There are lots of reasons that people grow weary of their job. Burnout is a common thing in the workplace due to stressful work environments, office politics, the daily commute, and the grind of worry about what other people think is important. The attractive alternative to the fast paced corporate world is the home based business. If the desire to work at home is mounting, perhaps it’s time to consider investing in a small franchise that can be run from the comfort of home. Before packing up that cardboard box with all your office supplies and turning in that resignation however, there are several questions that usually come to mind.
Q. How do I decide between a franchise and starting a brand new small business?
A. While there is a certain appeal to creating a brand new name, logo, product, and market, it can be a very time consuming and costly thing to begin a new business from scratch. Without an effective business plan, and the time and investment that goes into making a business successful jumping into a new business can be an extremely costly venture. The benefit of purchasing a franchise is that your time and energy can be spent right away on making your new business profitable. With a franchise, national branding, logos, and product recognition are already recognizable leaving much less work to be done on the front end of running your business.
Q. How much of a headache are my taxes going to be with my new home-based business?
A. While most people fear taxes and death in the same category the IRS has actually made a lot of efforts to ease the pain of small business tax paperwork. The normal procedure for a small work at home business that has done a good job of keeping track of their records, deductions, contractors, 1099s, and quarterly estimates, is as simple as attaching a schedule C form to their regular 1040 tax filing.
Q. How should I set up my home office to make my business the most effective?
A. While the success or failure of a specific business venture cannot be pinpointed to which direction the office chair faces, believe it or not the way you approach your home office setup will have a tangible effect on the profitability of your work at home business. If you can’t leave the TV set off, or find some peace and quiet to actually work in your home, then a home office isn’t really an option. Make sure that when setting up an area in your home to run a small business or franchise that you know when you are “at work” and when you are “at home.” The difference is key, and will help you to get things done that are not always going to be fun or easy. Someone still has to be the boss even if it’s you, there is a big difference between no one being the boss and being your own boss.
Q. What knowledge, books, classes should I be aware of before starting my own business?
A. There are many books, seminars, classes, and conferences available that all claim to help the small business. Some of them seem to be legitimate and naturally helpful, while others are simply a business capitalizing on the inexperience of other business owners. Make sure that whoever is teaching or authoring the information you seek has been successful in the realm of small businesses and that you think they would be successful running the franchise or small business that you are seeking to run. Thinks like the Microsoft small business leaders summit will naturally be helpful as they provide many of the products and technology necessary to make a work-at-home business a success. Other books to consider are Take time for Your Life by Cheryl Richardson, How to Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnegie, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People by David Niven. There are many people who will claim to be “experts” but you must be able to discern on your own what will help your small business.
Q. How do I find a business opportunity or franchise?
A. There are several ways to go about searching for the perfect business for you. It’s important before you begin to do any decision-making or business opportunity searches to evaluate what exactly you are looking for. If you are looking for a franchise, what type of franchise are you going to run? What is the area of expertise or service that you are going to provide? Do you have employees or are you going to provide the service yourself? Once you have a general idea of the type of business, level of commitment, and financial resources that you are prepared to commit to finding your business opportunity, then is the time to begin searching. Search engines and websites will be the easiest way to gather the most information in an easy to compare way, from there you can receive and submit contact information that will help get you on your way to becoming a successful franchise or small business owner.
