How To Create A Legitimate Product For Your Home Based Business Opportunity
How do you turn the light on for your personal creativity?
A night-duty telegrapher was looking for a way to get out of his job. He was probably the fastest hands east of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, he liked his job about as much as a mouth full of gasoline. He wanted to do two things instead and just these two things: get plastered and meet women at local bars.
His big hurdle was that every hour he was required to key in the number 6 to show he was still there. You have to imagine how stir crazy this young man got working at this tedious job.
He spent several days putting together a machine that would automatically key in the number 6 every hour on the hour. This invention worked for a while allowing the young man to enjoy many local establishments and everything the nightlife had to offer. Eventually his boss came in late one night without warning, and that was the end of that job. Nice invention though.
If you are wondering if that young man made anything of his life, well he did. You might have heard of him: Thomas Alva Edison.
Inventions are inspired by many different events for many unique purposes. The problem is you can’t force magic to happen with an invention for your legitimate home based business opportunity. There are ways to help get the creative juices flowing.
Get Down And Dirty!
The first step is you absolutely must get your hands dirty. There is way too much time spent on focus groups, surveys, and countless other “planning” events.
Stop having meetings, no more cultivating financial plans and projections, and please throw your business jargon filled mission statement into a folder and lock it away.
Businesses explode because they get their hands dirty and others waste millions on planning. No business idea is 100% full proof the first time. It is a growing process like being a parent for your first child.
Start creating a prototype or providing a service that is going to get you paid. Start your website, write content and build links. Write the software now to your next big product.
You might say, “Well Cade, you said you have to find out what your customer wants!” I will respond with yes and then probably smack you…no not really.
Show them something first before you improve on it. Your goal should be to create a product that is good. Then let your customers tell you how to make it great.
If that means you have to give it for free, on a trial basis, or for a discount then you do that. The profit you make, if any, will not be the dollar bills in your bank account, but the priceless feedback from your clients.
Smells Like Innovation
Michael Kittredge, founder of the Yankee Candle Company, began his business by walking door to door to sell his candles he made from melted crayons. He would ask people each time after they bought a candle what they would do to improve the product. Many responded that he needed to add something that would give it a scent that would match the color.
He simply did what was suggested and he made a fortune. Customer feedback would not have happened if Kittredge didn’t decide to melt crayons.
I understand if you say, “I don’t even know where to start. I don’t want to invent the light bulb or make candles.”
So what can you do to prime the pump?
There are several ways to foster your creativity:
- OH! Me, me, me!: One of the best ways that entrepreneurs create a product or service is by being the customer. You are already interested in the product you are providing to customers. Since you are a part of your own customer base, you understand what a customer loves and hates about the competition’s products. Think about products or services you use day in and day out. What do you like about them? What would you change to make your life easier?
- What does he know!?: There are countless entrepreneurs right now working day in and day out in the ranks of great companies. They are talented people that just haven’t figured it all out yet. They have a responsibility for an aspect of the company, but no one will listen to their ideas. They are surrounded by prideful, ignorant managers. If this is you, then this is the perfect time to try to cultivate the product or improve it on your own. You might have to do it at home to avoid being fired too early for your own financial good.
- I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like it!: Often we are completely foreign to the product or service of an industry. We might have no background and very little use of a product, but we see something in society that we can take advantage of. One of the smartest things you can do is find a business partner that has background in this area and court this person to join in your venture. This can save you a lot of wasted time.
- Where is my hammer?: The last way can be the hardest and the easiest all in one. You might have no background in an area, but you just establish something you thought of in your mind that you have never seen before. For some it is harder to be creative than others, but what is nice is that you are not boxed in by a jaded industry with rules. Your mind has no bounds, and I would say the best way to stimulate this is by reading many, many books. Fill your well with related industry books, trade magazines and blogs. Edison, although enjoying the night clubs, actually read Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Parker’s Natural and Experimental Philosophy, and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by the time he was 12.
These are the general starting points for you to come up with an exciting new brand. Whatever you do you need to provide value as a work at home business opportunity. The truth is the more passionate you become about it, the more you will read about it, talk to people about it, read content about it, and eventually figure it out.
Here is your assignment:
1. Spend at least one hour a day reading about innovation and business concepts (or whatever stimulates your mind).
2. Right after reading spend an hour pondering and writing ideas down on some savable document.
3. Carry a notepad and pen (or a pda/cell phone) that you can keep notes of daily experiences that you would change.
Inspiration comes in the most interesting circumstances, just ask Edison.
This is as much your blog as it is mine and now the blog is yours.
Let me ask you what is your single most important question about legitimate home based business opportunities?
What brought you to Write To Right?
What would you want to see more of on this site about legitimate home business opportunities that would excite you, but you can’t find?
This is your chance to make this site better one comment at a time. Feel comfortable to express your inner feelings and don’t hold anything back!
If you liked this article, then learn how to take it to the next level by matching physical health with business success at Know My Body. If you would like to get an internet business started from home today for cheap then join the The Keyword Academy.
Filed Under Home Based Business Opportunities, Starting A Business | 133 Comments
Finding Purpose When You Work At Home With A Home Business Opportunity
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
- Clarence, “It’s A Wonderful Life”
“I wanna live again! Please let me live again!” I know many of you think of this phrase not just from Jimmy Stewart in “It’s A Wonderful Life”, but I am sure a lot of you have that on repeat in your mind at your job. You are looking for any way out, and you have this big business idea that is finally going to solve your problems.
You toss your letter of resignation on the desk of your cranky, cigar smokin’ boss and kindly flip him the bird as you walk out. You walk into your home triumphant, and you kiss your spouse hello. You hold your kids tight knowing now you will see them grow up, and you know it truly is a wonderful life.
Next day you wake up, sober after being drunk on freedom, and suddenly you have a cold sweat. The shock and fear sets in that now you are finally on your own. It is solely up to you to decide your financial future with your home business opportunity, not to mention the responsibility you have for family members.
It can be a scary feeling to start your own business. There are so many aspects you have to worry about now that didn’t even cross your mind as an employee.
You ask yourself, “How am I going to get this widget together? Where am I going to get the funds to put said widget together? Who will I market to and how do I know they will like it? What customer service issues do I have to worry about when it comes to the widget? And that leads to my question about legal protection in case someone tries to sue me because they slipped on the widget.”
The list of questions go on and on as you piece together your work at home business opportunity. You have so many “what if’s” in your mind that your head is about to explode like a Fourth of July firework.
What makes it harder is now you have to work at your office at home where you have distractions from your spouse needing you to run this errand, your kids running in and out of the room, and construction workers coming into the house to fix appliances now that you are on your way to being a millionaire.
Basically, the stress can be so overwhelming, you wonder if your old boss couldn’t see the gesture you gave him through all the cigar smoke when you left so you could crawl back to your old job. Before you get could feet and put your resume back together, let’s take a look at your situation.
Serving A Need In Society
“The more good I do, the more money has come in. You have to learn to give. You’re not born to give. You’re born selfish.”
-Ted Turner, CEO of Turner Broadcasting
Many people doubt they can be an entrepreneur, but the truth is you decide whether or not to kindle that spirit within. The biggest way to access this internal John D. Rockefeller is through one word: Purpose.
There is no amount of money, accolades, commodities, or business growth that can compensate for finding a true passionate reason for your business.
In order to figure out what your passion is there are several general areas that will fuel your passion:
- wanting to improve the world
- seeing some wrong in society that you want to make right
- preserving a good quality of society that is about to fade out
- or improving the quality of life for your community
The essence here is that you want to establish something that will improve the way of society as we see it.
For the longest time America was just another country with a lot of land. There involvement in trade and global financial success was limited.
Then Andrew Carnegie came a long and created Carnegie steel. He created huge business partnerships with many of his competitors (one his former boss) and fused together a conglomerate that raked in millions.
John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil and sliced through the competition. He would offer a fair price to buy people out or drive them out of business. He would show his competition his books and control of the oil industry. Once they saw they had no option but to take the buyout, Rockefeller would always get his way. Eventually legal action had to be taken against him to break up the monopoly through anti-trust laws.
Both of these gentlemen, along with other contributors at the turn of the century, created a fortune and prominence for this country that we still live off of today. Their passions were manifested in completely different ways. Carnegie was known for joint ventures, Rockefeller for smashing the competition.
No matter what your feelings were on either of them, both had a sincere passion and a clear vision of what they were doing, and no hurdle would get in their way.
Direction
“Concentration is my motto - first honesty, then industry, then concentration.”
-Andrew Carnegie
In order to get this vision or find true purpose you have to have a very clear business plan and motto. You have to know exactly what you are doing day in and day out that is driving you to success.
Figure out in one sentence your (BI) Business Intent. This sentence should be the long term goal of what your business will provide society. Keep it short and simple.
When you have this nailed down then follow after Bill Kelleher, one of the founders of Southwest, and make sure that every action you take in business–political, financial, operations, product design, etc–will follow this one motto.
This will clear up confusion for you and your business associates. It will keep you focused on work instead of batting around ideas and never really getting anything done.
Jimmy Stewart got a second chance to live again and so can you. So stop thinking about going back to that boss, you have made the decision. Now stick with it and get your hands dirty in the work.
This is as much your blog as it is mine and now the blog is yours.
Let me ask you what is your single most important question about work at home business opportunities?
What brought you to Write To Right?
What would you want to see more of on this site about work at home business opportunities that would excite you, but you can’t find?
This is your chance to make this site better one comment at a time. Feel comfortable to express your inner feelings and don’t hold anything back!
If you liked this article, then learn how to take it to the next level by matching physical health with business success at Know My Body. If you would like to get an internet business started from home today for cheap then join the The Keyword Academy.
Filed Under Home Based Business Opportunities, Small Business Opportunities, Starting A Business | 49 Comments
When Should I Leave My Job To Start A Work At Home Business Opportunity
When is it the right time to leave your job so you can be happy again?
“Are you on drugs?”
That was the response I received most often when I left a six figure annual income salary at 24 to start my own business. Most people were shocked by the fact after I had spent so many hours with this company, dropped out of school, and moved out of state to a place where I knew no one. It would seem easy to say I was committed to this new job and that it would create an income for me for years to come.
Well the truth is when you have the entrepreneur itch, it doesn’t matter how well you are getting paid. This is the big question that you will have to decide when to leave your job: How do I want to live my life?
A work at home business opportunity can be exciting, but hard to figure out when you don’t have the experience. To help you sift through the madness of sleepless nights, the groggy mornings at a cubicle with TS reports, and angry management yelling at you for being late to a meeting about the weekly meetings; let us discuss what you should weigh before making this Robert Frost-ish decision before reaching the tipping point.
What do you owe the company you work for?
Often you will have contractual obligations to your current employer that require you to stay with a company for a certain period of time. You might also have a non-compete clause in your contract that you will make it hard to start up your business if they are very similar businesses.
Often non-competes can be pretty shaky because many states make it hard to enforce it when you have a right to work with your trade. You have a responsibility to feed your family and the government won’t hold you back from that. Companies tend to be more concerned that you are stealing their trade secrets. That might require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Even more than contractual, you might feel that you have a moral responsibility toward your company because of what they have done for you. They have provided a living for you, possibly an education, a chance to feed your family, and put a roof over your head.
One of the smartest things you can do is figure out if you can trust your employer and be honest with them about your feelings to move forward with your life. This is what my business partner did with his job and it made it easier for him to move on. Businesses are created by employees improving on business ideas of their former employers.
What responsibilities do you have toward your family?
This very well could be the most important aspect you will have to face when deciding to leave your job. I once heard a man say, “No success in the world can compensate for failure in the home.”
Your family is your legacy and what you will leave behind when you pass from this world. Never forget that work is just a means to spend more time with them and take care of them.
Decide what will help you spend more quality time with your family. If you are stressed all the time with your job, but still get to spend time with your family; is that what you want? Do you want your time spent with them to be less significant because you are cranky?
Would it be even more stressful for you to leave your job and work from home while you are trying to start your business? Can you leverage your business enough so you can still spend time with your family? What will help you to provide for your family’s future, such as retirement for you and your spouse, or college funds for your children?
There are a lot of questions to be asked, but you have to decide what weighs as the most significant aspect of your relationships. Look at what you are doing right now and ask yourself, “Is this day-to-day routine getting me what I want?”
How stable is your job?
Google is well known for not paying their employees amazing salaries, but compensating that with stock options and restricted shares. Well in less than a year the stock options have dropped from $747 to $348. That is a 53% drop. I am sure the package is not looking as enticing to Google employees right now.
So many people rest on the security of their job, but they don’t realize that it can be gone faster than an ABC sitcom. Numerous industries have struggled since 9/11, and it has spread farther with the mortgage crisis and subprime lending. It looks like it will get worse before it gets better with the current $700 billion bailout.
You can’t count on retirement, social security, or pensions. You might be lucky to have some, but it doesn’t mean that it will be enough. It might be hard for you to believe, but one day you will be obsolete and useless to the workforce. The only way to solve this is to prepare now while you have the chance and put some dollars in the right investments and under your pillows.
This is why it is always important to have a business of some kind. Even while you are working you should have a business running on the side. Robert Kiyosaki used the term, “Mind your own business”. Always look to create an asset on the side even if you like your job enough to stay with it forever.
Why do you want to leave your job?
Think for a moment why you want to leave your job. Were you offended? Are you just plain tired of your cubicle? Are you frustrated because you are putting on weight or feel pointless in life? Not enough fantasy football preparation for your $60 pot? There are many reasons to hate doing the same thing every day for forty years.
Decide if now is the time to leave and if you are exiting for the right reasons. Any one can leave their job, but are you prepared or is this something that you are doing out of frustration for your current work situation?
Often that frustration can be fruitless for you and for your future. A successful business is not started out of anger, but in providing value with your innovations. People are not going to give you money just because you hate your boss (unless you get picked to be on some reality show).
What is your business plan?
Providing value leads to our next question and that is a business plan. Do you know exactly what it is that you want to do? Do you know who your client is and what it is that they want? Do you know then how you are going to market that to your audience? How are you funding the business?
You might need to get to know the industry and prospects a little more before you leave your job. This will give you a good idea of what they want instead of what you think they want. This will also help with any product or service creation that you will embark upon.
Create a clear path, both short-term and long-term, of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to achieve that. Set realistic income goals and work your butt off to achieve that.
Understand that business opportunities don’t always go the way you anticipate it. In fact, business plans are killed by performing a business. Which means there are always variables in business that you can never anticipate and can permanently alter your direction. Remember when we talked about BI (Business Intent)? You need to ask yourself daily, “What is the main objective that I need to accomplish today?”
How committed are the other business partners and potential investors?
It can be a nightmare to get into a business and find out that your business partners are not a good match to work with or vice versa. You have made this huge transition away from a job, only to find out that you jumped into a pool full of sharks. This is something else you are can’t anticipate, but make sure you are joining a partner because they bring value that you can’t provide on your own.
Also make sure that if you are getting venture capital that you have a contract and a solid relationship. I emphasize the solid relationship part because the truth is that contracts can be twisted and broken by corrupt businessmen. Prepare for the unexpected.
If you are franchising or starting an organized business opportunity you want to make sure that you have a disclosure agreement in writing for any home work business opportunities. This will be important for you to see all of their financial dealings, what type of branding and marketing you will receive, and also what education you will get.
How is your credit?
Not only will this be important for your business, but possibly more important for your personal finances. Business owners have a way of struggling initially until they figure out an effective business model and chances are you are going to be no different.
It might be necessary to live off of credit for a while during your start up process. This can be dangerous, but often the only option if you don’t have a lot of savings. I have a business partner that is prepared with over $100,000 over a couple lines of credit. It will allow for him and his family to live for over a year on that, but obviously that isn’t what he wants.
A lot of people shun borrowing because debt can be taxing on you physically and emotionally. The truth is that debt is one of the biggest reasons for divorces and relationship struggles. Be on the same page as the other members of your family.
If you are all willing to borrow in order to create success then do it. People borrow money for countless things that will never make them money like clothes, cars, nice restaurants, and other accessories. Why not go into debt with something that would create value?
What experience do you have running a business?
Your experience is huge. I am not just saying it is important to have a trade, but it is also necessary to have experience running a business. You have to know how to organize a business with each vital position. Create a business organization chart with each position of the company and their vital roles. Then fill in each position with the name of the person performing that role. If you are a one man show, then you are going to put your name in each one of those boxes.
When you do this you will quickly see that this could be a lot of work. Most people get in trouble because they try to be the owner (creative side), manager (delegating responsibilities from the owner), and the technician (performing the physical trade). Often people get caught up in doing all three. Now you are the same employee, but you have numerous other responsibilities on top of it.
Try to find your way out of that and just focus on the creative direction of your business. The more time you spend on creativity, the more efficient your business will be.
So What Do I Do?
That is a lot to chew on. The best thing you can do is take your time, write down a list of pros and cons, put together a thorough business plan, discuss with potential partners and investors, and make sure that you are fully ready to make the transition. In the end, it comes down to your confidence in your own abilities. There is never a wrong time to leave your job as long as you are prepared physically, emotionally, intellectually, and every other -ally that you can be to start a business.
Know that there isn’t a perfect time to leave, but there are better times. Don’t wait too long to jump into a new business. Whatever decision you make, ‘mind your business’ now so you can prepare for your future.
This is as much your blog as it is mine and now the blog is yours.
Let me ask you what is your single most important question about work at home business opportunities?
What brought you to Write To Right?
What would you want to see more of on this site about work at home business opportunities that would excite you, but you can’t find?
This is your chance to make this site better one comment at a time. Feel comfortable to express your inner feelings and don’t hold anything back!
If you liked this article, then learn how to take it to the next level by matching physical health with business success at Know My Body. If you would like to get an internet business started from home today for cheap then join the The Keyword Academy.
Filed Under Business Opportunity Leads, Starting A Business, Work From Home Business Opportunities | 31 Comments
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