I am a home-based entrepreneur. I own a tutor referral service in Southern California and have been a tutor broker for eight years. I just launched my second business. I authored a book about how to begin a tutor referral service and packaged it with a customized website and Accounting Software, support, ads, etc. and am selling it via the internet nationwide and in Canada. Having started two businesses, I have learned about small business planning and strategies for success. Here are my suggestions:

1) Outsource, outsource, outsource!

Small businesses don’t have the capital to devote to entire payroll departments, legal departments, etc. Outsource to independent contractors whenever possible. In the long run it is cheaper and is definitely a smart business decision.

2) Network as much as you can.

Join networking groups comprised of individuals who are entrepreneurs or small business owners. Not only might you find some professionals that will help you develop and grow your business, it is also an excellent way to spread the word about your company. Local networking groups usually limit the membership to one person per industry, so you will not be competing with anyone else for referrals.

3) Budget your expenses wisely.

If you can initially work from home, do so. Save the money you would spend renting or leasing an office space and invest in a decent computer system or advertising. Cut your costs wherever you can and take advantage of less well-known but dependable service providers, i.e. Vonage phone systems and e-fax.com.

4) Find a good publicist/virtual assistant.

It’s important to get the word out about your new business. Hiring a Public Relations firm is pricey and not always worth the money. Go online and search for a Virtual Assistant and publicist. Many will offer you a three month retainer at a lower cost than a fancy PR firm and the results can be extremely advantageous. Check out their references first and go with someone who has a proven track record. After the initial three months many VA’s will offer you an hourly or monthly rate.

5) Develop your negotiating skills.

Knowing how to talk to advertisers and getting the best deals you can will pay off big-time, especially when it comes to advertising. Ask your sales representative to tell you about any special rate packages they offer. Quite often, you will not know unless you ask. Tell vendors you are a new business and ask if you can pay for big projects (like a professional website) with monthly payments. If you are dealing with small business professionals, most of them have been in your shoes and will be happy to extend a monthly payment plan to you.

As a small business owner you must be creative yet frugal. Take every opportunity you can to tell people about your business. Word of mouth and referral business is priceless. Carry your business cards at all times and don’t be shy to talk about what you offer. You never know whom you may meet that might just turn into a wonderful opportunity!
About the Author:

Part one of Small Steps for Big Work at Home Success listed the first eight steps you can take towards ensuring your business won’t end up in the “failure” category. While most of those steps focused on the overall vision you have for your company, these six concentrate on more specific areas you can zone in on to skyrocket your chance for success.

1. Who is your target consumer? If you sell Pampered Chef, your target consumer is women. If you sell tools, most of your sales will probably be to men. Maybe that sounds a bit sexist, but the proven fact is that women buy more kitchen products and men buy more tools. If you sell baby items, your target consumer probably isn’t seventy year old men. It will be new or expecting moms, as well as those needing to buy gifts for new and expecting moms. If your product is a health drink, your target consumer could be considered everyone, since every person – man, woman, college student, grandparent, etc. – should want to be healthy. However, if your health drink has specific benefits, such as weight loss elements, your target consumer may be slightly different. Knowing exactly who you’re targeting helps you focus your energies in that particular arena.

2. Come up with a marketing plan. What specific steps are you going to take to market your service or product? This could include price setting and offering discounts, plans to develop a new home show presentation, certain advertising aspects, or any number of things to either improve your business or stand out and from the rest and offer something new and different – and better. Ask yourself: what can I do to make my business more appealing to customers?

3. Manage your money wisely. Accounting may turn you off but it’s a necessary part of business. Poor money management has caused many companies to fold, even huge corporations that seem to be thriving. The truth is, no matter how much or how little you earn, the way you manage your finances will determine much of your success. Start by setting up a separate business account and keeping adequate records. If you aren’t an expert in tax laws, be sure to hire an accountant at tax time. He or she may also be able to provide you with some practical tips for financial management.

4. Advertise! Of course, customers aren’t going to come and pound on your door. Advertising is the number one way to let people know what you’ve got to offer. The newspaper, local restaurants, convenience stores, daycare centers, phone directories, the list goes on for places to post information about your company and your product or service. One of the best and most inexpensive ways to advertise is with business cards. Always have a few on hand to pass along to people you meet in the grocery store, at school, church or the park.

5. Utilize the Web. There has never been more potential for acquiring customers and spreading the word about your product than today. The Internet provides countless ways to network and advertise. Join message board forums and networking sites. Start a blog about your business. Create a website. Advertise on www.craigslist.com, a free local listing site. The possibilities are endless!

6. Customer Service. Perhaps the best way to keep customers coming back, therefore increasing your success, is through excellent customer service. When you say you’ll call someone, do it. Follow-up with customers and occasionally call past customers you haven’t heard from lately. Finally, handle problems and complaints (yes, you may get a few!) with grace, dignity, and, most of all, kindness. Nothing turns a customer away faster than rude or poor customer service. But when you excel in this area, you’ll create customers for life.

Starting an at-home business is definitely challenging and may be a little uncertain and scary. But by taking a few small steps, your chances for success increase in a big way!


About the Author:

Even with the millions of electronic greeting cards that are sent every year, giving out personal, printed cards for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, or “just because” will never go out of style. Research shows that the majority of people across the world prefer old-fashioned greeting cards – both giving and receiving.

With an estimated 3,000 greeting card publishers in the United States alone, it comes as no surprise that a lot of good greeting card copy is needed. And if you’ve always wanted to write for the greeting card market, that’s great news! It means you have many options on where to submit your work.

Do I have what it takes?

Are you creative? Do you have a knack for coming up with punch-lines unique phrases? When you browse through card shops, do you find yourself thinking, “I could’ve written that.”? Do you grow frustrated because you can never find the exact words you’re looking for in a greeting card?

If you answered yes to these questions, you may just have what it takes to become a greeting card writer.

What are publishers looking for?

There are generally two types of greeting cards: every-day and seasonal. Seasonal copy should be submitted several months before the named holiday and, of course, every-day material is accepted at any time.

What publishers specifically look for varies, depending on the type of greetings published. Some accept only humorous verse (Oatmeal Studios), some only sentimental (Blue Mountain Arts), and some both (Gallant Greetings). Although you probably still see rhyming verse on store racks, most companies today lean towards unrhymed poetry.

But one thing all publishers look for is the “me-to-you factor.” Word it in a way that doesn’t sound cheesy or false, but that you might truly say to your mother, daughter, spouse, friend, etc. Come up with something fresh that hasn’t been done a thousand times before.

Check out each publisher’s writer’s guidelines for exactly the type of copy they are looking for, as well as word count or line restrictions.

What format is required?

Typically, greeting card copy is submitted two different ways. For short quips, humor and one-liners, many companies prefer each one typed on a separate 3 x 5 card. For longer sentiments and prose, submitting each piece on a separate sheet of paper is standard procedure. You’ll want to number each submission for easy reference and also include your name, address, phone number and target audience (such as, “mother”, “friend,” etc.).

One note: many greeting card companies now accept email submissions. Again, follow specific writer’s guidelines on formatting and whether to send in the body of the email or as an attachment.

How much will I get paid?

Greeting card freelancers get paid anywhere from $10 – $500 per card. That’s a vast range, I know. But if you can crank out fresh and creative copy at lightening speed, even the lowest end of that range will earn you some decent cash. If you’re fortunate enough to break into a larger company, well, you do the math.

A few companies offer royalties, although this isn’t the norm. Most pay for “all rights,” which means you will no longer own the piece and cannot submit or sell it elsewhere. Think carefully about whether you want to give up all rights to your work before signing on the dotted line.

Where should I submit my work?

As mentioned above, there are hundreds and hundreds of potential publishers willing to consider your work. Just note, mega-companies like Hallmark and American Greetings have their own in-house writers and it’s nearly impossible to break in. But many other reputable companies welcome submissions from freelancers and willingly work with new writers. Companies like Blue Mountain Arts (or, SPS Studios), Oatmeal Studios, Comstock, and Renaissance, just to name a few.

Recommended Books:

“How to write and sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, T-Shirts and Other Fun Stuff,” by Molly Wigand

“You Can Write Greeting Cards,” by Karen Ann Moore

“Write Well and Sell: Greeting Cards,” by Sandra M. Louden


mompreneur

Getting organized is the key to making your life as a work at home mom efficient and, relatively, stress free. If you can get and stay organized, your business and your home life will flourish. Without taking some simple organizational steps you’ll be swamped with work and overwhelmed with laundry in no time.

One of the most important parts of getting organized as a Wahm is to establish business hours. Setting up specific working times during each day has many benefits. First, you’ll be more consistent with your work. Once you’ve gotten used to starting and stopping at a specific time each day you’ll work more efficiently. You’ll manage your work time better and reduce distractions like checking your e-mail or watching television. You’ll also be less likely to pick up things to do here and there, like laundry or taking time to errands. If you have set working hours, you’ll schedule those tasks around your work time so you’ll be more focused during your work time. It will help your family and friends understand that you are working while you are at home, and you won’t be available during those hours.

Next, you need to start delegating tasks to other family members. It may seem easier to do everything yourself, but once you have work duties on top of household duties you’ll realize how few hours in the day there actually are. There is nothing wrong with asking your children to fold the laundry, or having your husband cook dinner a few nights a week. By sharing the household duties as a family, you’ll have more time to get your work done and feel more rested. The important thing to remember when you delegate is that things won’t be done the way that you would do them. However, they are getting done.

Planning your work and family activities will make the whole house run smoother. If you don’t have a daily planner, then you need to get one. It doesn’t matter if it is a paper planner or a computer application. When you use a planner to write down everything that needs to be done, and then plan each activity for a specific time then you’ll have the opportunity to manage your time more wisely in and out of your home office.

Organizing your home at large will help make your business more organized. While it may take a while to establish some organizational habits in your house, your efforts will be well worth it. Don’t try to get organized in a weekend or even several days. Work up to a level of organization. Start small with your desk space. Organize the things in your desk and top of your desk. Make sure that everything that you need has a place, and toss or donate things that you don’t need. Then move on to another portion of the house. When something is out of place, it’s easy to put it back in its home once you’ve taken the time to organize your storage spaces around the house. If need be, take a trip to an office supply store or home improvement store and buy items like bins, cabinets and shelves that will help you stay more organized.

Getting organized as a Wahm does take some time and effort. Realize that with time your organizational system will get better. Work with your family to make your home run efficiently, and then you’ll be able to concentrate on your work when you need to.


About the Author:

Understanding your market is critical. As early as possible, before you launch your business, I encourage you to survey moms in your area to learn about their values, buying habits, and infant feeding rituals. An easy way to do this is to use an online survey tool (there are dozens out there) to create your survey. Then send an email to all the moms you know, post a notice on a local mommy message board, or send an email to an online Yahoo! Groups community that is targeted to parents.

Not only will this help you learn about your target market but it will give you valuable data that you can use when discussing your business with the local media.

Here are some of the questions and answer options that we used for the first Sprouts Baby Food survey years ago.

How old is your baby?

Which of the following best describes you?

Stay-at-home mom

Working mom

If you are a working mom, which of the following best describes your childcare support?

n/a

in-home childcare/nanny

daycare center

family member

Are you concerned about food allergies?

Yes

No

Does your baby have any food allergies?

Yes

No

FEEDING YOUR BABY

Did you breastfeed your baby?

Yes

No

How long did/do you plan to breast feed your baby?

0-3 months

4-6 months

7-9 months

10-12 months

13-18 months

19-24 months

2+ years

How old was your baby when you began feeding him/her solid foods?

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Older

Why did you begin your baby on solids?

Advice from doctor

Advice from book

Advise from website/web forum

Advice from family member

Advice from another mom

Baby seemed ready

Other

Which of the following is most often your source for feeding and childcare information?

doctor

book

website/web forum

family member

other moms

Did your doctor give you enough information to help you feel confident about making feeding decisions for your baby?

Yes

No

What is the most frustrating thing about introducing new foods to your baby?

WHAT YOU FEED YOUR BABY

Which best describes the food that you most frequently give your baby?

Home-made baby food

Traditional store-bought baby food (jarred)

Organic store-bought baby food (jarred)

Organic store-bought baby food (frozen)

Pureed table foods

Catered baby food (such as Sprouts)

Do you regularly give your baby formula?

Yes

No

Never

Which of the following baby food brands do you most frequently use (please check all that apply).

n/a ‘ I don’t give my baby commercial baby food

Gerber Baby Food

Heinz Baby Food

Beech Nut Baby Food

Earth’s Best

Gerber Organic

Organic Baby

Homemade Baby

Bohemian Baby

Happy Baby

TotPots

Mom Made

Evie’s Organic Edibles

Plum Organics

Healthy Times

Bright Beginnings

If you DO NOT make your own baby food, please give us the reasons why. (check all that apply)

n/a ‘ I make my own baby food.

I think store-bought food is as good as what I could make at home.

I would like to make my own baby food but I don’t have the time.

If you DO make your own baby food, please give us the reasons why. (check all that apply)

I think that fresh is the best.

I like to choose my own ingredients.

I think that store-bought baby food contains a lot of sugars, starches, and fillers.

I don’t like that store-bought food is made to sit on store shelves for 2+ years.

Store-bought food lacks variety.

Is price a factor when feeding your baby?

No ‘ I want the best for my baby, no matter what the cost.

Not really ‘ I’ll pay more for better quality foods.

Kind of ‘ It depends. Sometimes.

Yes ‘ We are on a budget and can’t afford to spend a great deal of baby food.

Yes ‘ I just don’t believe in paying a lot for baby food.

Do you read the ingredient labels on baby food in the store?

n/a ‘ I make my own baby food.

No

Yes, always

Yes, but only for baby food

If yes, what are you looking for on the labels?

On average, how much do you pay for baby food (per jar)?

$.10 – $.49

$.50 – $.99

$1.00 – $1.49

$1.50 – $1.99

$2.00 – $2.49

$2.50 – $2.99

$3.00 ‘ more

How much would you pay for quality, freshly-made, organic baby food?

$.10 – $.49

$.50 – $.99

$1.00 – $1.49

$1.50 – $1.99

$2.00 – $2.49

$2.50 – $2.99

$3.00 ‘ more

On average, how many jars of baby food do you purchase each week?

0-5

6-10

11-15

16-20

21-25

More

RESTURANTS

Before having a baby, how many times did you eat out per month?

3-5 times per month

1-2 times per month

Once every 2 months

Other

After having a baby, how many times do you eat out per month?

3-5 times per month

1-2 times per month

Once every 2 months

Other

Since having a baby, is “kid friendliness” (kid menu, high chars, toys, etc. ) a key factor when choosing a restaurant?

Yes

No

Would you be more likely to frequent a good restaurant that had healthy, organic menu selections for your baby?

Yes

No

When dining out at a restaurant do you…..?

Bring baby food along

Feed the baby off of your plate (mashing something up)

Order something off the menu for the baby (then mash it up)

Other

Additional comments on dining out with your baby.


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