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

or later, you’re going to have to take the wheel.

       4. Enjoy yourself

      This book was a joy to write, and I truly hope you enjoy reading it. Indeed, I tried to make it as fun as possible. So get ready, open your mind, and let’s go.

      Part 1

      MIND

      1

      A Little Credibility: Home-Based Businesses I Have Run

      Since I’m going to give you a lot of advice regarding business, it’s only fair that you know my credentials, so I’ll lay them out for you right here in the beginning.

      I currently work for myself, from my home, doing real work. My home-based business is a professional writing and small-business consulting service. Companies from all over the world hire me to do all kinds of writing and marketing projects for them: brochures, sales proposals, websites, press releases, etc. I developed this business from the ground up. Last year, from my basement office, I earned in the low six figures.

      I’d like to stress that I have no special training or college degree — I’m simply someone who writes well. The difference between me and many other people who write well is that I know how to turn my skill into a business.

      Before my writing business, I ran another successful computer-based business from my home — freelance programming. I also successfully sold a product from my home, and in the 1990s, I ran two advertising/direct mail businesses where I serviced the local area. These two advertising businesses I eventually failed in, which is important in the big scheme of things.

      So I’ve had experience in almost all aspects of a home-based business — I’ve run a business where I was based at home, but serviced the local area; I’ve made a product in my home and sold it; and I currently work from home on my computer, servicing the entire world via the Internet. I started with nothing, and have experienced both failure and success.

      Here are more detailed descriptions of my entrepreneurial experiences (for those who are interested).

      1992–1994: Intriguing Ideas

      My first home-based business was an advertising/marketing business that I started when I was in my early 20s. It was named Intriguing Ideas. I quit a good job and dove in full time. Mainly I created and sold my own direct mail coupons door-to-door to local businesses (essentially, I competed with Money Mailer™ and Valpak™). I also did some advertising/marketing consulting work for local businesses (many that were home based). I was pretty good at this part — I made a lot of other businesses money. I’ve always been good at that. Too bad I made some big mistakes in my own business. I eventually went broke and had to get a job again (and again, and again — I tend to get fired a lot). Throughout this book, I talk about this first business often, and tell you about the mistakes I made so you don’t repeat them. If I knew then what I know now, that business would have made it.

      1995–1996: Night Owl Marketing

      A bit later, I sold ads and built websites for local businesses for a very young World Wide Web, and I also did computer repair work. I made a few more mistakes, and the Internet was still too young to make a real living selling ads on it. While I was a little more successful here than my first time around, I still could not quite make a living, and had to go back to a job (and we know how that ended).

      2001–2004: Night Owl e-Ventures

      After being fired again (gee, there’s a surprise), I used my computer skills and started a home-computer programming business utilizing a specific type of software I was proficient in. Finally, I had learned the right things to do, and this home-based business turned out to be a success. For a few years, I made a nice living working out of my house (about $40k to $60k per year). However, there was a small flaw — the specific software that I was proficient in was being phased out by the company that made it — which would make me obsolete. I knew I had to do something else.

      2004: Favorite Clubs (Under Night Owl e-Ventures)

      Branching out from computer-related work, I then decided to try my hand at selling a product. I made golf clubs in my garage and sold them online. I did well, but my garage was really too small for this type of operation — inventory became a real problem. I pulled the plug rather than address that issue, but I have no doubt I could have made a decent living doing this, as I had become very proficient at marketing a business both online and off.

      2004–Present: Night Owl e-Ventures Inc. (“Inc.” Added in 2004)

      So in the wake of not wanting to make golf clubs in my small garage, I finally followed my heart and decided to start a writing business. I love to write and had been told I was a good writer all my life. In addition, in every job I ever had, this skill was recognized and I was asked to write. I’d write marketing literature, newsletters, sales pieces, press releases — you name it. So I figured since I’d been unofficially doing business writing for years, I might as well try to get paid for it. Writing turned out to be right for me, and so business has succeeded. Now I write full time, and I couldn’t be happier.

      In addition to these businesses, I have provided consulting services to small and home-based businesses for years. I’ve also sold advertising to small and home-based businesses, helped them grow by devising marketing strategies, and generally been involved in making all kinds of businesses succeed for the past 20 years.

      I never set out to be Donald Trump (I have better hair). Nor do I want to make tens of millions of dollars or run a huge company. All I want is to make a nice, quiet, anonymous living from the comfort of my home. I want to do work that pleases me, and I want to be paid well for it. I also want the time and freedom to enjoy my life.

      I’m doing what millions of people dream of doing — working for myself at home and making a nice full-time living.

      I’m doing that right now, and I can help you do it too.

      2

      The New Business Blinders

      To me, being an entrepreneur and owning a home-based business are more about mindset than anything else. In our “go to school then get a good job” culture, it takes a very special person to even think about going it alone. So you are to be commended for even reading this book. You are way ahead of most people in terms of motivation and ambition.

      However, motivation and ambition are not enough. Not by a long shot.

      In fact, in many ways, motivation and ambition can hurt a home-based business owner. This is because of a phenomenon I like to call the New Business Blinders. I want to discuss this right here in the beginning, because you’ll see the term crop up again in the pages that follow.

      The New Business Blinders are usually donned within a few weeks after making the decision to start a business. Once you reach the point of no return — the point where you decide that yes, you are going to start a home-based business — an order is put in for your blinders. You don’t need to do anything — the thoroughly evil Department of Business Failures handles this for you (how nice of them!). All you have to do is wait for your pair of blinders to show up, which is usually a short time after you have the initial details of your home-based business worked out.

      And trust me, they’ll be a perfect fit — unlike airline seats, one size truly does fit all.

      And they are so comfortable,