Archive for the ‘Business Tips’ Category
How many of you have a close relationship with someone who saves you thousands of dollars every year? If you are running a home business for women, and doing your own taxes, you could be throwing away your hard-earned money. I am educated in the field of accounting. However, the responsibility of staying current with the latest tax laws is a burden I am not equipped to manage. In years past, when I was an employee, I enjoyed the efficiency of tax preparation software. The interview-styled questions helped me understand my IRS form 1040. I even happily volunteered to help friends and neighbors complete their tax returns.
This year will be different. I own a home-based business. Even after my years of tax experience, I don’t trust my outdated knowledge, or my ability to navigate software, to the task of keeping every penny that I’m allowed. I’ll leave that job to the experts; those folks who must pay for continuing education classes every year, in order to get the most relevant information available. The same people who, this time of year, are working sixty to eighty hours per week. Do yourself a big favor and hire an expert this year. How much will it cost? Keep the reciept. You can deduct it as a 2010 business expense next year. Please remember one thing. When tax season is finished. Hug your accountant.
I just read this story and it struck me
An exectutive from one of the major airlines boarded one of his own aircraft en route to a busines meeting. Before they left the gate, the executive pulled down the tray table form the seat in front of him and found a cofee stain on it. He refused to let the plane leave until the flight attendant had gone through and checked every tray table on the entire aircraft. The crew quickly went thorugh the cabin, did a few spot cleanings, and in only a minute or two they were in the air heading toward their destination.
During the flight, one of the attendants approached the executive and asked him why he had made such a big deal about a little coffee stain on his tray table. His answer was simple. Pereption. He asked the flight attendant, if one of our paying passengers pulls down their table and finds a stain on it, what will their perception of our airline be? The attendant thought for a moment and the recognized that the perception would be that the airline does not care or that they don’t pay attention to details. Perhaps this would lead a customer to wonder; how well do they service their engines? It could have created a loss of confidence in the airline all together.
In our every day lives, professionalism is a quality that leads to a great perception. With Women’s Dream Team, we are a top notch professional group of women that work from our homes with our own home based business. As Women Entrepreneurs we want the top notch perception 100% of the time!
I am finally getting used to the fact that I am a grandma and all of a sudden I have 12 grand kids. I am writing this blog from my son’s house in Elizabethtown, KY. I feel so blessed because without my home-based business I wouldn’t have been able to jump in the car and come down here to see my brand new granddaughter or to see my son off to Qatar next week. I remember back when my children were growing up. I worked so hard all the time, 40-50 hours a week. I was lucky to use my lunch hour in order to take care of doctor appointments or school functions. I was so exhausted when I got home in the evenings by the time I finished cooking dinner, getting the kids ready and cleaning up the house I didn’t have any desire to plan a vacation. I am so happy to be able to have it different now. Since we 6 year old twin boys now and we are new parents all over again, I find myself so rich in the fact that I can work from home and be home with my kids. Believe me, life is so much easier now.
What are you goals?
What are you New Year’s Resolutions?
It is not too early to start thinking about how 2009 went and how you want 2010 to be. What you need to do is:
* write down your resolutions so that you can be reminded of them.
* create an action plan (reasonable action plan) to reach them
* read your plan daily so you constantly are reminded of them (it takes many days to make it a habit, and isn’t that what we are really doing..creating a new habit)
* celebrate success! (even baby-steps)
If your goal is to have financial freedom…. consider going to www.WomensDreamTeam.biz and starting a home based business where you can earn residual income for women that can last a life time!
When you have a home business, you get to have best work ambiance! Now don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom, but I love working at home in a quiet house with a fire going and having the dogs around. Women’s Dream Team is the perfect home based business for moms, as you can work this business around your busy life and work at the quiet times. I do not miss the hustle and bustle water cooler of corporate America. I have the best ambiance….for free!
What is your ideal work ambiance?
For many Americans, telecommuting represents the ultimate employment scenario. By working from home, it’s possible to cut out lengthy commutes, to forget about micromanaging bosses and to reconnect with family. So, why don’t all women choose to work from home? The problem is that most people simply don’t know where to find practical opportunities. Let’s take a look at the realistic possibilities available right now on the Internet.
Data entry jobs are never in short supply, especially since tech companies and publishers are always needing to outsource the large quantities of text they handle every day. These jobs are usually offered on a contractual basis with employees being paid in accordance with the amount of work they do. E-commerce is also among the most popular business ideas for women, and it allows you to pursue your great passion. Simply choose a niche market that you already know something about and begin offering a product or service to meet customer demand.
A recent report found that women-owned businesses in the United States now employ 23 million people, which is nearly double the number of those employed by the 50 biggest companies in the country combined!
Business analysts agree: Alicia Robb, Kauffman Foundation senior research fellow was recently quoted saying the following: “The interesting thing about women entrepreneurs is that many of them may be purposely starting businesses as a lifestyle choice. The number of women-owned businesses growing faster may reflect that women are going into business as a viable way to move out of the traditional employment market and gain flexibility.”6
Why not be one of those women entrepreneurs and take your career and your financial future in your own hands?
SOURCES:
1-Ylan Q. Mui, “Women a Big Force in Business, Study Finds,” Washington Post, October 3, 2009: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100205317.html
6 – February 3, 2009: The Kaufmann Foundation: http://www.kauffman.org/Details.aspx?id=6254&LangType=1033
So after putting in another day with my home-based business I got up from my chair feeling pretty good about myself and my accomplishments for the day. Then I turned around and looked at my house. I have twin 6 year old boys, one boxer, and two kittens. No, two little boys could not have possibly created what looked like the work of hurricane Katrina. Those feelings of accomplishment just went down the drain. As I sat there in the midst of this natural disaster I decided I definitely had to come up with a plan and fast. How in the world would I be able to run a successful business and a successful household all while homeschooling my children. This really did sound impossible. Thus the daily schedule. Because I am an unorganized person I needed something I could look at and see what needed to be done and whether I had done it. I also wrote down all the things that a 6 year old was capable of doing in the way of household chores. Now I was feeling a little better about myself once again. I made a chore chart. I know, you probably think…”Those do not work” But mine does. I took colored poster board and drew a huge bubble gum machine on it and cut it out. Then I cut out bubble gum circles, enough to match how many responsibilities/chores each child would have. Then I drew matching bubble gum circles on the machine. I put Velcro on the back of each bubble gum and machine. On each bubble gum circle I cut out, I wrote a different chore on each one. As the boys completed each chore I would stick the bubble gum into the machine. They thought I was brilliant…and I shared their thoughts. This worked great. I make sure I clean up the kitchen after each meal, start one load of clothes in the morning and one after lunch, vacuum right after lunch before I sit down at my desk and the boys want allowance so they make sure they earn all of their bubble gum every day. Is it perfect? No. We get side tracked sometimes but it sure is a lot better now than before.
Make Lemonade!
Literally. Having kids make a lemonade stand teaches then the value of hard work and entrepreneurship! As a woman entrepreneur, I work everday to show my children that hard word does pay and that you can be paid what you are worth if you think plan, and act on your ideas!
What are some other ways children can show their entrpreneurship?
I can’t believe that we are already in the 6th week of home school. I am finally starting to feel comfortable with my new title of teacher. I am amazed at how much progress the kids are making. Of course this is kindergarten so I guess I should’nt feel too proud of myself yet. If I can still say that when they are in high school learning chemistry and doing well then I will pat myself on the back. I do think of how much my day consists of and wonder how I would do it if I worked outside the home.
Fortunately, because I am a woman entrepreneur I can juggle all of this without leaving my house. I have also learned that the curriculum alone does not give my kids a well rounded education. I have had to become very creative with my activities.
Last Friday we took a nature walk and picked up leaves and acorns. We got quite an assortment of leaves. Now we will put them on an information sheet, name them and cover them with clear contact paper and put them in a 3 ring binder. The kids seemed to love the activity, the exercise and they always enjoy the time with me, as I do with them. On our weekly trip to the library I found a book called “Books Boys Love” and it has lists and lists of good books to read to the boys. I am having a blast just reading these books. Also, the Core Knowledge Foundation has a great Children’s Dictionary that has lots of words that you can teach them a word a week or a day. The book also has sayings to teach them like “An apple a day keeps the doctor a way”, and so many other things that you just wouldn’t think of teaching. It is a very valuable tool. My income from my home based business has funded my home school curriculum and supplies. I am very excited about it because I can really experiment with many different lessons and not worry about taking the money out of the family budget.