Home based Business questions
Submitted by Thundercloud on Sat, 08/15/2009 - 18:28
in
Are any of you running a successful home based business?
I'm particularly interested if you are not just selling , but selling something that you also make yourself.
My circumstances may change rapidly in the next few months, and will be looking to supplement my income with something that I manufacture.
I'd be selling it online. And possibly at some local stores.
Are you making money at it? Overhead, stuff like that. Any info would be helpful..Thank you!
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Emergency Retirement Plans.com
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Lots of bartering suggestions below BUT
be advised that BOTH PARTIES are liable for income taxes based on the value of the items exchanged. Fortunately tax enforcement on barters is very difficult, requiring self-incrimination or entrapment for prosecution. Just be aware that entering into a barter as a means of evading taxes places you in the category of scofflaw.
My Blog:
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New Hampshire and Ecuador
Garbage night
drive through neighborhoods looking for scrap metal or good stuff that people throw out and resell it. You would not believe the good stuff people throw out and it keeps it out of the landfills.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
And start a clean out
And start a clean out business. Get a truck and advertise "Have Truck, Will Travel" Etc.. One mans trash is another mans treasure.
You Judge A Tree By It's Fruit, NOT its Flower
Survival related business:
http://www.preparednessequipment.com
It has a positive cash flow now but has a lot of catching up to do before break-even point. With a few new products and better niche marketing it will be a full-time business.
New Hampshire and Ecuador
question
Do you have a plan as to what you want to do or make? This would be helpful to know.
Yes, I do have a plan
I have a plan and a product.
I don't want to go into too much detail yet.
But I would produce it, market it, and hopefully sell it.
It's a consumable, so I'd hopefully have repeat customers. (it's not a food product).
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
SBA
You may want to consider visiting the Small Business Administration (SBA) website. It will give you some information on starting a business.
I knew I'd get some great responses
That's why I keep coming back to Daily Paul.
Some great ideas, helpful too.
In my research at other places, I stumbled across a website that was set up to cater to those running home based businesses. But the site was worthless!
Someone would ask a question similar to mine. Then EVERY SINGLE response would be from people running some sort of MLM biz. There was no information in the response. Just recruitment attempts.."Hey try this, soon I could make thousands!", or "I've found this way to makes lots of money with very little up front investment".
Not so here..I appreciate the thoughtful posts, and ideas.
Thank you!
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
Bee keeper
Repair computers, repair lawn mowers.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
rent a room
in your house by the hour. LOL Just kidding. Bad me. Help failing kids with reading, math etc by the hour. Detail cars for car dealers. Sell your services as a professional garage sales set up for people who want to get rid of stuff but don't want to manage the garage sale.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
If you have some
property start a dog kennel business for when people leave town on vacation.
Run for public office. Become a janitor cleaning businesses after the close for the night. Drive people children to school or after school activities when parents are not able. Also, chauffer the elderly who are independent but can not drive, taking them to dr. visits, grocery shopping, clean their homes.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
On dog kennels, how about one that caters to
little dogs that need tender care, uncrated, with humans in sight at all times, including night?
Hotdog
stand.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
I own a service based
I own a service based business which sells products too. I have a nice new studio on my property to do my business. In the state of NM you can't have more than 600 square feet of your property dedicated to a home office, (mine is 576, a 24' x 24' building). You'll need to check this with your state's laws.
I am predicting that a lot of businesses will move home with the real estate market falling apart. I mean the ones that can, like hair dressers, massage therapists, independent insurance agents, online businesses.... My great aunt was a hair dresser back in the 40's and she had her hair salon downstairs while she lived upstairs in an apartment (FYI, my mother told me this story). You see this practiced more in Europe. I think it is a trend that will come out of a need here in the USA. We will have multiple zoning for one property as both residential/commercial.
As far as my business, I am struggling. I am an esthetician and my business is way down. I had a tremendous amount of real estate clients who are GONE. I mean I haven't seen them in 18 months! It isn't me it is what I do. So make sure what you do will be in demand with this economy.
I searched for depression proof jobs during the 1930's.
Here is are the ones I remember;
1. Medical anything, doctors, nurses, suppliers
2. Agriculture - people gotta eat
3. Alcohol - people will continue to drink
4. Bike Shops - people didn't have as many cars back then so they rode their bikes and got them fixed. (If anyone is interested in purchasing some bike shops contact me!)
5. Tailors and Shoe Cobblers - people got their clothes and shoes fixed, I am not sure that this will be a good choice in this coming economy.
On a personal note, I have client who is thinking of going back to college since her business is dead. That way she can compete for the best jobs out there. So, maybe university related businesses will be good.
Best of luck to you, Shelley
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero”. Voltaire-1729
www.4HUTS.com
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero”. Voltaire-1729
www.4HUTS.com
Just read an article
of a man who started a window washing business in 1947 and now it is in it's third generation business. Also, of a man who bought a Cadillac years ago and stared a limousine service. I like this thread because it is providing positive action ideas, thanks for starting it.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
just thought of another one
after reading the article about bad locksmiths be a good locksmith.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
I knew a man who....
along with his sons, was successful at simple lawn maintenance and tree cutting. He once stopped for a job at my brothers forested property and my brother called his neighbors and together they worked out a deal where the man would charge less but have numerous same day customers. He must have made $6-7000 grand that day. All cash.
I know taxes are a bad word here
... but if we had a national sales tax in place of the IRS (loop holes, etc.), there would be no money not ran through the system.
Because...
a national sales tax just ends up being a tax on the poor and middle classes. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer...
On the upside, barter as a means of exchange would gain HUGE popularity... so that might balance it a bit. Although that is just more money not ran through the system... :)
~Live life to its fullest, with an open heart, open arms and most important... an open mind~
Yes, a national sales tax. How about 44%??
That way only us cash-heavy types could afford anything. Yes. That's not regressive at all. Poor people don't need stuff as much as I do anyway.
Explore Orthodox Christianity
National sales tax might be
National sales tax might be good... but do you really trust them to get rid of the IRS after something like that is put into place? IMO, they need to get rid of the IRS first.
...
Hey, Richard.
I answered your email back and then nothing........S/F
define "home based"
I have found that it is NOT a good idea to run your office from home. there are just too many distractions. I run a field based service business.
once you become successful, you will need to seperate the two.
good luck!
" the important thing is to never stop questioning, curiousity, has it's own reason for existing..
Albert Einstien
Knowledge is power, action is love.
In the beginning, it will be one hundred percent on the property
the Creation of the product, the selling (online), the packing, everything.
Later, there is other land about 8 miles away belonging to our family that could be enlisted for part of the business. It depends on success.
and thank you for the good wishes!
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
Dog grooming and babysitting
... although that was not my entrepreneurial endeavors, this is definitely home based unlike mine. Every six weeks my groomer charges $45 to groom my 10 lb. toy poodle, she is exceptionally good and that is the going rate here in Chicagoland. My dog sitter charges $22 a day and that's also the going rate. Not that you'd want to, but there was a guy down the street that had a dog clean-up BUSINESS (yard). Besides his sign on his pick-up truck, he had a dog (plastic) sitting on top of the cab. Eye catching.
There are two homes on the property
I will be leasing it to my wife's Aunt, who is of all things..A dog Groomer.
The plan is to get her a recent model, used Van. She'll have to travel, as the local population is just too small
Her rent will be really cheap, but with the low price of the property and the down payment, our Mortgage will be 80 percent payed by her rent money alone.
I'm not too proud to scoop poop either!
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
My crazy ex brother-in-law
... if you asked him how his plumbing business was doing, he delighted in telling you, "Shitty!" He dropped dead with a heart attack rodding a toilet out at 45. He had a triple by-pass at 35, too many hot dogs, diabetic, heavy smoker, and drugs. His son at 40 same thing had a stroke, half paralyzed.
Once he told me, he had a cammode full of poop to rod out and he and his son (helper) just ate Vienna "double" hot dogs, fries, and Pepsi's. He started mixing it up (poop) and put his lunch right into the customers bath tub and clogged it. Then his son followed him and really clogged the bath tub. I had a lot of characters teach me what I know today.
My first entrepreneurial endeavor was electrical work (electrician). My sewer plumber brother-in-law told me that a customer will take a flashlight to the bathroom before he pays me $100 (1971) to fix a bathroom light. But when the toilet won't flush, the customer needs him right now ! I wound up fixing refrigerators (right now) as a business. The crazy guy was right. RIP
hehe jeez!
How does that song go?
"If you want me to get poop on my clothes
You're gonna have to pay out the nose!"
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
Get some re-loading
Get some re-loading equipment and make ammo.
Prices are up and it is a good bartering item.
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds”
-Sam Adams
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds”
-Sam Adams