To Start a Business From Home: Do This - Not That pot

To Start a Business From Home:
Do This - Not That!
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MoonLightWealth.Com
Presents
To Start a Business From
Home: Do This - Not That!

Introduction
Unfortunately, even in a time where we have unlimited access to information and
resources, many entrepreneurs still start a businesses in a vacuum.
Little thought is given to their competition, location, skillset, or a sound
marketing strategy.
In this short report we will cover some important areas that any entrepreneur
considering a business venture should review.
The time you spend with this report now can save you thousands of dollars later.
Since 1988 the staff members of MoonLightWealth.Com have helped business
owners start, grow, or fix their enterprises.
We hope that you put the information in this report to good use.

What Type of Business Should You Start?
This question speaks to your nature as much as it does the marketplace. Are you
someone that likes to manage people are do you prefer a more solitary business
model?
Do This
Consider taking one of the many online personality tests that can give you some
insight into your strongest skillset. Interview your friends and family members.
Ask them what they believe are your outstanding character traits. You might be
surprised to discover that these people know you better than you think.
Not That
Don’t choose a business model because you have a friend that is doing it. And
certainly don’t choose something that is ‘on trend’ but you would never be happy
doing the work. Remember, you will spend many months, and possibly years,
doing this work. It should be something that is compatible with who you are
inside and out.
What Is The Competition?
If you are going to work this business from home who else is doing something

similar close to you?
Do This
Go to the local business searches available online and pick up the yellow pages.
You can even call the Better Business Bureau to get a listing of similar businesses
in your area. Other resources that you can use are:
SCORE – www.score.org
U.S. Small Business Administration
Local Chamber of Commerce
Through these resources you can determine if there is a need for your product.
Are the existing businesses owners making a profitable living doing it?
One strategy is to call someone in a different state (maybe even the opposite
coast) and ask them about their business. Let them know that you are interested
in starting a similar business in your state and that you will never be in
competition with them. Most owners like to talk about their business. Many
would gladly give cautionary words of advice to a newcomer as to what mistakes
to avoid. Offer to pay them for 30 minutes of their time to have this discussion.
You may find that successful business owners are helpful and don’t mind sharing
advice for free.

Not That
Don’t get excited about the idea of the business and not put any time into
researching the industry and competition. This can be the kiss of death for a new
home business owner.
Do The Math!
Before buying your first pack of business cards do the math. Too many business
owners are quick to envision success without starting with the basics.
Do This
Determine how much it will cost to deliver the service or create the product.
When you are pricing services you have more room than pricing a product.
Products have hard costs that you can’t get around. But what you decide to charge

for services have more flexibility.
Cost-plus pricing. This is the traditional method for pricing. What is the cost to
provide a service or create a product? To determine cost, you will need to
consider:
direct costs – if you are selling cakes for example what does it cost to purchase
the ingredients? Direct costs are those for activities or services that benefit
specific projects, e.g., salaries for project staff and materials required for a
particular project. Because these activities are easily traced to projects, their costs
are usually charged to projects on an item-by-item basis.
indirect costs – will you have an assistant? How much will you pay them? How
much gas/electricity will you use with the oven? What is your monthly mortgage,
taxes, insurance? Will you need additional insurance? Sometimes these are
referred to as ‘overhead costs’. The goal is to break these costs down and apply
them to the product/service being offered.
fixed costs - are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods
or services produced by the business. They tend to be time-related, such as
salaries or rents being paid per month, and are often referred to as overhead
costs. This is in contrast to variable costs, which are volume-related (and are paid
per quantity produced).
Competitors' pricing. You need to be aware of what competitors are charging
for similar services in the marketplace. Thanks to the internet this information is
readily available for entrepreneurs.

Not That
Avoid trying to compete on price alone. It simply doesn’t work. Any business that
is larger than you can drive prices down long enough to run you out of the
marketplace. Establish a niche that would be difficult for larger companies to
provide. An example might be a carwash service that goes to the client’s home.
The logistics behind such a business model would be a nightmare for a large
company. But nimble entrepreneurs can pull off such a service easily and make

healthy margins.
What Is Your Value Proposition?
A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the
customer of value that will be experienced. A value proposition can apply to an
entire organization, or parts thereof, or customer accounts, or products or
services.
Developing a value proposition is based on a review and analysis of the benefits,
costs and value that an organization can deliver to its customers, prospective
customers, and other constituent groups within and outside the organization. It is
also a positioning of value.
This is where a lot of the subjectivity comes in when setting a price for a service.
When you have a product, you may decide to use keystone pricing, which
generally takes the wholesale cost and doubles it to come up with a price to
charge and account for your profit. With a service, you can't necessarily do that.
A good example of bonuses that add value can be seen in any infomercial. The
“but we’re not done yet” bonuses always compliment the main product. They
create excitement and help push the viewer into a buying decision.
Do This
First determine the direct and indirect costs of your product or service. Now what
other ‘psychological benefits’ could you offer to increase the perceived value?
Let’s look at the cake service example again. You might add:
an oversized personalized greeting or thank you card with each order.
The cake delivery person might have a song that they sing (or a poem they read)
to each recipient.
The delivery person might also where a special theme costume that would make
the delivery itself an event.
Not That
Don’t choose bonuses that are simply stacked on your offering that are not
compatible. For example you wouldn’t want someone in a costume delivering
flowers for a funeral arrangement.

Do You Have the Proper Equipment to Start?
Which equipment is really needed for your business to get off the ground? In the
cake business scenario you would need:
oven(s)
mixer(s)
refrigeration
shelves
delivery vehicle
etc.
Do This
Research a franchise model for the type of business that you are starting. Many
times you can order a franchise prospectus. The franchise prospectus sent to a
prospective franchisee generally contains a brochure of information about the
general operations of the franchise, a copy of the franchisor's Uniform Franchise
Offering Circular (UFOC), a franchise agreement, and an individual franchise
application. These hold a wealth of information for anyone starting a similar
business. As we mentioned earlier you can contact a business owner in another
state and get their advice about equipment and costs.
Not That
You don’t want to buy more equipment than you initially need to get things going.
Once you are generating profit purchase additional, non-critical, items. Don’t
think that leasing equipment is a safer approach. Leasing business equipment has
two main disadvantages: overall cost and lack of ownership. With regard to cost,
leasing an item is almost always more expensive than purchasing it. For example,
a three-year lease on a computer worth $4,000, at a standard rate of $40/month
per $1,000, will cost you a total of $5,760. If you had bought it outright, you
would have paid only $4,000. In addition to the higher cost, you will have built
up no equity in the computer.
Process Map Your Business Before Starting

One of the most worthwhile endeavors you can undertake is to do a process map
of your business before opening your doors. This is something that you will
continue to update on a regular basis and will become an indispensable exercise.
Business process mapping refers to activities involved in defining exactly what a
business entity does, who is responsible, to what standard a process should be
completed and how the success of a business process can be determined. Once
this is done, there can be no uncertainty as to the requirements of every internal
business process. A business process illustration is produced.

The main purpose behind business process mapping is to assist organizations in
becoming more efficient. A clear and detailed business process map allows you to
look at the business at any point in time and determine if there are redundancies
that can be eliminated.
Do This
Take a process like baking and delivering a cake. Then map out every detail in the
process:
getting the materials/ingredients (who is responsible and how is it done?)
pre-baking, baking, and post-baking activities
delivery
customer satisfaction/feedback
referrals
Not That
Don’t assume that because YOU can do a task that process mapping isn’t
necessary. As your business grows you will need to add more people. By giving
them process maps of procedures you will accelerate the completion of tasks and
reduce the training time exponentially.
Some Start-up Steps for New Business Owners
If you want to help increase your chances of success consider the following:
Inquiry about local and state requirements for licensing and zoning regulations.
In our cake baking scenario it is important to note that some states don’t allow

commercial baking in residences.
Be sure to check with your local zoning office to find out how the zoning
regulations in your area may affect your business plans. Determine if your
business requires any licenses and file the necessary forms.
Rent a post office box and use that address on your promotional mail and
stationery, doing this will make it less obvious that you are working from home. A
professional image is very important to your clientele.
Consider using a voicemail service in the beginning to lighten your load until you
can afford a live receptionists answering service.

Get help in organizing your work space area. You will be surprised how much
space can be gained by consulting with professionals in this area.
You may also want to schedule appointments with clients at their office or renting
a conference room to maintain a professional image. Many companies provide
satellite office space that can be rented by the hour. (At the time of this writing
Execu-Centers offer such a service).’
Join a strong “Lead Group” or another association to help promote your business.
If you can’t find time to go yourself consider hiring a college student to go and
take notes on your behalf.
Always ask your new (satisfied) clients if they will refer your services to peers.
Keep organized records of entertainment and travel expenses. The IRS likes to
audit home-based businesses especially when they are writing off a variety of
expenses, including the percentage of the mortgage or rent for your office space.
There are several good software programs that will help you keep track of your
expenses.
Find a good accountant or CPA now! They will prove a real asset as your business
grows. They can also put you in touch with many other resources that can help
your business to prosper.’
Critical. Learn to put a large percentage of your earnings into a savings account
for tough times when business is slow. (There will be times when business is slow

– no matter how busy you are now).
Remember, you are no longer punching a clock. If you are to get fed you must
make it happen.
Start your new business on the side (in the Moonlight hours) while you are still
working full-time. If you don’t have that luxury then maximize every minute of
your work day.

Marketing Your Business Online
Odds are you found this report online. Hopefully this means that you already
know the importance of the internet. But many businesses are neglecting the
internet. Many owners feel that it takes too much time and is too expensive. They
are absolutely right – if can – if done incorrectly.
Obviously there are thousands of channels that can be used for marketing your
product or service. Below are a few with some advice about how to best utilize
them.
Fiverr.Com (two “R”s)
You can find workers on Fiverr.com to provide all of the services at the other sites
that are listed below. Remember to always use the services of workers who have
the highest rating. Also be careful to find workers that deliver items on time.
But since you will probably have more time than money (at least in the
beginning) you can carve out time to deal with the resources below.
Facebook
You can create a business page and reference your website (or blog). But be
careful because you can waste an enormous amount of time on Facebook with
very little to show for your effort if not careful.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn has become the ‘business owner’s rolodex. It will let you build a
professional profile, link up with other professionals, join groups and start a
group. You can participate in Q&A’s related to your profession to build credibility
and visibility.

Animotto
A fun and easy to use online video maker that anyone can use. You don’t need a
camera and they offer a free service. Create videos that highlight your company’s
products and services on YouTube.

Digg
If you get your site recognized by Digg it can increase traffic substantially. (There
are Digg experts on Fiverr.com who do this full time).
AWeber
AWeber is almost a necessity if you use email to market. A basic account will cost
about $20/month. It allows you to communicate with individuals who have
visited your site and received information about your product or service. You can
see how we use Aweber at the link below:
/>Twitter
There are many who prefer Twitter to Facebook because you can get in and out
without putting a time dent in your day. You can see how we use Twitter at:
/>Technorati
If you are selling any technical products online get acquainted with Technorati
fast. They are the number one aggregator of all things technical online.
SurveyMonkey
If you were trying to decide which cake to give the special discount this month
using this voting/polling/survey site would be a good strategy. It lets you place
polls on your site to get instant feedback.
These sites are a good start for a new home-based business owner.

The Importance of Scheduling Your Work Day
There are hundreds of workshops on Time Management. But the main
components are easy to tie down.
Do This
STEP 1 – Plan your day. Before turning on your computer, sit down with a

notebook (that you will use each day and should file later for reference) choose
the 3 tasks that you need to do today. These should be highly important tasks. In
most cases these will also be tasks that you may not want to do. This is why it is
important to do them first (if you can).
STEP 2 – Take inventory each hour. Set your watch, phone, or computer to ring
every hour. When it rings look at your list and ask yourself if you spent your last
hour productively. Then look at your calendar and deliberately recommit to how
you are going to use the next hour. Manage your day hour by hour. Don't let the
hours manage you.
STEP 3 – Re-evaluate the Day – Before leaving the office review your day. Were
you productive? Where did you get off course? Most importantly: what did you
learn today that you can work into procedures, plans, or your process map?
Now before you get out of your chair think about what needs to go on your list for
tomorrow.
Not That
Don’t blunder into your day doing whatever the phone calls or email dictates.
Learn to control your day. One of the most powerful strategies (that is very
counter intuitive) is never to answer the phone yourself. Have a remote
receptionist, voicemail service, or other resource do that. This will save you an
enormous amount of time. If you are concerned about some “family crisis”
dedicate a separate line to these calls and only give it to family members.

A Word About MoonLightWealth.Com
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you have a home-based business or never start one MoonLightWealth.Com can
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They are always thrilled to learn the answer to that question.

You can learn the answer to by watching the short 4 minute video at:
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