Whether you’re just starting your online business, or you’ve been doing it for decades, there are always new ideas popping up about how to run it in a more efficient manner. We have provided great advice on many work from home business topics, and hopefully it will prove helpful.
Get receipts from lunches with colleagues and prospects, because you can deduct expenses such as these at tax time. In these cases, these meetings are actual business expenses. Remember, these meetings must pertain to work and are with viable clients or potential clients, otherwise, they cannot be allowed as a tax deduction.
Dress for work, as if your customers will see you. If you work at home, you might not give much thought to what you wear to work. If you want to succeed, put in the effort and dress as you would if you were working at any other job. Getting dressed professionally will help you feel professional and improve your productivity.
Keep everyone informed when you are planning to start a business. Give them a discount or a freebie to help jump start your business. Ask them to tell others about your enterprise. Word of mouth advertising can be extremely effective.
Prepare for work at home in the same manner you would if you were leaving the house. If you spend too much time on your work and not enough on yourself, you can develop self-esteem issues. Working in your pajamas is wonderful occasionally but don’t make a habit of it. Get up, have a shower, and dress for the day as you would for any other work location. This advice can not only boost your self-esteem, but it can also affect the way others see you.
Emergency Fund
Have some back-up money in case of an emergency. Having an emergency fund will help cover surprise expenses without causing your business operations to sputter. Do not withdraw from your emergency fund unless it is absolutely necessary. If you do end up using it, make sure to rebuild the fund quickly.
You need to have your family on board before you open a home-based business. Running a business from home can be difficult and stressful, because it requires a large time commitment. Your family must be willing to give you alone time, so that you can dedicate a specific amount of time to your home business enterprise.
When you run a business, you have to think abstractly about your future. This means being prepared at all times for anything. Continue learning and growing your business.
There are tremendous opportunities for small businesses and social entrepreneurs to support their communities through community foundations, donor advised funds and other means of giving back. Find the neighborhoods in Santa Clara County where you can make the most impact on civic engagement in the community.