Business Loan

There are two types of home based businesses. One is the traditional one with an office at your home and the other is a virtual office – your website. Both require customers to keep it going and both require you to do an initial research to see which type of business you should open. Without researching both, the traditional and online, businesses are destined to fail. Let us first look at the traditional home based business.

Traditional Home Based Business

These include all kinds of small cottage industries that can be run with a few people usually family members. Professional services (e.g. photography, print & design, ladies accessories, maintenance & repair services, etc), network marketing (MLM) and food & bakery contribute to the majority of traditional home based business.

Some of these had go on to become local brands and they survive well with regular streams of customers. Therefore, a traditional home based business cannot be booted out for good.... at least not now or any near future. They serve a niche market of their own.

Although many traditional home based businesses have been successful, these ventures are quite risky to begin with. Here are some of their cons:

1) The delivery of a physical product or personal services can be very much limited by time and space.

2) Promotion and marketing of your product or services are also limited to a smaller local market.

3) When business is brisk, you struggle to meet production but when business is slow, you struggle to keep it going.

A traditional home based business require an office, you spend money on decorating that office, even if it is a home. You would require infrastructure like telephone, fax machine, printer and stationary supplies. A traditional home based business may take time to set up.

A point to remember, a traditional home based business requires higher recurring expense when compared to an online home based business.

With a traditional home based business, you need to think about hiring staff and worry about attrition. Then there is the fear of losing your traditional home based business to natural calamities like hurricanes, storms or floods. You would have keep inventory which could cause you losses.

All the above are points to ponder when you are thinking of starting a traditional home based business.

Online Home Based Business

When compared to a traditional home based business, starting an online home based business is much faster. Once you have your website running, you are in business. You do not need to wait for the stationary or the office to get ready.

This does not mean that running an online home business is a piece of cake. You need to invest time to do proper research, as which type of online home based business is suitable for you. The internet is an extremely good resource for research.

In an online home based business you set your own timings and your website announces to world what are your products or services. You do not need to spend as much on advertising as you would do with a traditional home based business. The internet gives you an edge. You reach a much large audience across the globe. This is not possible with a traditional home based business where you end up catering to the immediate community. And once your online home based business is automated, it practically runs by itself.

Examples of Successful Online Businesses

eBay


eBay was one that did not go under when the dot com bubble burst. eBay transformed itself from a garage sale and flea market site into a genuine e-commerce site. Today, eBay has over 29 million registered users selling anything from antiques to jewelry. eBay is made online transaction safe and secure and it allows buyers and sellers to post their comments online. You can check these comments and then decide whether you want to do business with a person / company.

Amazon.com


Amazon.com treats it customers like extremely. It tracks the customers' tastes so that using Amazon.com becomes a truly rewarding experience. It has outstanding customer service with special discount services on books. Amazon.com excels in one-to-one marketing making each customer feel special.

In the next part of this series, I will talk to you about some good online opportunities that are there just waiting for you to encash them!

INTRODUCTION

Is it time to sell? Selling your business is a major decision! You have devoted your time, money, and energy to building, running, and operating your business. It may well represent your life's work. You may have already decided that now is the right time to sell, and you want the very best professional guidance you can get. This is when working in tandem with a professional business broker can make the difference between just getting rid of the business and selling it for the very best price and terms!

ARE YOU READY TO EXIT?

If you've gone this far, then selling your business has aroused enough curiosity that you are taking the first step. You don't have to make a commitment at this point; you are just getting informed about what is necessary to successfully sell your business. This section should answer a lot of your questions and help you through the maze of the process itself.

Question 1

The first question almost every seller asks is: "What is my business worth?" Quite frankly, if we were selling our business, that is the first thing we would want to know. However, we're going to put this very important issue off for a bit and cover some of the things you need to know before you get to that point. Before you ask that question, you have to be ready to sell for what the market is willing to pay. If money is the only reason you want to sell, then you're not really ready to sell.

*Insider Tip:

It doesn't make any difference what you think your business is worth, or what you want for it. It also doesn't make any difference what your accountant, banker, attorney, or best friend thinks your business is worth. Only the marketplace can decide what its value is.

Question 2

The second question you have to consider is: Do you really want to sell this business? If you're really serious and have a solid reason(s) why you want to sell, it will most likely happen. You can increase your chances of selling if you can answer yes to the second question: Do you have reasonable expectations? The yes answer to these two questions means you are serious about selling.

The First Steps

Okay, let's assume that you have decided to at least take the first few steps to actually selling your business. Before you even think about placing your business for sale there are some things you should do first. The first thing you have to do is to gather information about the business.
Here's a checklist of the items you should get together:

• Three years' profit and loss statements


• Federal Income Tax returns for the business


• List of fixtures and equipment


• The lease and lease-related documents


• A list of the loans against the business (amounts and payment schedule)


• Copies of any equipment leases


• A copy of the franchise agreement, if applicable


• An approximate amount of the inventory on hand, if applicable


• The names of any outside advisors

Notes:
If you're like many small business owners, you'll have to search for some of these items. After you gather all of the above items, you should spend some time updating the information and filling in the blanks. You most likely have forgotten much of this information, so it's a good idea to really take a hard look at all of this. Have all of the above put in a neat, orderly format as if you were going to present it to a prospective purchaser. Everything starts with this information.

Make sure the financial statements of the business are current and as accurate as you can get them. If you're half way through the current year, make sure you have last year's figures and tax returns, and also year-to-date figures. Make all of your financial statements presentable. It will pay in the long run to get outside professional help, if necessary, to put the statements in order. You want to present the business well "on paper." As you will see later, pricing a small business usually is based on cash flow. This includes the profit of the business, as well as the owner's salary and benefits, the depreciation, and other non-cash items. So don't panic because the bottom line isn't what you think it should be. By the time all of the appropriate figures are added to the bottom line, the cash flow may look pretty good.
Prospective buyers eventually want to review your financial figures. A Balance Sheet is not normally necessary unless the sale price of your business would be well over the $1 million figure. Buyers want to see income and expenses. They want to know if they can make the payments on the business (more on this later) and still make a living. Let's face it, if your business is not making a living wage for someone, it probably can't be sold. You may be able to find a buyer who is willing to take the risk, or an experienced industry professional who only looks for location, etc. and feels that he or she can increase business.
*Insider Tip:
The big question is not really how much your business will sell for, but how much of it can you keep?. The Federal Tax Laws do determine how much money you will actually be able to put in the bank. How your business is legally formed can be important in determining your tax status when selling your business. For example: Is your business a corporation, partnership or proprietorship? If you are incorporated, is the business a C corporation or a sub-chapter S corporation? There are some new tax rules, effective January 1, 2000, that impact certain businesses on seller financing. The point of all of this is that before you consider price or even selling your business, it is important that you discuss the tax implications of a sale of your business with a tax advisor. You don't want to be in the middle of a transaction with a solid buyer and discover that the tax implications of the sale are going to net you much less than you had figured.

WHO IS THE BUYER?

Buyers buy businesses for many of the same reasons that sellers sell businesses. It is important that the buyer is as serious as the seller when it comes time to purchase a business. If the buyer is not serious, the sale will never close. Here are just a few of the reasons that buyers buy businesses:



• Laid-off, fired, being transferred (or about to be any of these)


• Early retirement (forced or not)


• Job dissatisfaction


• Desire for more control over their lives


• Desire to do his or her own thing

A Buyer Profile

Here is a look at the make-up of the average individual buyer looking to replace a lost job or wanting to get out of an uncomfortable job situation. The chances are he is a male (however, more and more women are going into business for themselves, so this is rapidly changing). Almost 50 percent will have less than $100,000 in which to invest in the purchase of a business. In many cases the funds, or part of them, will come from personal savings followed by financial assistance from family members. The buyer will never have owned a business before, and most likely will buy a business he or she had never considered until being introduced to it.

Their primary reason for going into business is to get out of their present situation, be it unemployment or job disagreement (or discouragement). The prospective buyer wants to do their own thing, be in charge of their own destiny, and they don't want to work for anyone. Money is important, but it's not at the top of the list; in fact, it probably is in fourth or fifth place in the overall list. In order to pursue the dream of owning one's own business, the buyer must be able to make that "leap of faith" necessary to take the risk of purchasing and operating their own business.
Buyers who want to go into business strictly for the money usually are not realistic buyers for small businesses. Keep in mind the following traits of a willing buyer:

• The desire to buy a business


• The need and urgency to buy a business


• The financial resources


• The ability to make his or her own decisions


• Reasonable expectations of what business ownership can do for him or her

What Do Buyers Want to Know?

This may be a bit premature since you may not have decided to sell, but it may help in your decision making process to understand not only who the buyer is, but also what he or she will want to know in order to buy your business. Here are some questions that you might be asked - and, should be prepared to answer:


• How much money is required to buy the business?


• What is the annual increase in sales?


• How much is the inventory?


• What is the debt?


• Will the seller train and stay on for awhile?


• What makes the business different/special/unique?


• What further defines the product or service? Bid work? Repeat business?


• What can be done to grow the business?


• What can the buyer do to add value?


• What is the profit picture in bad times as well as good?

A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER

Buyers Want Cash Flow


The first thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of buyers want to buy cash flow. Sit down with your accountant or bookkeeper and begin to get your financial statements in order, with cash flow the order of business. Cash flow is not the same thing as profit. Most buyers look at the profit and loss statement or tax return, as well as owner or family compensation. They will consider any excess compensation to employees and family. Buyers will also look at large, one-time expenses such as a new computer system or remodeling. They will consider non-cash items like depreciation and amortization. Interest expenses will be reviewed, as will owner prerequisites. These are items that a professional business broker considers when advising a selling client on a selling price.


*Insider Tip


What about the Internet? The Internet is a real "buzz" word - and if its use is appropriate for your business, then developing a web site is important not only to your on-going business, but also to a buyer. Many buyers are conscious of what the Internet is doing for many businesses. If you have a web site for your business, it could be a big plus.

Appearances Do Count


The time to replace that old worn-out piece of equipment is before you decide to sell. Don't assume that a new owner will want to do it or that the price will be slightly lower because you haven't replaced it. The time to "spiff up" the business is now, even if you aren't selling. Fix the sign, replace the carpet, paint the place - make it look good. Even if you're not selling, it's just plain good for business, and you never know when the time to sell occurs. Keep-in-mind that anything that increases sales also increases profits and the all-important cash flow!

Everything Has Value


There are other things that add value to your business. Don't discount the value of customer lists, proprietary products and/or techniques, well-maintained equipment, secret recipes, customized software programs, or good employees. These are termed "off-balance sheet items," and although not used in most pricing models, they add to value. Look at your business very carefully so you don't overlook those items that make your business more attractive to the buyer.

Eliminate the Surprises


Long before you put your business on the market eliminate the surprises! Review every facet of the business and remedy any problems that could appear during the sale process. No one likes surprises - most of all potential buyers. Whether legal, accounting, environmental, or anything else - solve it now.


*Insider Tip


This may sound like something that should have been done when the business first started, so it may be "after-the-fact". You should create an operations manual. You may already have started one years ago, or simply, have thought of doing one. Now is the time. It may actually create added value to the business. Even if it doesn't, it will impress buyers that you have your business "act" together and should help you sell more quickly and effectively. Preparing a manual on how to operate your business can also be helpful even if you don't want to sell. It doesn't have to be elaborate, just cover the basics. A collection of ads that you have placed a catalog or sample of products, publications, or menus (if the business is food related) is also impressive. Include anything to do with the business that might be helpful for a new owner. However, don't include anything that is proprietary, such as customer lists, suppliers or secret recipes, etc.

YOU CAN HELP


We look forward to working with you in finding a suitable buyer for your business. You, as the seller, are an integral part of the total marketing program. We would like to offer a few friendly recommendations that will help in our marketing efforts. We have checked those items that we think will be especially applicable to your type of business.

It might also be helpful if you took a good look at your business from the perspective of a buyer. Try to put yourself in the place of a prospective purchaser of the business. What would you do to make it more attractive or more saleable? Obviously, the financial records of your business are critical to the sale of your business, but how it looks is also important. First impressions really count! If a potential buyer doesn't like the appearance of your business, the rest of it may never get a chance. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us. It's only by working together that we'll get the best results.

You might want to check the following to see if any of them are applicable:


• Keep normal operating hours. There may be a tendency to "let down" when you put your business up for sale. However, it's important that prospective buyers see your business at its best.


• Repair signs, replace outside lights, etc. You don't want your business to look as if it has been neglected.


• Maintain inventory at a constant level. If you let your inventory slide, your business will look neglected. If anything, increase it so your business will look busy.


• Remove items that are not included in the sale and unnecessary items, especially if inoperative.


• Repair non-operating equipment or remove it if you are not using it.


• Tidy-up outside premises.


• Spruce-up the inside of the business.

COMMON SELLER QUESTIONS

How long does it take to sell my business?


It generally takes, on average, between five to eight months to sell most businesses. Keep in mind that an average is just that. Some businesses will take longer to sell, while others will sell in a shorter period of time. The sooner you have all the information needed to begin the marketing process, the shorter the time period should be. It is also important that the business be priced properly right from the start. Some sellers, operating under the premise that they can always come down in price, overprice their business. This theory often "backfires," because buyers often will refuse to look at an overpriced business. It has been shown that the amount of the down payment may be the key ingredient to a quick sale. The lower the down payment, generally 40 percent of the asking price or less, the shorter the time to a successful sale. A reasonable down payment also tells a potential buyer that the seller has confidence in the business's ability to make the payments.

Why is seller financing so important to the sale of my business?


Surveys have shown that a seller, who asks for all cash, receives on average only 70 percent of their asking price, while sellers who accept terms receive on average 86 percent of their asking price. That's a difference of 16 percent! In many cases, businesses that are listed for all cash just don't sell. With reasonable terms, however, the chances of selling increase dramatically and the time period from listing to sale greatly decreases. Most sellers are unaware of how much interest they can receive by financing the sale of their business. In some cases it can greatly increase the amount received. And, again, it tells the buyer that the seller has enough confidence that the business can, indeed, pay for itself.

What happens when there is a buyer for my business?


When a buyer is sufficiently interested in your business, he or she will, or should, submit an offer in writing. This offer or proposal may have one or more contingencies. Usually, they concern a detailed review of your financial records and may also include a review of your lease arrangements, franchise agreement (if there is one), or other pertinent details of the business. You may accept the terms of the offer or you may make a counter-proposal. You should understand, however, that if you do not accept the buyer's proposal, the buyer can withdraw it at any time.

At first review, you may not be pleased with a particular offer; however, it is important to look at it carefully. It may be lacking in some areas, but it might also have some pluses to seriously consider. There is an old adage that says, "The first offer is generally the best one the seller will receive." This does not mean that you should accept the first, or any offer -- just that all offers should be looked at carefully.

When you and the buyer are in agreement, both of you should work to satisfy and remove the contingencies in the offer. It is important that you cooperate fully in this process. You don't want the buyer to think that you are hiding anything. The buyer may, at this point, bring in outside advisors to help them review the information. When all the conditions have been met, final papers will be drawn and signed. Once the closing has been completed, money will be distributed and the new owner will take possession of the business.

What can I do to help sell my business?


A buyer will want up-to-date financial information. If you use accountants, you can work with them on making current information available. If you are using an attorney, make sure they are familiar with the business closing process and the laws of your particular state. You might also ask if their schedule will allow them to participate in the closing on very short notice. If you and the buyer want to close the sale quickly, usually within a few weeks, unless there is an alcohol or other license involved that might delay things, you don't want to wait until the attorney can make the time to prepare the documents or attend the closing. Time is of the essence in any business sale transaction. The failure to close on schedule permits the buyer to reconsider or make changes in the original proposal.
What can business brokers do - and, what can't they do?

Business brokers are the professionals who will facilitate the successful sale of your business. It is important that you understand just what a professional business broker can do -- as well as what they can't. They can help you decide how to price your business and how to structure the sale so it makes sense for everyone -- you and the buyer. They can find the right buyer for your business, work with you and the buyer in negotiating and every other step of the way until the transaction is successfully closed. They can also help the buyer in all the details of the business buying process.
A business broker is not, however, a magician who can sell an overpriced business. Most businesses are saleable if priced and structured properly. You should understand that only the marketplace can determine what a business will sell for. The amount of the down payment you are willing to accept, along with the terms of the seller financing, can greatly influence not only the ultimate selling price, but also the success of the sale itself.

Starting a home business venture is an exciting time, but there are specific aspects you have to be careful to avoid. It can be a hectic time getting a home business up and running, especially if you are new to the internet industry. While it is important to begin marketing your website as soon as possible, you also want to be careful rushing into anything.

When should you begin marketing your home business venture is a question many people have. One of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting to begin marketing and advertising their home business until it is further developed. The problem with waiting is that you are just losing potential customers.

If you are in fear that your website is not up to par quite yet, there is nothing wrong with putting a note informing visitors that you are just getting started and will be further developing the website over time. But waiting to begin marketing your home business website until it is further developed is a mistake. The main reason for this is because you will never be completely finished with the website. The internet industry requires constant attention and development over time to stay with the competition.

While it is a mistake to wait to release your website, it is also a mistake to rush any part of the development phase. For example, there is no benefit to your website or its visitors if you provide poor quality content just to have content. Another example is having a sloppy web design just to make it look more developed than it really is. Take your time and gradually build the website you dreamed up when you started.

The content you produce is a crucial part to your home business venture. Poorly edited content is detrimental to your website, but having content that is unrelated to your website can be even more devastating. By distributing unrelated content, you are only wasting your time by providing your visitors with useless information.

The last thing to avoid when developing your home business venture is using keyword optimization incorrectly. Keyword optimization is a great way to generate a high traffic volume and produce quality content. However, if you flood your readers with the same keywords repetitively, your writing will be unprofessional. You have to learn to place the keywords within the flow of the content so that the readers notice the keyword, but aren't annoyed by it.

The best way to start a home business is to just jump right in. While there is no right way to start a home business venture, there are certainly wrong ways. Therefore, by paying close attention to the features listed above, you are bound to have a flourishing start to your home business.

If you're the owner of a small business, the thought of creating a company newsletter or ezine can be a little scary. If you have little or no graphics design experience you may not know what to do to create a professional looking ezine or newsletter, and not one that screams, "I DID THIS ALL BY MYSELF!"

One way around this it to hire someone to create the newsletter for you. But not every small business owner has the funds for this. Still, a company newsletter is one of the best marketing tools you can create for your business. So try the following tips and develop a professional looking newsletter you'll be proud of:

1. Pick one font for headlines and subheads, another for text. A good combination is a bold sans serif headline font (like Futura ExtraBold Condensed or Helvetica Heavy or a modern-looking font like Meta, Moderna, or Officina San Serif) paired with a simple serif font (Times, Garamond or Garamond Condensed, Galliard, etc.) for text. Use a smaller italicized version of text font for photo captions.

2. ALL text should be the same size (12 point usually, or sometimes 10 or 11 point, depending on the font); use uniform sizes for heads and subheads--larger headlines for more important articles. Most page layout and word processing programs let you set up style sheets. Set up a style for text, headlines, subheads, captions, etc. This is a very easy way to lay out the newsletter, making sure all fonts and sizes are uniform.

3. Flush left/ragged right text looks best. Justified columns can leave weird looking spaces between words, and centered headlines, text, and ads tend to give the newsletter an amateur appearance.

4. Look at some newsletters. Find a design you really like; set your newsletter up the same way - same number of columns, same size margins, and same size sidebars on each page. Don't try to make each page have its own design. Pages should have a uniform look.

Follow these tips to create a short, simple newsletter at first. Over time, you can develop additional topics and columns for your newsletter. First, just learn the basics of creating a professional looking publication that can be used to help create a closer, ongoing relationship with your customers and clients.

The goal of this business is to market a one or two page mini site to small merchants to provide their customers with weekly online specials or online coupons. The site would market to their repeat customers or introduce potential customers to their services. It's much cheaper to advertise to your existing customer base via web page that it is to buy other media advertising. It will also allow the business to present more information regarding their products, services and rates for less cost than other media advertising. For instance, a delicatessen might have daily specials that can be entered on their web page every week. They might have a two for one coupon for certain sandwiches. Two for one coupons are very effective for beauty and esthetic salons. Two manicures for the price of one might bring in a new repeat customer.

Many professionals design expensive web sites for large businesses. That leaves a niche for the small work at home entrepreneur.

Can you build a simple one page web site or alter a web site template? These are main things you need to know.

1. How to use a web building program such as the free NVU program. 2. How to Insert, delete or adjust tables.

3. How to insert text and format text in tables.

4. How to insert Images in Tables.

NVU can be used to generate meta tags to be inserted in your html page. These are necessary to direct searches to the site. For example, keywords for a drycleaner, drycleaner, dry-cleaning, clothing repair, "business city', "business neighborhood or street".

If you cannot answer yes to all of the above, don't lose hope. There are many web sites offering free instruction and tutorials in basic html and the Users' Guide for NVU will offer help in using the program. Just download NVU, their guide, a free template and start experimenting. NVU allows you to undo the last action. Also just don't save your work, if you don't like it.

The basics of this small work at home enterprise are as follows:

1. Contact a few small merchants with repeat customers. Offer to build a simple web site to advertise their weekly specials or coupons. You'll have to some research to come up with acceptable rates. You could design a site for $30 to $50 then negotiate a monthly amount for maintenance and charges for changes. Your rates would depend on how many changes would be required. I think a monthly maintenance amount is important because you will have to check a site often to ensure it is up and accessible. There are free stat counters available to check the number of hits a site receives.

2. You can save yourself time by scanning the advertising in local daily and weekly papers. Since the advertising rates in weekly or free advertising papers are the lowest, give them particular attention. If a business is advertising and does not include a web site, you have a prospect. The first thing any merchant will do is advertise his web site. Some good prospects are green grocers, cafes, drycleaners, beauty salons, delicatessens and fabric stores. Any small independent business with repeat customers is a potential prospect.

3. Offer to send out a newsletter to customers for an additional cost per submission. If the merchant wants to send out a newsletter occasionally to his customers, he should collect their email addresses.
4. The merchant should hand out a small ad or card to each customer directing them to his new web site, and he should also add his web site to any other media ads.

Your beginning costs for this enterprise are basically shoe leather and some printing of advertising materials. You'll need business cards, rate cards and contract sheets outlining your services. You can use free web hosting, free programs, free banners, free graphics, and free templates to build your web sites.

A typical web site page might comprise a top banner with the merchants name, a table with the store location and phone, a secondary table with his rates for services, and a third table with his weekly specials or a coupon. The reason for using tables for each segment of your page is that they are easy to edit. Once your simple site is up, you can easily change the specials or coupons without much work. I recommend coupons on each site because any honored coupons would demonstrate the effectiveness of the site. If the merchant has a picture of his store, logo or letterhead, you can scan it and insert the image into a table on the web site.

Explain to the merchant that you can use free domain hosting and free domain names, but it always looks more professional for a business to have its own domain name and .com is the most recognized. However, one of the others might have a name more appropriate to the business. The costs for acquiring a domain are usually less than $10 with free hosting for a small site.

These options should be outlined and explained to the merchant so that he understands the scope of your service. You should have a contract sheet with the cost of designing the site, cost for monthly maintenance, cost for weekly or monthly changes to rates specials or coupons, cost for maintenance of customer email lists and cost for preparing and sending out newsletters.

If the merchant wants a domain name or web hosting, he should be asked to pay for it up front. As you do need to meet with local merchants, it's necessary to dress appropriately, be business oriented and be well groomed. Avoid wearing very casual clothes unless you live in a beach community.

After your initial contacts with the merchant, billings and web site changes could be handled by telephone and email.

So there you have it. A simple business, it's not rocket science. I would do it myself if I didn't travel so much. You would be providing a very necessary service to the small business community.

The internet has somewhat opened up a can of worms when it comes to finding the best small business ideas.

See, on one side we have thousands of pages of information on just about any business idea you can think about. But on the other side, if you listen to these marketers and authors...just about every idea under the sun is fool-proof and becoming wealthy as a business owner is just about certain and failure impossible.

The thing is, there are too many folks out there on the internet selling hope when what you're often getting is a bag of goods.

The hope that you can soon tell your boss to get lost.

Hope you can work in your pajamas and spend 90% of your time playing with your kids while the bucks pour in the door.

Hope you can buy that fancy car withing a month or two.

The funny thing is...it takes more than a $47 ebook and a little will to be on your way to millions.

But the fact is, not every business idea is a good one for you personally just because someone shows you the checks they made online.

This "hard sell" of hope is nothing new. In fact, I remember back in my teens being sucked into a local ad where you could easily make thousands of dollars a week in your spare time.

Hey, sounds great to a 17 year old looking for some extra cash.

And sure enough, I go to a meeting where you sit through a dog and pony show and the presenter shows you his actual paychecks! Thousands of dollars a week for doing little work at all.

Today...this same "marketing and sales" process is plastered all over the internet. Big money. Easy work.

"If you have a heartbeat, you can earn millions with this simple, step by step system."

It also raises a question to these so-called gurus...

"Why aren't you doing it anymore if it's so easy and lucrative?"

Because it's a heck of a lot easier telling other people how to do it then actually doing it yourself.

Now, beyond the negativity, some business ideas are legitimate and might be a great fit for you. There is information out there that's excellent, helpful, and educational. From seminars that run in the thousands to simple, $29 ebooks that give you just enough information to put you a step ahead of the competition.

But just be careful and make sure you understand what you're getting and who it's coming from. And beyond the information, be sure the business idea is the right fit for you, your personality, and your goals.

Starting a home based business is on the mind of millions. Working for yourself rather than making money for the other guy is the American dream. Before starting a home based business, there some basics you need to consider.

1. Zoning: You need to contact your county zoning department. If your area is zoned for home based business use then you are in the clear. If not, you may have a tough road ahead. You would have to petition to the board of your zoning county to have your area rezoned. This is easier said than done. Not only would you have to prepare an excellent business plan, but you would also have to prove that the increased traffic would not pose a problem to your neighbors.

2. License: If you are selling products for profit you will need to apply for a seller's permit through your state's department of revenue. There is usually a small fee to apply, and each year or every two years you will be required to pay a renewal fee. Also, you may need other licenses pertaining to what kind of business you are starting. For example, if you are starting a live bait store, you would need a permit from your department of natural resources to have live bait on hand. Check into these license carefully. Checking into a tax id number is also highly recommended and easy to do. You can go right to the IRS web site and apply online.

3. Wholesalers and Inventory: If you plan to resell products, you will want to consider finding wholesalers within your state. The shipping alone will cut into your profits a great deal if you are shipping from far away places. You can do a google search on your specific product and see what you come up with. If there are no wholesalers within your state, be careful with choosing one online. Be sure to fully investigate them before giving up your money. Small businesses have a hard enough time turning a profit without paying for information that will do your business no good. Also, there are many scam wholesaler lists found on the Internet, these are usually outdated and simply consist of telephone book entries. Never pay for a list. Visit various forums and informational sites to find reputable wholesalers.

4. Advertising: There are several ways to advertise your new business, setting up a web site, advertising in your local newspapers, contacting your area Chamber Of Commerce are all ways to get your businesses noticed and out there.

These are just the basics of starting a home based business. There are so many more important points to get yourself going and noticed. We wish you the best of luck with your adventure. Remember, starting a home based business is the American dream, and is well worth the effort to start it right.

The letter has traditionally been the central vehicle for written messages in the world of business. In fact, it still is. Even today, in spite of the continuing growth in e-mail, text messaging and other technologies, when we want to send important information in writing to people outside our companies or organizations, the letter is still the best choice.

By its very nature---a printed message on paper---it creates the impression that it is important. In a sea of electronic communication, the letter stands out.

Letters have many purposes: informing, persuading, selling, requesting, apologizing, confirming and much more. The content may vary, but structurally they have much in common. In fact, whatever the purpose or content, the anatomy of a business letter is more or less constant.

The most common approach is in fact the least effective. Most people seem to feel they must ease into the subject of the letter gradually, so they begin with unimportant information, or facts already known to the reader. Likewise, they like to ease out of the letter with statements of little importance that add nothing to the purpose of the message. The most important facts fall somewhere in the middle of the letter.

This format is the exact opposite of the shape of an effective business letter.

The psychological principle known as the Law of Primacy and Recency states that we remember best what we see or hear first and what we see or hear last. Have you ever been to a musical production, either in live theatre or in the movies? As people were leaving the theatre at the end of the show, what was the song on everyone's lips? Right---the big closing number. And of course that's usually a reprise of---you guessed it, the big opening number!

That's because Andrew Lloyd Webber and other impresarios understand the Law of Primacy and Recency and take advantage of it. You can do the same when you write a business letter, which would result in an emphasis on a strong opening and close.

Here is one example of each:

Instead of opening with "We have received your letter of March 15" (which states the obvious), you might try, "As you requested in your March 15 letter, we enclose a copy of your statement."

The common close, "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," could be replaced with a relationship-building statement such as, "Thank you for giving us this opportunity to correct the misunderstanding over your account. We look forward to continuing our business relationship with you in the future."

The beginning and end of your letter represent valuable space in your reader's mind, and you must make good use of that space. Now of course that doesn't mean the body of the letter isn't important, but if you use the opening to grab the reader's attention, he or she will be more like to concentrate on your message. If you close the letter effectively, you're more likely to get the response you want.