Of all of the different entities that would encourage you on developing your home business, one might not expect the government to be at the top of that list. But the Government of Canada and many other federal governments around the world has caught onto the home business trend and is now advising people of the different things they should think about when planning a home business operation.
For example, the government talks about the generation of ideas, how to plan for your business, how to secure the capital needed and how to make sure that your productivity is still high in spite of everything else. These are all very real concerns to the average home business worker and for that reason it is definitely a good idea to take the suggestions that anyone might make seriously. The government really has nothing to gain out of people going into home business for themselves, so it is definitely a good source of information since they have all of the statistics in front of them in the form of tax returns, bank records and benefit information.
Tips on Starting a Home-Based Business
Pick a home business idea that interests you, for which you have a talent or expertise, for which there is a need, and which you can afford to finance.
Do your market research. In a home business, as in any business, getting as much information as possible on your customers, competition, suppliers and market area before you start is essential.
Do a complete business plan, including financial planning, before beginning.
Check on and obtain all necessary licenses, permits and registrations for your line of business. This includes checking with your city/town/R.M. to see if it’s legal to operate your business from home.
Have business cards, stationery, brochures, etc., printed by professionals. A polished, professional look is particularly important for home-operated businesses.
Advertise. Scan and target T.V. and radio stations, newspapers, magazines and newsletters geared to your market. Use public and special libraries to access this information. Canadian Advertising Rates and Data (CARD) lists Canadian publications, T.V. and radio stations, and their advertising rates.
Self-market. Go to stores, companies, etc., to market your service or product in person. Be sure to spend some time finding out about your potential customers before you try to “sell” them.
Designate and design a work area that is separate from the mainstream of your home activities.
Install a separate business phone, fax and Internet connections.
Check on any extra insurance needs. Shop around for policies, but make sure that you’re adequately covered.
Make use of free publicity. Send out news releases, present your product or service to a newspaper editor, radio or T.V. producer if applicable.
Don’t overlook management/bookkeeping. Lack of managerial expertise is one of the single highest causes of business failure. Take courses, seek expert advice or hire help, but do learn basic management skills before you start.
Talk to owners of similar businesses outside your market area to get an idea of the potential and status of that line of business.
Join trade associations, business community associations, (i.e., chambers of commerce), business networks or clubs to help establish contacts.
Check both federal and provincial taxation requirements with Canada Revenue Agency and the Provincial Retail Sales Tax Office in the provinces where these are applicable. Find out about allowable deductions for automobile expenses, business meals and entertainment, and home offices expenses for self-employed persons.
Source
[tags]federal_governments, government_talks, business_trend, government_of_canada, business_operation, different_things, home_business, tax_returns, source_of_information, productivity, benefit, statistics[/tags]
In the previous article regarding the failure of the Georgia-based bank, I mentioned that the real estate fiasco that is currently going on in the United States is a great illustration of how the US economy is different from every economy on Earth. In the interests of clarity, I’d like to expand on that idea a little more.
The US business world is based entirely on the idea of extremes. It is essentially the closest thing to a pure free market that exists, but at the same time it is also not exactly a free market in many different cases. The US economy however is not as regulated by the government as most of the other developed nations of the world and that means that the business extremes are more pronounced in the US than they would be anywhere else.
During the good times, this is a fantastic thing because it means that businesses boom in the US to levels that the rest of the world could not hope to match. It is also what allows the country to generate the massive amounts of wealth that it has. However, during the bad times, the businesses and the individuals suffer a lot more than they would in other countries and this is what we are witnessing now. Without casting aspersions or praise on this method of doing business, I will say that it is an interesting difference that the United States has.
[tags]developed_nations, massive_amounts, fiasco, business_world, extremes, doing_business, rest_of_the_world, clarity, illustration, economy, boom, failure, earth, real_estate, united_states[/tags]
The real estate lending business is an interesting beast and it really illustrates how the American economy is different from every other economy on Earth. What was once the most secure way to do business is now as treacherous as can be. There have already been nine banks claimed by the treacherous waters of real estate lending gone bad and today the business world was aghast at the news that a tenth bank had fallen.
The unlucky number ten was the Integrity Bank based in Georgia. The ironically named Integrity Bank had risen from nothingness to big money holdings through the business of real estate lending and when those deals went bad, it found itself fighting for its life almost from day one. It’s something of a minor miracle that the bank lasted this long, but it’s finally thrown in the towel and divided its assets between the Regions Bank of Alabama and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The bank had about $974 million in deposited money that is split between deposits that were insured and deposits that were not. In both cases, the deposit load has been assumed by the Alabama-based bank, while the FDIC assumed the rest of the assets and reported that the failure of the bank resulted in a $250 million loss for the government corporation.
[tags]deposit_insurance_corporation, federal_deposit_insurance, federal_deposit_insurance_corporation, money_holdings, government_corporation, american_economy, treacherous_waters, regions_bank, business_world, integrity, banks, assets, failure, real_estate[/tags]
For people that are interested in business news, there is something on the horizon that could make you too depressed to work on your home business. It’s called Hurricane Gustav and if things go in a way that is extremely poor luck for the American business community, we could see devastation to the Gulf economy once again.
The first place that this devastation could fall is in the tourism sector and there are many reasons for this. The first is that there are many residents already vacating the gulf coast even though an evacuation hasn’t officially been called yet, the details of which can be
found at this website. With so many people leaving the gulf coast, it’s very unlikely that the coast will be able to capitalize fully on the peak period of its tourism year.
If we’re lucky in the business world, the hurricane will be dealt with in a competent way and tourism will be back to normal within a week of the hurricane hitting. If we’re not lucky however, there could be devastation on a large scale and at that point no business plan will be able to salvage this quarter for the gulf tourism industry. That could cause a downturn in a sector of the market and as we of course know from the last two years, downturns tend to be infectious in the modern economy.
[tags]hurricane_gustav, american_business_community, tourism_sector, tourism_industry, devastation, gulf_coast, business_world, business_plan, large_scale, home_business, horizon, business_news, economy[/tags]
