Six Tips On Running A Successful Home Based Business

1. Plan for the unexpected.  It never fails that things are going along smoothly, then BAM, a home based business owner gets broad-sided with something they never dreamed would happen.  It could be anything from a flooded basement where they have their home based business office to the computer getting struck by lightening—or just an electrical outage at the busiest time of the day.  So take the time to make back up plans for every eventuality.  This doesn’t mean you have to become pessimistic in your outlook, just that you have a backup plan for most any emergency that may come along.  Having a plan means you’ll be prepared just in case.
2. Have money put aside.  When your home based business profits are pouring in, it’s easy to let your spending get out of hand.  Then when the computer does get struck by lightening, you don’t have the money for needed repairs.  So you need to put aside some money each month while you’re growing your home based business to help you through any bad times you may have—and you will have them.  Every business, home based or otherwise, has good times and bad.  Having the financial resources to see you through them is essential to keeping your home based business operating, and growing.
3. Use your time wisely.  With a stay at home business, it’s easy to get distracted by the television, the telephone and the family.  It’s also easy to let paperwork slide.  A lot of home based business owners become like Scarlet in Gone with the Wind and think there’s always tomorrow.  What happens is when things pile up, a home based business owner can easily get overwhelmed.  After all, there’s no one else to take care of things.  So make sure you organize your time, make a schedule—and stick with it. 
4. Get and keep your office organized.  Home based business owners don’t have time to waste.  And an unbelievable amount of time is essentially thrown away when you have to spend precious time looking for things.  Organize your home based business office so that it maximizes your efficiency.  Little things like making sure you always have a pen and paper by the phone can save an enormous amount of time.  Also, having a good filing system is vital for the same reason:  the time you spend looking for things you need is time you could be spending attending to business.
5. Make sure you have insurance.   This is crucial in case something should happen to your home based business inventory or equipment.  A home based business can afford not to have the proper insurance.  That basement flood mentioned earlier could easily put you out of business for good unless you have insurance.  So you want to have the best insurance you possibly can, even if it means scrimping on other expenses.  If you don’t already have it, get on the phone or go online and get adequate insurance as soon as possible.
6. Plan for taxes now.  If you haven’t already discussed your taxes with an accountant or other home based business financial advisor, you want to do it as quickly as possible.  And you want to check in with them frequently to make sure you stay up to date on important tax laws that may affect your home based business.  You want to be sure you’re setting aside enough money to pay your taxes and you also need to know if you should be filing taxes yearly or quarterly as many self-employed people do.  Also, if your home based business has employees, you’ll want to make sure you’re withholding the right amount of taxes for them as well.  Taxes are a fact of life and the sooner and more efficiently you plan for them, the better off your home based business will be.  The last thing you want is for that tidy little nest egg you’ve saved for your home based business to be gobbled up by the tax man!

Charles Fuchshttp://www.charlesfuchs.comhttp://charlesfuchs.blogspot.comI grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.