Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business. Dan Furman

is as much about attitude as it is about skill; this part addresses these topics.

      • Body covers the nuts and bolts of your business. How much money you’ll need to start; business cards; home offices; advertising; paperwork; computers; taxes; etc.

      • Soul addresses the topics in between mind and body. How do you get your spouse on board with your idea? How much should you charge for your product or service? And also: dealing with troublesome clients; taking days off; your competition; etc.

      I structured the book in this way for two reasons:

      1. I love easy-to-read books that are chock-full of useful information. Books you can open to any page at any time and get something out of them. Don’t you love those kinds of books too? That’s the kind of book you’re reading now.

      2. I really want to cover a lot of information, and this is the best way to do it.

      They say experience is the best teacher. Well, this book is entirely based on my real experience running home-based businesses.

      Types of Businesses This Book Can Help

      To explain what I mean by a real home-based business, it might be easier to start out with what I don’t mean.

      I’m not talking about a multilevel marketing “opportunity” where you sign up your friends to buy packets of green seaweed jelly cleverly marketed as health food (or as a hair product — I’ve seen it marketed both ways, which makes one wonder).

      Nor am I talking about online “build a website and get rich quick” schemes, or anything you need to throw a party to sell. I’m also not talking about silly “work at home” schemes like stuffing envelopes, filling out surveys, or becoming a mystery shopper. The only people who generally make money on schemes like that are the companies offering them to you, and also “Dave from California” who is in all the advertising testimonials from these companies.

      And finally, I’m not talking about fluff business ideas such as, “Gee, you can start a coupon clipping service, a shopping service, or a scrapbooking service.” Yeah, you can start such a service, but you’ll soon find out that there’s no money in coupons, and you’ll go broke.

      What I’m talking about is running a legitimate, professional business that is based in your home. Here is a small sampling of the businesses for which this book will be helpful:

      • Home computer/professional services for which the world is your customer, such as medical billing, writing, web design, computer programming, market consulting, niche-market accounting, sales training, etc.

      • Any of the building trades where you serve the local market, such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, painting, roofing, general handiwork, etc.

      • Local professional services such as computer repair/networking, local advertising sales/consulting, wedding photography, accounting, etc.

      • A business where you will make a product and sell it, either locally or internationally. For example, making a special kind of jewelry or a particular type of birdhouse, specializing in a certain type of painting, or offering frame-ready prints to the world via the Internet.

      • Outdoor services such as landscaping, lawn mowing, or tree pruning.

      • Local services such as pet sitting, house/ office cleaning, home health care, home inspection, pest control, DJ services, kids entertainment at parties, etc.

      • Services based in your home, like a home daycare, music lessons, hair styling, portrait photography, etc.

      • Apart from these and many other businesses for which this book is relevant, many “semi-entrepreneurial” professionals like realtors and car salespeople will also find this book very useful. I refer to these occupations as semi-entrepreneurial because the people in these lines of work often rely somewhat on the companies they are affiliated with to provide many of their customers/ clients. However, they are also very entrepreneurial in the sense that the company may only provide a desk and some advertising, and the rest is up to them.

      This book makes for a great companion to all the other Self-Counsel Press “Start & Run” books. If there’s one for your particular business, buy that book too. Your chances of making it will be that much better.

      A Small Disclaimer on the Second Edition Changes

      I wrote the bulk of Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business in 2006, and it was published in 2007. As I type these words, it’s essentially 2009, and I’ve written extra chapters for the new edition.

      Now, I’ve learned a lot since I started my business, and I learned a lot since I wrote this book. I never stop learning, in fact, and the new chapters may reflect that. There are times I learn how to do something better, or I have a new insight. So there is a chance that a newer chapter (either now or in future editions) may somewhat contradict something in an older one. My advice here is to say, “Oh, that Dan” (or something stronger, which is what my wife uses when I mess up), and find a happy medium between the contradictions. Because both thoughts are valid, and like I say a few times in this book, nothing is totally black and white.

      Thanks, and enjoy the “extra” stuff!

      A Few Points to Keep in Mind

       1. Disclaimer

      The advice in this book is given with the best of intentions to help you succeed in business. However, I am not a lawyer, and I have no magic powers either. In other words, I cannot guarantee you any level of success. So if you bought this book hoping it would help “Dave’s Lint Recycling” take off, and you fail, don’t blame me or my publisher.

      I repeatedly stress using the services of professionals in this book. Lawyers, accountants, advertisers, and web designers are all out there, and they can all help you. I’ll give you some general advice on a topic such as taxes, but your accountant trumps what I say, so trust him or her.

       2. I do not like statistics, and I use very few

      I do not employ many statistics in this book. The most I’ll do is state something very general, like “90 percent of the time, that won’t work.” I do this for two reasons:

      a) Most “stats” are simply made up by the people claiming whatever it is they are claiming.

      b) Statistics used to make a point are very subjective. Two people arguing over whether secondhand smoke is harmful or not can both cite lots of statistics that back their viewpoints. People like hiding behind statistics; I choose not to.

       3. You’re going to have to get your hands dirty

      There are some people out there who want everything done for them, or want to start a business without learning anything new. I’ve seen advertisements such as “Internet business in a box” sold on TV, with the tagline “you don’t need to know anything about the Internet!”

      I’m sorry, you can’t run a home-based Internet business without knowing anything about the Internet. I’m not saying you have to be an IT guru or a webmaster, but if you want to have an Internet business, you’re going to have to (*gasp*) learn a little bit about the Internet.

      So you are going to have to get your hands dirty — no matter what it is you want to do. This means doing some reading, and learning new things.

      There are places in this book where I’ll talk about accepting credit cards or getting a website domain name. I’ll tell you in general terms where you need to go for such information, but I’m going to leave it up to you to actually do it and set up an account. This is for two reasons:

      a) If I held your hand the whole way, this book would be thousands of pages long.

      b) To succeed in a home-based