Category Archives: Home Based Bussines

Start Your Errand Service With This 8 Point Checklist

Errand service is a home based business which can be started up easily and inexpensively. This industry is becoming a fast growing multi million dollar business due to todays busy lifestyles. More and more people now rely on errand service providers to help them carry out their errands which in turn would provide them free time to enjoy more important things in their life.

The following checklist outlines the basic guidelines required to start off your errand service venture with ease.

1.Required Skills and Qualifications

You should be an outgoing person with great people skills. You should also have great organizational skills, punctuality and efficiency. Since your tasks may differ day to day and you may need to travel about a lot, you should be adaptable and flexible in any given situation. Being computer literate would be advantageous since you may have to carry out internet researches, online bookings, etc. A special training is not required to carry out a basic errand service, but if your service includes complex tasks such as event planning, vacation planning, etc. it is recommended that you obtain some specialized training from an established errand service provider.

2.Essential Equipment and Supplies

Depending on the type of service you wish to offer the required resources would vary. But to get your business off to a flourishing start you would require these basic equipments and supplies: a dependable computer, a printer, an internet connection, software programs for accounts and contact management, a phone line with voice mail, a fax machine, a cellular phone, office supplies and stationary and if your services includes transportation a vehicle would also be required.

3.Target Market

The target market in this industry consists of three main groups. The first group contains the busy working people. Since they do not have time to carry out their errands, they prefer to pay someone else to perform it for them. Corporations would fall into the second group. They would either hire errand service providers to carry out mundane tasks on behalf of their business or would hire errand services on behalf of their employees as a benefit or an incentive for them. The third group consists of people who need help to carry out their errands due to sickness, disability, old age or the arrival of a new baby. You should select to which group/s you would cater your services to depending on the skills and resources you posses.

4.Type of Errands

As an errand service provider your errands can be categorized into two main groups. The first would be the simple errands. These types of errands do not require any special type of training. For example grocery shopping, utility bill payments, house sitting, laundry pick up/delivery, etc. The second group consists of more complex tasks which would require you to be computer literate. Furthermore you may even need to obtain some specialized training. Tasks such as meeting and event planning, travel and vacation planning, appointment and scheduling management, etc would fall under this group. Depending on the skills, experience, training, resources, time and effort you posses, you should decide on the type of errands which you would undertake on behalf of your clients.

5.Creation of the Business Plan

No matter how small your business is, it is always recommended that you create a business plan for your venture. This will enable you to always be focused on the services you are providing as well as manage the growth of your business. In this you should state details such as the description of your company and the ownership, the service you provide, information regarding the industry, target market, expected growth, financial plan, etc.

6.Legal Requirements and Insurance

The legal requirements in establishing your venture would vary from state to state. So it is advisable that you consult an attorney in order to understand the exact legal requirements involved. You may also need to visit the town clerks office and your states Department of Revenue to obtain assistance with the paper work and licenses which are required prior to setting up your business. Another important step would be to obtain business insurance for your venture. This is extremely valuable when running an errand service business because of the high amount of liability involved.

7.Fixing the Correct Price

As an errand service provider you would be charging your clients on an hourly basis or by the type of service provided. Generally errand service providers charge their clients around USD $25 to USD $125 per hour. If you are servicing regular customers who hire your services on a standard basis then you can even offer them a membership where they would pay you an annual fee for a certain number of requests for each month. Generally these annual fees might start at around USD $1,000 to USD $1,500. For corporations the membership fees could vary due to the size of the company, number of employees and how many requests each employee is allowed. It is always better to check out the competitive rates in the market before deciding on your price.

8.Marketing Your Service

It is vital that you market your services in order to attract clients. Networking is a cheap but effective way of promoting your business. The people you meet would be direct referrals to your business or even become your clients. You can also advertise on local papers, magazines and business journals or even get listed in the Yellow Pages. Another easy and cheaper way of spreading the word is by utilizing flyers, brochures, posters, emails and sales letters. Having your own website would be an added benefit since this would enable thousands of people to find out about the service you offer.

Growing Profitable Plants – A Perfect Home-based Business For Gardeners

Many stay at home moms love spending time in their garden. Watching plants sprout and grow can be so rewarding. But many people do don’t realize you can make a great income growing plants, averaging as much as $ 20 to $ 30 an hour. Yes, you really can. It’s all possible by growing plants for profit. It’s simply a perfect business for anyone who wants to work at home. Here’s why:

Many stay at home moms love what they do, but would still like to make some extra cash. The big question is, how to do that when you have so many responsibilities at home? You need freedom to pick up the kids from school, to run errands and so on. So what business could give you that, plus make you good money? That’s easy, growing profitable plants. Growing plants does doesn’t require a full-time commitment. You can work plant care into your daily schedule, doing it whenever you’re able.

First, you pick the plants you want to grow. Visit local nurseries to see what plants are popular.. Do you have favorites succulents or ground covers, for example? See if the nurseries are stocking lots of your favorites, as that’s a good clue about their popularity. Talk to local landscapers to find out what their favorite varieties are. Next, get planting! Make sure you have a suitable potting soil mix, plant labels so you can tell which plant is which, slow-release fertilizer (also known as time release fertilizer) to give your plants healthy nutrients on a slow basis, and a good number of the right size containers to put your plants in. Thrifty growers can often get free containers from local landscapers, who would rather recycle them than haul them to the dump.

When you’re ready to sell your plants, you have lots of ways to market your plants. Here are some popular choices:

Farmers’ markets continue to be popular events drawing big crowds eager to buy high quality plants from local growers.

Fundraisers are a way to bring positive attention to your business. Donate some of your profits to a good cause or charity, and it can benefit the charity or cause and still give you a tidy profit. People are usually more willing to spend money on good products if they know some of the profits are going towards a good cause.

Selling directly to landscapers is a way to make big profits and have steady repeat business. If you can supply landscapers with what they’re looking for at reasonable prices, they’ll be calling you a lot.

These are just three of several ways to make good money growing for market. And get this, it’s the perfect activity to do with your kids and other family members. For one, it can keep your kids involved and close to you. Instead of playing video games, your kids can learn the process of growing plants and how to take care of a living thing. It’s an on-going education in life for everyone.

Juice Plus Scam Or Legitimate Home Based Business

Juice Plus is one of the more larger Health and Wellness companies out there and the demand for their products appear to be growing despite some wailing ‘Juice Plus Scam’. But is Juice Plus the right opportunity for you and is it really a scam? Read this article to find out if it’s worth your precious time.

What Is Juice Plus?

Juice Plus is a line of dietary supplements that contain fruit and vegetable extracts with added vitamins and other nutrients.

Juice Plus was introduced to the world in 1993 and the owners decided that it would be best to sell these products through Direct Sales or Multilevel Marketing.

Juice Plus is advertised as ‘The Next Best Thing To Fruit And Vegetables’ as you can imagine this has created controversy and has attracted the attention of consumer watchdog organizations who say this kind of advertising is misleading.

I’d just like to say at this point, from a business stand point this may actually be good. Having a product that attracts and creates controversy has worked well for this company so far by attracting attention to it.

Products

The Primary products in this line of branded dietary supplements are Orchard Blend and Garden Blend. Orchard blend is a powder based fruit juice and garden blend is a powder based vegetable juice. These products can be bought at a cost of $167 for 4 month supply.

Other supplement products in this line include, Vineyard blend a powder based berry/grape juice, gummies, meal replacement powders, soft chewables, capsules, chewable tablets, Juice Plus Thins(wafers) and even a vitamin formulation for cats and dogs.

There have been criticism from some that go along the lines of ‘this doesn’t work’ or ‘there is no scientific evidence’. First understand that these products are SUPPLEMENTS and are meant to be supplemental to what you are doing now.

In the 21st century we live a hectic lifestyle and don’t have enough time to pay attention to the ins and outs of healthy eating. Juice Plus solves a problem, it negates the need of having to boil vegetables and buy fruits day in and day out(that being said you should eat fruit and vegetables when you can).

Using supplements like this can help all of us reach the 5 a day and bridge the nutritional gap between what we should be eating everyday and what we do eat everyday.

Business Model

The business model revolves around MLM or Multi level Marketing for those that don’t like acronyms.

Products are sold and marketed through independent distributors who receive sales commissions form sales made.

Ranging from 6% for enrolling 5 customers in 30 days to 14% for enrolling 20 customers in 30 days.

Some Of The Things I Don’t Like

This is an MLM company and as such takes a long time for real financial dreams to come to realization. Most people don’t treat MLM for what is is, something that accrues net worth over time much like a mutual fund or a cd.

With that being said however the compensation plan leaves something to be desired. 6% for enrolling 5 customers in 30 days? That is challenging even for the most taxing of industry comp plans.

Couple this with the fact that 99% fail in this industry and you quickly come to understand that most people don’t have the tenacity of a bull headed and thick skinned slick rick-salesman.

So instead of tackling this problem the training provided is the thing that makes everyone fail in the first place.

Posting Flyers, 3-foot rule prospecting, meetings, buying leads, cold calling are effective methods reserved for a select few and when I say a select few I mean it, how is 1%.

However…..you can make this work for you if you can get people asking you about your business on a daily basis. That’s right anyone in Network Marketing worth their salt know that it is far more effective to attract people, become the hunted instead of the hunter.

This is called Attraction Marketing and all the top earners use this method. When you attract people they go into business with you and not your company.

When you set yourself apart from all the peddlers that are marketing replicating websites and offering a business opportunity on the front end then you are a leader.

If you use Attraction Marketing it won’t matter if your company is shut down or you have people leaving your downline because you’ll have a constant flow of leads coming to you on a daily basis by providing leadership.

The Juice Plus scam doesn’t actually exist. The reason most people fail is that they pursue this business in the same way as the 1% at the top. It’s time to stop cold calling and prospecting every man and his dog on the streets.

Attraction Marketing is the way forward.

Choosing the Best Small Home Based Business Opportunity

When you are looking for a small home based business opportunity you should choose you opportunity carefully. There are many scams out there on the Internet that can cause you to loose a lot of money. Most of these scams involve experts that claim you can become rich. However, as most know there is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme that actually works. Even the best home based business opportunity you can get is going to require some work on your part. However, with some work you can succeed with a small home based business.

Therefore, the first thing you need to look into when choosing your home based business opportunity is whether it is right for you. If you are looking into a multi-level marketing job then you should be prepared to spend a lot of time on the phone. If you want to work for a pay per click affiliate program then you need to be ready to do keyword research and invest a lot of money before you can make any return. Therefore, when you choose your home based business opportunity you should make your choice carefully and make sure it is something you want to get involved with.

The next thing you should consider is what costs will be involved with running your particular business opportunity. Look into the startup costs. Most of the time starting an online business can be relatively inexpensive when compared to offline businesses. However, this doesnt mean that an online business is free to start.

Consider whether you need to build your own website. If a website is required, but you dont know how to do it then the cost of having one made can be very expensive. Then consider how much advertising you will have to do for your business. Will you be alone in your advertising endeavors? Consider what tools are required to run your business and investigate this area carefully and closely.

You should always do at least some research into the business opportunity. Most of the Internet businesses have reviews available online that allows you to check out the opportunity. Never take what is said on the sale page at face value. While many of the opportunities are real, they may not live up to their promises of big money returns.

Once you have found a good small home based business opportunity then you need to stick to it. You may be tempted to give up if you dont see progress right away, but always remember that the more you work at your business the more it will grow. You may not see immediate results but as long as you put in some effort, you will eventually see results.

VoIP Small Business Telephone System

You can stay competitive in the business world, by utilizing a small business telephone system with VoIP features. This phone system is an added asset for your business and an ideal choice to efficiently handle all your inbound and outbound business calls. It gives you the freedom to work from your office, home or any location of your choice.

Enjoy Exciting Benefits

A small business VoIP telephone system is highly beneficial for your startup or home based business enterprise. Some of the advantages that these phone systems bring to your business are:

Faster and easier communication
Scalable
Cost-effective
Portable
Multiple connections are handled simultaneously
Long distance calls can be made at reduced rates

Improve Quality and Productivity for Your Business

Internet based small business phone system is an ideal means to improve your workplace productivity through enhanced business communication. Compared to traditional phone systems, VoIP phones offer better voice quality. Just like any modern phone system, a VoIP small business telephone system also comes with sophisticated user-friendly features.

With this service, you can efficiently route calls through its call forwarding feature, engage your callers with music on hold, provide system driven announcements on your company’s products and services, and more. With all these features you can present a bigger corporate image and attract more customers to your business.

Find Service Providers with Good Expertise in the Field

If you are planning to switch on to VoIP small business telephone system from a standard phone, you should ensure that you avail of services from an experienced provider in the field. Understanding the business needs of small businesses, numerous providers offer VoIP small business telephone systems and services at relatively lower rates. Such a phone system is truly a boon for business startups to improve business image and productivity through enhanced customer care services.

AccessDirect is a leading provider of small business phone systems. Loads of advanced features are incorporated in our IP phone system including: auto attendant, virtual receptionist, voice mail, etc.