One of the foremost determinations you are going to need to make when you are thinking about starting a home based business is whether or not you are going to operate it on a full time basis or on a part time basis. For some professionals, you will be required to work full time in order to launch your business. If you are operating a small business from home in your spare time then you will not need to commit nearly the same amount of time or energy in regards to launching your new business venture. This is especially true if you are starting a business that sells products online. However, if you intend to develop a service based business then you may need to commit a substantial amount of time and capital towards developing your brand name for your home based business. As we have discussed in some of our previous articles, you should focus substantially on the benefits as well as the drawbacks to starting a home based business.Beyond the time factor that is involved with determining whether or not you should start a home based business, you are also going to need to examine the capital costs involved. Although you are not going to be starting an office, you are definitely going to need to have a computer, establish a website, obtain business cards, and have a clearly defined marketing budget. However, while these may seem like large expenses, we have seen home based businesses launch their operations for as little as $1,000. As such, prior to starting this type of business enterprise you may want to focus on developing an appropriate budget that outlines both your anticipated expenses as well as your expected revenues. In many instances, it may be in your best interest to develop a business plan specific to your industry. Within this business plan you should focus not only on the start up costs, but also on your expected profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, as well as your balance sheet. The more organized you are in regards to your business the more likely that your home based business with be successful.Finally, you should work with your accountant to determine what type of corporate structure that your home based business may need prior to launching operations. This is important as their could be substantial ramifications if you do not launch this type of new business venture appropriately.
Plan To Succeed With Information Product Creation: Why You Need To Split Your Process Up
One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.
However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.
Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.
But why?
In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!
So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)
The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.
Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.
Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.
By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.
You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.
Property Management – Checklist in Finding Your Property Managers
Managing rental properties like apartment, studio, condominium, townhouses or house and lot requires a lot of money, time and effort. It also needs near-constant availability to ensure that you meet the needs of your tenants. Property Management Company is the answer to many property owners and investors who are having a hard time managing their properties. This property management company is composed of professional people who are tasked to build a good relationship between the landlord and the tenant. Their duties include the collection of rent, responding to maintenance issues and repair damages of the property, evictions, and monthly financial reporting.
Not all property management companies are alike. Like any products or services in the market, there are hundreds of property management companies who are promising to offer a good service but only few deliver the best-in-class service. Thus, you have to be very critical in selecting the company to manage your properties. Below are some tips on how to find the company to trust in managing you properties:
1) Good Reputation. Reputation is an intangible and multifaceted concept, which takes time and experience to build. The company’s reputation speaks a lot of its identity and the kind of service that it offers to its clients. A good property management company must be consistently professional, responsive and thorough. In addition, the company must be a licensed real estate broker and must have a team of experts to manage you properties. Pick the one who values your property.
2) Cost Efficient. Understanding financial statements, profit and loss, income taxes and budgeting are all very essential for the property manager. Expertise and competitive rental properties is necessary. The real estate property management company should work closely with the landlord in order to maximize rental income and return on investment for the property.
3.) MARKETING STRATEGIES- Good marketing strategies of a company can attract more potential tenants to lease your property. Effective competition in the market place necessitates more than just a word of mouth; it needs a solid marketing. Advertisements should be consistent and up-to-date. An effective marketing strategy can maximize occupancy and rental rates.
4.) Quick and Responsive- Quick and responsive communication are the solution to business development and service improvement. The skill to communicate effectively with customers and respond to their needs is essential because it only reflects how customers are valued. The property manager must then respond to their requests, monitor their activities as regards the lease requirements, collect rent in a timely manner, and continually assess the tenants’ satisfaction as regards the property’s amenities versus those of competing rental properties in the area. Services and communication must respond to the members’ needs.
5.) Conflict Management Skills. Lastly, a quality property manager should be excellent in conflict management. Real estate matters are so sensitive; therefore, crucial situations are being dealt here. Knowledge of existing laws is important towards the implementation of the business policy to avoid unwanted outcomes. They should know how to deal with the complexities of running rental properties.