Monday, March 12, 2012

How to Become an Elder Companion

Quite a few senior citizens require help in their everyday lives but do not have a person to rely on. Their children could possibly be living hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles distant. They may not wish, or are not able to afford, to reside in a nursing home. So you can earn income by giving service and a friendly relationship to these older people.

You are likely to carry out a wide range of tasks:
  • Running errands (buying groceries, driving to scheduled appointments, etc.)
  • Cleaning
  • Cooking or delivering daily meals
  • Playing card games or board games
  • Heading out to outdoor parks as well as other fun trips
  • Continuing to keep your companions' families well-informed of their health
  • All various special necessities your companions need help with
The Good
You will be serving aging adults and making certain they've got decent meals, bringing them to their health care provider appointments, and enriching their lives with friendship. You'll find it is a respectable cause and you will understand that you are creating a big difference in another person's everyday living.

The Bad
The salary is typically fairly modest. As stated by PayScale.com, ordinary hourly earnings are roughly $7-10.

Schooling / Skills Needed

You won't need any specialized schooling in this occupation. You really need a large heart, openness to undertake a variety of obligations, and patience.

Gear / Resources Involved

A dependable vehicle is all you may need for doing this work, since you will be required to visit your companions and run errands for them. You might also want to have some board games, playing cards, books, DVDs, and various other pleasurable activities to do together with your companions.

Locale
You'll be able to run this enterprise from your own home. Frequently you will certainly be driving to see your companions or doing outside chores on their behalf.

Startup Costs
Start-up expenditures would include your advertisement and marketing costs. You will most likely need to create handouts, develop a business web page, and also put ads in the telephone book or area newspapers. If you adhere to a quick business web site, you can probably begin this enterprise for less than a thousand dollars.

Legal / Insurance Considerations
Make sure you avoid rendering any sort of health care or anything else that requires particular education or licenses. If you did, and your companion endured health issues as a result, you could be easily prosecuted. Even things as easy as failing to remember to remind your companion to take their pills could potentially cause issues. Basically, if you forget to remind them and they turn out to be affected because of this, you could be held responsible.

I'm no attorney, so I advocate talking about this concern with a legal professional before you go into this service. You may need to have your clients agree to some type of release form prior to working with them.

How to Begin

Put up pamphlets in community facilities, senior citizen facilities, pharmacies, and medical-related equipment retail stores. Place ads in church newsletters, local magazines, and the telephone book. Develop a straightforward internet site that points out the services you provide and incorporate references or testimonies from satisfied customers. Retain business cards with you. Do all that you can to pass on your message.

If you're not finding any customers, you could potentially get a job for a care-giving organization temporarily to acquire working experience. When you've got some working experience and pleased clientele it will be possible to break off by yourself and be self-employed.

Possible Clients

Obviously, your clients would be older people that need help or fundamental attention.

Do not restrict your marketing to elderly individuals, though. Anybody may view your advertisements and think of a person they know who needs your services.

Rates

Demand a per hour charge for your services. If any of your customers reside far away, you could potentially work out an honest mileage charge for your traveling.

As mentioned above, the national typical income for this job is around $7-10 per hour. You could very well request more when you are experienced or provide an exceptional level of service.

If you want more self-employment ideas, please visit http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

How to Become an Errand Runner

Sometimes we all would love to have a sidekick or secretary. There's usually a great deal to accomplish and we all feel as if we have no time. With all of the busyness of present-day culture, it is possible to earn a living completing errands for folks who do not have sufficient time to get them done on their own.

It is possible to offer lots of various services. You can accept deliveries or deal with repairmen, carry packages to the post office, arrange or clean up houses, get dry cleaning, wash clothing, get ready for a party or special occasion, and wait in lines to get or submit files.

You could really perform any task your customers would like you to, so long as you are capable and satisfied with doing it.

Advantages
If you like variety, this career will be suitable for you. You'll be accomplishing numerous sorts of duties for your clientele, which will keep the work intriguing. You will have a lot of freedom in the way you organize your workday and handle your jobs. You'll usually have the ability to utilize your problem-solving skills while you figure out the most efficient means to get all your tasks done.

Disadvantages
You must have an exceedingly flexible daily schedule for this employment, making it tough to begin if you currently have a full-time occupation. You also must be prepared to do nearly anything you are asked to complete. You could get saddled with various tedious jobs. While you're starting out, the pay will not likely be magnificent, though you could eventually charge more when you get effective and the services you provide are in demand from customers.

Training / Abilities Needed
You ought to be organized, innovative, reliable, and a person that wants to fix issues and accomplish tasks.

Equipment / Resources Needed
You'll definitely require a car or truck to do this work so you're able to get around town to carry out your clients' errands. You also should use a mobile phone so that you can be quickly reached and you will likely need a computer to accomplish many of your jobs, or at a minimum to manage your small business.

You won't require any kind of particular equipment for this work. In the event that a client ever asks you to undertake a unique project, they ought to provide the tools or supply the funding to rent them.

Location
When you're not in a customer's residence or running around town completing errands, you'll be able to work the remainder of the small business from your home. You can deal with funds, manage customers, examine responsibilities, and make telephone calls from your home office space.

Beginning Expenses
The chief beginning bills are going to be associated with advertising the services you provide. You may need to print out fliers, make numerous telephone calls, build a web page, etc to promote your small business. If you develop a simple site with something similar to Wordpress, you can probably commence this business for less than $1000.

Law / Insurance policy Concerns
When you're likely to be utilizing your own automobile to make pickups or deliveries, you might need to obtain supplemental insurance. You will need extra insurance coverage if you will be driving anybody else, especially your customer's kids.

How to Begin
Get started by posting brochures, giving away business cards, placing promotions in nearby newspapers, and asking friends and clients to pass on the word. Strive to get references and letters of recommendation from past or present clients.

If you're currently working a full-time job, this could be a tricky self-employment idea to put into action. The problem is that you will be required to run errands during times that you will be at your full-time work. I advocate preserving a cushion of cash which will cover your bills no less than six months. Start by agreeing to just a few small tasks to get knowledge and a track record. As the enterprise evolves and you obtain additional customers, you can eventually leave your full-time employment and use your cushion of money to pay your personal bills while you devote yourself to expanding your business full-time.

Rates
Many errand runners ask for an hourly fee and transport expenses. Naturally, if you have to pay an expense to do the task, like paying the plumber or collecting the dry cleaning, your client needs to promptly reimburse you.

When you are starting, you may have to ask for a low rate, for example ten to twenty dollars hourly. As you obtain experience and a good reputation, you could start rising your charges. Also, you can always experiment with various rates to see what brings you the most customers.

If you want more self-employment ideas, please visit http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Set SMART Business Goals

When you find yourself establishing objectives for your self-employment profession or business, you'll want to develop realistic plans. You may want to earn a million dollars within your first month, yet that is not reasonable. It would be a lot more sensible to "achieve profits within six months" or something similar to that. This objective does not set in place a frivolous dollar amount, however does assert that you'll be profitable. It's additionally time-constrained to keep you motivated to bust your tail on it for these initial six months.

There is an acronym to help you create intelligent goals. Fittingly, the acronym is SMART. Here's what the acronym signifies:

Specific - Specific aims are more likely to be reached. If your intention would be to "obtain a lot of clients," how might you know when you are finished? It's possible that you'll get ten new customers this 30 days, however is ten "a lot?" It is preferable to develop exact plans such as "Get twelve new deals within the next six months." Now you're sure about exactly what to focus on.

Measurable - Your target should be measurable or else you cannot ever accomplish it. Again, you have to consider how you will positively know when you are done. Furthermore, it is really helpful to gauge your progress in the process because it will inspire you to keep going. Using the illustration mentioned above, if I secure two or more contracts during the first month, I'll be energized and will keep working hard. If I don't acquire any business deals inside the initial thirty days, I will work even harder next month to remain on track.

Attainable - Your goal needs to be definitely achievable. I understand this looks totally obvious, yet I personally make this blunder often by simply creating too many plans for myself. One time I defined an objective to write 20 articles for a web site in a single weekend. I entirely overlooked the truth that every article ordinarily takes an hour or so to compose, and that together with the other activities I intended for that weekend I would not even possess twenty hours to dedicate to publishing. In addition to that, I cannot devote that much time using a computer keyboard in such a brief timespan without wrist pain. So I didn't accomplish this target and felt upset. I would have avoided the discouragement and stress by creating an attainable objective.

Realistic - This is actually a lot like an objective simply being achievable. If you do not make realistic goals, you simply won't achieve them and you will definitely go through the disappointment of failure. Think diligently about what you are inclined and ready to complete as well as how much time you must commit to the plan. Never generate targets that in fact can't be reached or you will condemn yourself to failure before you even start.

Time-constrained - If you do not have a timeline for your goal, you'll probably never get it done. What number of "someday" objectives do you have? For how long have you been considering them? I have had numerous long-term goals for several years that I haven't taken action on. You need to specify a due date for your own benefit so you will start to act.

I think you are starting to realize the strength of setting SMART targets and pondering instances for your company or in other areas in your life. SMART goals may be applied to every facet of your life, not merely your self-employment goals. Abraham Lincoln asserted that "a goal properly set is halfway reached." Think thoroughly whenever you determine your goals and you will see they are much easier to accomplish!

If you want more self-employment ideas, please visit my web site at http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com

Thursday, March 17, 2011

How to Become a Bookkeeper

Should you be great at handling amounts and managing organized reports, you could be an outstanding bookkeeper. Bookkeepers (or accountants) retain files of expenses, profits, sales taxes collected, inventory, expense reports, etc. Every organizations must keep particular files that the state and federal government requires or that banking institutions might require if the company desires credit. Many organizations outsource this work to an accountant, and that's where you come in.

The Positive
Should you love to manage and do multiple tasks at once, you will really like this job. You will definitely have a lot to monitor and can take pride in holding neat, tidy, and accurate documents.

The Negative
There is no space for miscalculations with this job. Small businesses are counting on you to have correct documents. You'll need to stay informed about up-to-date accounting methods and get some working experience before you'll be able to charge big bucks. You may also have to manage different types of businesses, which can all have varying learning curves.

Training / Knowledge Required
You absolutely need some basic accounting and bookkeeping expertise to get going. I suggest searching for training or accreditations at local schools. Getting trained to be a CPA (certified public accountant) will significantly improve your chances of being selected.

Equipment / Resources Required
The majority of information is kept on PCs currently as opposed to filing cabinets. Ensure you own a reliable PC with plenty of storage capacity for keeping all these reports. You should buy some recent bookkeeping software, like QuickBooks, and understand how to use it. (Please note: QuickBooks costs nothing to try on the Internet.) Obtaining the proper software programs will greatly simplify your report-managing projects.

Setting
It is possible to operate this organization out of your home, though owning an office space for clientele to visit would be a plus. Get started in a home office and if the majority of your clientele want to meet you face-to-face, contemplate leasing an office.

Startup Costs
Initial expenses will include a PC or laptop, accounting or bookkeeping computer software, and some education (unless you already have these). You also have to pay for advertising and marketing, like advertisements in the phone book, fliers, business cards, etc.

Where to Begin
Speak to area chambers of commerce to investigate enterprises in the area. Find out about brand new companies and small businesses, which are the businesses likely to require the expertise you provide. Get in touch with business organizations in your area and market within their newsletters. Offer business cards whenever you can and ask satisfied customers to pass on the word.

Prospective Clientele
Your probable clientele will likely be small establishments. Big organizations are able to afford to keep a full-time accountant within the business, so they are not as likely to outsource their accounting. Therefore, target your time and energy on new and smaller organizations.

Charges
Ask for an hourly payment in exchange for your assistance. Obviously you are able to charge more money determined by your knowledge. While you're first starting out, study what other accounting services are receiving in your city.

If you want more self-employment ideas, please visit my web site at http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

How to Become a Transcriptionist

Some medical professionals, lawyers, executives, and other professional people opt to speak their records, notes, speeches, and so on, as an alternative to writing or typing them. Whenever these professionals require their records put into writing, it can make financial sense for them to outsource this undertaking to a competent transcribing provider for short-term jobs.

The Good
If you happen to be a fast typist and you don't hate the idea of investing many hours at the computer, you can expect to enjoy this work. There is a considerable assortment of potential clientele; even small communities possess medical doctors and attorneys, and government officials and councils commonly need transcriptions of their group meetings.

The Bad
You have to be prepared to work with various kinds of audio multimedia, including cassettes, microcassettes, CDs, other electronic storage devices, and so on. This might require that you get certain specialized equipment to start. You also have to know the jargon for various fields, including healthcare, legal, or scientific phrases. You can get dictionaries and spell-checkers to help you in these fields, but that is going to be an added initial purchase.


Schooling / Abilities Required
You'll need excellent hearing, a fast typing pace, along with a determination to stay at your laptop or computer for several hours. You also have to learn about the lingo in specialized domains, however there's computer software to help you with this issue. You need to have standard computer abilities, like expertise using word processors and sending documents between you and your clients.

Equipment / Resources Needed
You need a desktop PC or laptop with desktop publishing programs. Microsoft Word is one of the most prevalent word processors, but there are actually cost-free alternatives including OpenOffice and Google Docs, that will support documents in Microsoft Word's file format.

You'll also want to invest in a high-quality transcription machine. This is a machine that will play tapes or other electronic media and that can be operated using a pedal on the floor. Should you be transcribing digital media, including sound or movies on your personal computer, you might only have to acquire some computer software and a foot pedal. The foot pedal allows you to control playback (rewind, fast forward, etc) without removing your hands from the PC's keyboard, which helps your pace and effectiveness.

You might even consider speech recognition programs on your personal computer. Speech recognition software listens to sound and converts it to written text. The text is not even close to perfect, though, and still needs to be edited by a human being.

Locale
You'll be able to operate this small business from your home as long as you have a computer, word processing software, and access to the Internet.


Beginning Costs
If you currently have a desktop computer with access to the Internet in your home, you're in a good position. You will also need a word processor. If you prefer not to buy Microsoft Word, you'll be able to make do by using a no cost alternative like OpenOffice or Google Docs.

You need to invest some money and time advertising and marketing the services you provide. You may wish to produce fliers, mail correspondence, and construct an Internet site to market your business.

You ought to purchase a transcription system which includes a foot pedal to make the most productive use of your time and energy. A quick lookup reveals numerous machines designed to use audio cassettes or microcassettes for $300-500. It may be useful, however, to wait and discover precisely what your first couple of clients are utilizing to record their audio or video. If your customers are just using electronic media, such as audio or video files on a PC, you might just need to invest in a foot pedal for your computer and some software to accompany it.

According to who your customers are, you might also choose to purchase a clinical, legal, or technical dictionary or reference publications in order to get acquainted with the jargon they will be using. You can, however, find some free dictionaries on the Internet.

How to Begin
Contact your city hall to determine if they need transcriptions of government meetings. Get in touch with local chambers of commerce to see if they have any leads or post advertisements in their publications. Submit promotions in the local newspaper and put up fliers in community facilities. Call or deliver correspondence to medical practices, law firms, and businesses in the area.

Potential Clientele
As stated before, you might obtain work from physicians, legal professionals, business executives, or government officials. When you initially get going, get work from wherever you can find it. As you obtain more clients, you can specialize in just one discipline if you want to avoid studying the intricacies of various career fields.

Charges
Some transcribing jobs may compensate you with an hourly fee while others may pay you with a particular cost per letter or line. When you are beginning, you may only have the skills to earn $10-15 per hour, but as you grow more experienced, more knowledgeable about the terminology, and swifter, you can bring in a lot more. If you can find jobs that compensate per line of text, it is possible to bring in much more by working more hours or accelerating your keyboard skills.

If you want more self-employment ideas, please visit my web site at http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

How to be a Business Plan Consultant

Business plans are definitely an essential part of every entrepreneur's startup. If you desire financing or small business partners they are going to need to see a good proposal. Even for anybody who is on your own and don't think your business requires a proper strategic business plan, it really is advisable to do some investigating and jot down some kind of system before you get started.

Should you be trying now to be self-employed for the very first time, you simply will not be able to achieve this profession right away, considering that you are just now getting exposure to composing your first business proposal. If you are currently independently employed, though, and have drafted official business plans previously, you can offer your services as an expert for entrepreneurs that need counsel.

The Positive Factors
If you love developing business ideas, you are likely to love this job. You're going to be researching, preparing and writing just as if you are beginning your own personal small businesses over and over again. Also, aspiring entrepreneurs frequently have a positive liveliness and optimism that makes them all fun to do business with.

The Negative Factors
Your customers' desires and dreams are going to be sitting on your shoulders. A substandard plan may bring about a business's failure, which is definitely a very big concern for your customer. You will be under a considerable amount of strain to write a good approach.

Education / Knowledge Needed
One doesn't inevitably require a business college degree, however, any sort of knowledge can help. Of course, the best training is normally practical experience; you'll need business development experience and practice with the following abilities:

-Researching marketplaces and opposition
-Developing marketing plans
-Projecting fiscal necessities and earnings
-Handling legal and insurance coverage factors for a start up business

Again, practical experience is the perfect instructor. If you have created a company (or an array of businesses) you will be acquainted with these competencies.

Gear / Tools Needed
You can create each of your business plans in a word processing program, like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. However, you might want to spend money on business proposal software, such as Business Plan Pro. Business plan applications provide you with a common outline that addresses all the elements you need. After putting in all the required material, the application gives you a nicely prepared, completed business strategy plan. This will save you a lot of energy that you'd otherwise devote to formatting and making every aspect look nice in a word processor.

Setting
You'll be able to operate this company out of your home, but may need to visit clients in some cases. If you've got a convincing web page, you may get clients from all over the world.

Start-up Expenditures
If you already have a PC and everything required for your home office, your startup expenditures will likely be minimal. You can find business plan software for about $200 or less.

It is important to put money into marketing your company, such as by making a web site, advertising in local business or industry publications, etc.

Legal / Insurance coverage Issues
Your customers should complete Non-disclosure Agreements (NDA) with you to defend their creative ideas. These agreements basically state that you will not steal your client's ideas and employ them for your own benefit.

You must be sure you can't be held to blame for unsuccessful enterprises. If you compose a strategic business plan and your customer then fails to launch or preserve that business, they could try to take legal action against you. Be sure that you sign legal agreements with each of your clients that hold you harmless against any fault.

Where to Begin
Start with an Internet site that describes your services and contains past samples of strategic business plans you have developed (alter the actual names and records to safeguard your clients' privacy). Stress your positive elements, for example "fast development," "economical charges," or "95% of my clients' small businesses are still operating right now."

Put classified ads in the phone book under "Business Creation" or "Business Instructors." Promote your business on regional small companies' web sites. Speak to the local chamber of commerce for potential leads or marketing possibilities. Ask friends and pleased clients to pass on your message.

Potential Customers
Aspiring entrepreneurs will be your main customers. You may also find work with established small businesses that want to get capital, because they need a solid proposal to provide to lenders.

Charges
You may be able to ask for a few hundred dollars or possibly a few thousand bucks for each business proposal, dependant upon your working experience and the size of the plans. Try to determine the rates of the competitors in the area. While you are beginning, you could bill less than your rivals to get some customers and establish expertise.

Some customers may be cautious about paying you thousands of dollars to obtain a business plan. Remind these clients that you have a lot of practical experience that enables you to write the plan in far less time than they would need to write it independently.

Additional Reading
- The Small Business Administration (SBA) has tips for writing a business plan and a template that tells you what's needed in a good plan.
- Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies by Rhonda Abrams
- Business Plan Pro Software | From Amazon

If you are interested in finding more self-employment ideas, please visit my web site at http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Six Personal Risks to Eliminate before Becoming Self-Employed

Becoming self-employed and creating a company is taxing. When you initially start out, it will likely be a hard challenge. You are going to be putting in tons of work to make your way to the top of that very first hill, and it's really hard to anticipate when the route will level out and become easier.

Given that you will be expending a great deal of time and effort on your small business, you need to first try to reduce the possibility of all personal issues that could lead to problems. What follows is a list of commonplace personal disadvantages that you can minimize or eliminate before starting.

1. Family members - You should definitely have the encouragement of your family members prior to starting your enterprise. Without having their assistance, the startup phase is going to be more demanding on everyone. Make sure they know just how extremely important your small business is to you personally. If you're going to be working at home, create rules about when and where you're going to be doing the job and make it very clear that you can not be interrupted.

2. Health - Are you presently in a good condition, mentally and physically? You could possibly not have the opportunity to get plenty of exercise, eat well, and de-stress while you are putting your whole self into your business. I would suggest establishing a fitness regimen and making sure you can easily handle stress and anxiety prior to starting a business.

3. Personal debt - Your own financial debt can make it tougher to achieve success, regardless of how much or how little. If you currently have a $300 per month car payment, that is 300 additional dollars that your small business has got to generate to remain profitable. If it is possible to eliminate your debt prior to giving up your job to become self-employed, your company won't need to bring in so much. That will be very valuable in the beginning stage when you will not have very much money coming in. Pay the balance of as much financial debt as possible before beginning.

4. Work area - Make sure you have a satisfactory work area if you will be operating from home. Before starting your business, set up a functional work place which will be free of disruptions and interruptions.

5. Benefits (health care insurance, retirement account, etc) - It is important to procure your own medical insurance, life insurance, retirement plan, etc. if you're self-employed. Investigate your options and make plans prior to when you give up your current job and relinquish your insurance protection. The National Association for the Self-Employed offers member programs that include certain health, dental care, life, and other various insurance plans.

6. Self-Motivation - Will you be self-motivated? For those who procrastinate and also have difficulties accomplishing tasks, you have some work you need to do. Drive and efficiency are skills which can be improved, but you better master them prior to starting your company. Study some inspirational business and self-help guides to get energized before leaving your current normal work.

Mitigate or eradicate these hazards before you become self-employed and you will have a much higher potential for becoming successful.

If you are interested in finding self-employment ideas, please visit my web site at http://www.bestselfemploymentideas.com.