IDC, a US-based research firm, claims that about 18 million of the 29 million owner-operated businesses in the United States are home-based. You are also responsible for repaying borrowed money, complying with the law, filing accounts, paying taxes, maintaining employment records - the list of responsibilities and obligations is exhausting.
Preparing for business
Finding the right business opportunity
For example, using ProShare's website (www.proshareclubs.co.uk), select Research Centre, then Performance Tables and then Choose a Sector. Go to www.bdo.co.uk and select Publications, View by Title and then Private Company Price Index.
Picking the right business for you
You'll need a set of strategies to limit the critical time you have to devote exclusively to working on your business. If you're still looking for an idea, see Appendix 2 for a directory of home business opportunities.
Researching the market
You can also find the 50 most popular online newspapers from a link at the top center of the home page. However, unsolicited e-mails ('spam') can cause harsh reactions: the key to success is the same as with postal surveys - the mailing should contain an explanatory letter and incentives for the recipient to 'open' the questionnaire.
Business ownership and title issues
This means that, in the event of bankruptcy, the creditors. claims are limited to the company's assets. To register a design you must register with the Design Register and send a copy or photograph of the design, plus a registration fee (currently £90).
Getting up and running
Operating from home
If you will be working with materials that are flammable, toxic or corrosive or that emit fumes, you should check on the Health and Safety Executive website (www.hse.gov.uk > Businesses > Small businesses > Topics > Substances dangerous) , where you will find detailed instructions and advice. The Health and Safety Executive (www.hse.gov.uk > Businesses > Small businesses > What to do) provides detailed information on the 10 things you need to do to properly assess risk. You can see some examples of how business assessment applies to home-based businesses on the Valuation Office Agency website (www.voa.gov.uk > Council Tax > Working from home > Examples of working from home ).
My Business Rates is a government-funded site to provide guidance on business rate issues (www. mybusinessrates.gov.uk > Using your home for a business). Directgov Information Service Central Office (www.direct. gov.uk > Home and community >. There is a similar directory for international supplier comparison sites (www.paler.com > UK price comparison sites > US/ International).
Simply Business (www.simplybusiness.co.uk > Insurance > Home Based Professionals) is also a price comparison website that receives quotes from leading insurance companies. You can find a training course or program to upgrade your skills at Business Link (go to www.businesslink.gov.uk > Employing people >.
Keeping the communication
Vodafone (www.vodafonebusinessshop.co.uk > Mobile Email) offers email as an add-on (around £5 per month) to their existing small business calling plans. The Post Office (www.postoffice.co.uk) has a number of services to make life easier for those running a business from home. You can keep up to date with developments in the laptop world at Laptop Magazine (www.laptopmag.com > Reviews) and What Laptop (www. whatlaptop.co.uk).
When you travel, you can get all the benefits of both a PDA and a laptop by subscribing to a service such as GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com). You can follow developments in the PDA field at Brighthand (www.brighthand.com) and Mobile Tech Review (www.mobiletechreview.com). Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) offers one of the widest ranges of these products at very competitive prices.
Dabs (www.dabs.com) and both of the companies listed above that supply uninterruptible power systems offer surge protectors. IT Week (www.itweek.co.uk > Reviews > Printers) and TrustedReviews (www.trustedreviews.com > Printers) provide regular reviews of printers so you can evaluate both specifications and prices.
Bringing your product to market
Rajar (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) publishes quarterly radio audience statistics (www.rajar.co.uk). The Sales Training Course Directory (www.sales-training-courses.co.uk > Directory) lists UK sales course providers. The sales process isn't complete until, as one particularly careful sales executive put it, "the customer pays, uses your product, and dies."
You can find a directory of registered agents on the Credit Services Agency website (www.csa-uk.com/csa > List of members). The Advertising Authority (www.asa.org.uk > Advertising Codes) is responsible for print, newspapers, magazines and so on and the internet. Trading Standards (www.tradingstandards.gov.uk > For business > Guidance leaflet > Trading specifications) cover everything such as
You can check whether you are likely to need to register using the interactive tool on the Business Link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk > IT & e-commerce . > Data protection and your business > Comply with data protection legislation). If you think you may need a licence, read the rules on the Office of Fair Trading website (www.oft.gov.uk > Advice and resources > Advice for businesses > Offering credit > Do you need a credit licence?).
Building and using your website
The Search Engine Guide (www.searchengineguide.com > Internet Search Engines) lists search engines by business sector; some of them may be better for your products and services than the market leaders. Search Engine Watch (www. searchenginewatch.com) provides tips and information to help website owners improve their likelihood of being found in search engines. You can also track the market share of search engine searches at comScore, a global Internet information provider (www.comscore.com > . Press Center > Key Metrics).
For major search engines like Google AdWords (www.google.com > Business Solutions >. Check out Visibone's website (www.visibone. com/colorblind) for a web designer's browser-safe color palette simulation. Check out Bad Ideas for Websites (www.badwebsiteideas.com) to see how to avoid the biggest scammers and consequently how to properly design your website.
The BT Broadband Office (www.btbroadbandofffice.com/businesstoday/0,9737,cats html) is a direct link to dozens of articles on how to improve your website design. For Mac users, the Apple website has a useful website builder (www.apple.com/dotmac/iweb.html).
Doing the numbers
At the end of the year, the 12 monthly summaries are added up - you're ready for tax time. At the head of the first column is the amount of cash carried over from the previous month. All transactions are first entered in the journal and then "posted" (written) to the general ledger sheet - the same amount is recorded in two different places.
Based on the above assumptions, it is possible to forecast the cash flow shown in Table 9.4. In the example in Table 9.4, the business has insufficient cash, based on the assumptions made. The bald figure at the bottom of the cash flow projection showing the high note to be in the red at £4,908 seems to be missing some important facts.
In Figure 9.2, the vertical axis shows the value of sales and costs in pounds and the horizontal axis shows the number of 'units' sold. It is a mistake to think that profit is an arithmetic error that is only calculated at the end of the year.
Raising the money
First of all, you need to define your objectives in terms of the size of your business. Redundancy Help (www.redundancyhelp.co.uk/MonTax.htm) provides a guide to taxing redundancy payments. A guide to the whole subject can be found at Mortgage Sorter (www.hypotheeksorter.co.uk > Remortgage), where you can also find a remortgage quote service.
Banks also offer advice on this topic (www.barclays.co.uk > Mortgages > Remortgaging). Move Your Account (www.moveyouraccount.co.uk > Business Banking) offer a free service that claims to find you the best current small business banking deal. For credit unions in the United States and countries from Australia to the West Indies, see Credit Unions Online (www.creditunionsonline.com).
The British Business Angels Association (www.bbaa.org.uk) has an online directory of British business angels. Grants.Gov (www.grants.gov) is a guide to applying for more than 1,000 federal government grants in the United States.
Preparing a business plan
Doing the basic customer and competitor research that is the foundation of any business plan gives you greater assurance that the business will actually work. Anyone who reads the business plan may want to discuss some aspects of the proposal before setting up a meeting. Once you've written the business plan, you know exactly where everything is in it, but any other readers need some pointers to guide them through the maze: that's what the table of contents does.
There are a number of free software packages that will help you through the process of writing your business plan. If you are going to show your business plan to people outside your company, including family or friends, take some steps to ensure that the way it is put together reflects the work that has been done and the value of your proposal. If getting someone interested in your business plan is half the battle of raising money, the other half is the oral presentation.
You need to have all aspects of your business plan in your head and navigate the plan forwards, backwards and sideways. If you will be showing or discussing your business plan with business partners and it contains confidential information about your company or the development of a unique idea, consider getting them to sign an NDA.
