the first six months or operation for any business
    are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business
    generates for yourself during that period.

    If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have
    implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be
    able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some
    of your workload.  Remember this:  Starting a successful business is
    not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy.
    It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will
    grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have
    other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire
    operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect
    or receive regular income from your initial efforts.

    For more details on market research, business planning, advertising,
    selling, order fulfillment, and other aspects of home-based
    businesses, checkout other reports in this offering.