It Takes Money To Make Money – Yes It’s True
Too many people are entering into working at home blindly and end up frustrated or throwing in the towel because they didn’t plan accordingly. Unless you are extremely creative, with some special connections and a run of good luck, you cannot expect to start a business and not spend any money. I think at times an individual is so excited about the prospect of working at home that they jump in with both feet, but with no plan on what to do after they start their business. This is why I always stress to people who want to work at home to take their time, research the companies or ideas they are thinking about, and make a plan.
A good number of new home based business owners seem to go down the “what do I do now” path after they start a business. Especially those that joined a direct sales/home party plan business. They may have had the carrot dangled in front of them about how easy it will be, about how much money they can make and about how they get to create their own work hours. They probably were not told about the monthly expenses that are inevitable which can range from: web hosting, phone bills, office products, training materials, postage, fees, a monthly commitment to buy products, and marketing/promoting their business. It is rare that a real business would require NO money in order to run, build and grow it.
Do yourself a favor, and plan as to what your monthly expenses will be. Think of everything that you possibly would need to keep your business going. There is something true about the old cliché “it takes money to make money”. Does this mean you need to have a fortune in order to start and run a business? No. But what is does mean that whether it is $10 or $1000 a month, a business does cost money to run. Those who think otherwise are not looking at a home business realistically or are not serious about keeping a business going. So, be smart, do your research, make sure you have set some money aside and make a plan before jumping into the work at home arena. You will find more success in the long run if you do.
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Cyndi Webb is the Founder and President of Moms Network – an organization dedicated to the promotion and success of Moms in business. Since 1997 she has promoted and worked with thousands of work at home moms in coaching and guiding them in how to help grow their businesses. Over the years Moms Network has evolved to include more than 20 websites offering free resources to moms from all walks of life, the Connecting @ Home print magazine and the annual Celebrating Moms Expo which attracts thousands of moms in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Cyndi makes her home in Minnesota with her husband and two children.
Tags: business expenses, home based business, Work at Home
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March 11th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Good points Cyndi. I think keeping track of your expenses and planning for others is a key point of running a successful business.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I was just listening to a recording by a financial planner where she talks about how most people do not realize that it can take 1 to 3 years for a business to be profitable. If most home-based business owners were accurately and regularly tracking their expenses and income, I think most would find that this is true. We focus so much on bringing in more INcome – book more parties, do more events, sell more products, but without keeping an eye on the costs of doing business, your profit margin may be eating up a lot of your income.
It’s important to know which expenses give you return on the investment – it is easy to get sucked into signing up for this or that event or program, or buying various business tools that aren’t really necessary. In your first year of business you should be focusing on becoming profitable so leave the “extras” for later when you have more of a budget for them and the ability to test out whether an expense will bring you a return.
There is a class you can take called Debt Free Direct Selling, it is at http://www.accessabundance.com I highly recommend it! Contact Teresa Romain on the site and ask her about it. Tell her Karen Clark sent you. 🙂 She is terrific! Completely changed my business management!!
Karen Clark
Story Time Felts
May 14th, 2009 at 10:46 am
I agree – like any business – home businesses require capital or credit to get going – but if you know that going in you will be much better off and way less frustrated. and you will be successful if you take that in stride, embrace it. it does take money to make money! but the returns are stellar, i started another more traditional business with my husband 4 years ago and its still struggling to get off the ground. i started a home business with a top notch direct sales company only 5 weeks ago and i’m already earning pretty good income. when you have a company and a team backing you its SO much easier to start a successful business!