Sometimes, it is fun to think about whether we could possibly imagined doing the things that we now do every day. If someone had tried to tell me while I was in high school what I would be doing when I was thirty four years old I would not have believed them. It was the mid 1990s, and I thought that I would follow the typical trajectory of the middle class teen – go to college, get a job, and have a family. However, I would not have had any idea that college would lead me to law school, or … Continue reading →

Here on the home – based business blog, we often talk about how to start your own home – based business. Owning and operating your own business is not the only route to the home – based professional lifestyle. There are home – based jobs, and there are also business opportunities available that are essentially turn – key. You can buy into one of these existing businesses and learn how to run it. If you are interested in finding a home based business opportunity, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. When you search the internet for “home based business”, … Continue reading →

Tax Day is just around the corner, and if you have not yet started to prepare your tax return for your home – based business it is time to get started. Like any other task or project, filing your taxes is one of those things that can take longer than you expect it to. If you wait until the night before or the day that they are due, you will inevitably run into issues with misplaced 1099s, a shoebox of expense receipts that make no sense, or any number of other issues that could prevent you from filing your taxes … Continue reading →

When you have a home – based business, you rely heavily on your business equipment. Things like cell phones, cell phone service, computers, and internet service are essentials that you depend on every day to make working from home work for you. Over the past few days, my family has had a funny experience with business equipment that illustrates just how important reliable business equipment is. Here is a little background information to set the stage for the story. My husband and I have been customers with the same wireless service provider for ten years. The service was so good … Continue reading →

Today I wished I had a job. Sometimes you feel you need a job and not a business. Sometimes you wish someone else made the decisions, took the fall, and gave you a paycheck. Today, was my day to feel this way. My day started out fine but when I looked over my “to-do” list and looked over the projects in the works and realized they vastly outweighed the income being brought in, I just wanted to give it up. Imagine an elephant. Now imagine a mouse. The elephant is my workload and the mouse is my income. If only … Continue reading →

Sometimes, life throws surprises your way. Whether the surprises are happy ones or not, they are likely to affect your home – based business in one way or another. Since surprises happen unexpectedly, it is difficult to prepare for them. The key to recovering from a major surprise is to react to is as best you can. Last Friday, I received a very big surprise. I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound and some lab tests. At the time I thought that I was about thirty six weeks pregnant. That meant that I still had approximately another … Continue reading →

Sometimes I like to take a little time to think about what has changed from the time that I started my two home – based businesses a little over two years ago until now. Today, I realized that one major change that has occurred over that period of time is how I think about myself and my businesses. That has impacted the image that I present to others regarding not only myself, but my businesses as well. Believe it or not, I think that these changes are responsible from my transition from being not busy enough and looking for additional … Continue reading →

Being a home – based professional gives me the flexibility to work anytime, anywhere. Of course, for me, any time means any time that my son is napping, sleeping, or in the care of my husband or another loving relative. Anywhere does mean just that, though. Today I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the places that I have taken my trusty laptop in the interest of getting work done when the opportunity presents itself. Why today? Well, today I am sitting in the waiting room of the phlebotomy lab at a hospital an hour away … Continue reading →

Even though it is still winter, if you have been tossing around the idea of starting a home – based business in lawn maintenance, gardening, or landscaping, now is a good time to finalize your business plan so that you can open your business this spring. If you begin now, you will be able to get yourself organized and make a clear plan for what you want to do with your business. You can also take your time to search for the best prices on any equipment that you may need for your business. Even more importantly, you will have … Continue reading →

I would like to thank Stephanie Romero for her wonderful blog post about taking time to reflect on the year that is just about done. You see, I almost leaped ahead and wrote a post about my plans and visions for my home – based businesses for the next year. Stephanie’s post reminded me that there is a lot to be learned by looking back in time, so that is what I have decided to do today instead. This way, when I do think ahead to next year I will have a perspective that includes the wisdom of having thought … Continue reading →