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______________________________________________________________ --- Welcome To --- H o me B i z B y t e s Visit us on the Web at:http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com ..... January 18, 2000 * See end for contact, submission and subscriber information. _____IN THIS ISSUE_______________________
- EDITOR'S RAMBLINGS - FEATURED ARTICLE - COLOSSALLY COOL CLASSIFIEDS - TIP OF THE DAY - DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY - ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE DAY - SITES OF THE DAY - KIND THINGS YOU HAVE SAID... Thanks! - Contact, Submission and Subscriber Info _____PAY ATTENTION!______________________ Please give our sponsors a click. HAPPY VALENTINE'S FROM SHOPPINGDEALS.COM ! Our Valentine's fine jewelry specials will thrill
your sweetheart. Make her feel like a million
bucks for a whole lot less! _________________________________________ Welcome to our 179 new subscribers since last week's issue. We've had a great response to the new BizOpBytes ezine for those who are seeking a business opportunity and need quality, honest, unbiased information. Most are subscribing to both ezines. You can subscribe to the new BizOpBytes ezine that will start the first week of February by sending a blank email to bob_sub@HomeBusinessOnline.com?subject=Subscribe_BOB RAMBLINGS... Give me your thoughts... and don't forget to tell me about yourself! I read every email. Heidi Perry P.S... The vote for what to call the first 10 years is getting interesting. Be sure to place your vote at http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/cgi-bin/MultiPoll_v2.5.cgi _________________________________________ Here's a better idea Out of 108 people polled at HomeBusinessOnline.com, 54.6% said they did NOT have a business plan. The truth is that most of you reading this article do not have a written plan. Why? Let's see. You know you need a business plan. You've heard it from many sources, "Write your business plan!" So, you sit down and begin. Hmmm... bios, sales and growth projections, competition, graphs, marketing. It all seems so overwhelming. You realize this is going to take longer than you thought. You put it down to continue another night. That night doesn't come. Sound familiar? How about this scenario: you actually finish your business plan. One year later, you realize you have not accomplished your goals, your finances are not where they were projected. You feel like you are failing. Can anyone relate? Relax, it's okay. The big business plan gig is really not for us small, home-based owners. So, scrap the big business plan. Here's a better idea. It's not that big business plans don't work for us, rather, they can't work. The traditional business plan is really for one reason, and one reason only: to sell your business idea to investors. If you're looking for venture capital, you have to put together a big business plan, and a very good one at that. There are some that I know of on this list that are, indeed, going this direction. But, the reality is that most of you are simply wanting to make a decent living at home. How do I know this? Take a look at our recently
archived poll, "How much income does your home biz
generate for the time you put into it?" You'll find
it here: 39% said they work part-time and receive part-time income. A pretty big chunk of home-basers, these are people who are simply looking for a little extra cash, or they look at their business as a hobby. Another substantial number of home-basers, 30%, works full-time and receives full-time income. These are people who are interested in giving their all to their home-based business. I would venture to say that a very small percentage of this group is actually looking for serious venture capital to take their business to a higher level. Don't get me wrong, we could all use a little extra funding. That's not what we're talking about here. Keeping this in mind, if we put together a traditional business plan (to impress investors), generally, what you put into the plan, will be the wrong things for the wrong reasons. If impressing the investors is not your intent, you can't succeed in this kind of plan. It's that simple. So, do you need a business plan? Oh, yes! You simply don't need the traditional big business plan. What you and I need is a guide that will help us take control of our own businesses. Ask yourself these questions:
Write down your answers as a prefice to your plan. Refer to these questions often and adjust your answers as your perspectives change. Now, with the above in mind, go ahead and pencil in your thoughts on the following. Your answers won't have to be terribly involved. This gives you a roadmap, nothing more. And, it will change and evolve over time. Remember, you're not answering to anyone but yourself. You're not trying to impress anyone. 1) Business Mission 2) Evaluate the Past 3) Your Personal Competitive Edge 4) Your Business Competitive Edge 5) Customer Relationships 6) Business Relationships 7) Finances Phew! Now, take a deep breath and you will find that this exercise will actually do more to help you focus and grow your business the way YOU choose, than any other traditional business plan ever could. It's still the beginning of a new year. Why not sit down and give it a try. And, if you have any ideas to add to the above, by all means, give me some feedback. Perhaps together we can perfect the concept of the small, home-based business owner's business plan. Send feedback on this article to _____LOOK!_______________________________ You can still get in on the 2-for-$12 special! * We'll place your Classified Ad in TWO issues of HomeBizBytes for ONLY $12... over 7,000 subscribers! - 3 lines of text + 1 line for clickable URL or Email Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Card or FAX a check to us... FAX: 801-785-0193 MIDNIGHT, MONDAY, JANUARY 31st _________________________________________ We appreciate our advertisers. Why not give them a click! .......... * CREATE YOUR OWN INFORMATION BASED SOFTWARE TITLES! http://www.SOHOhelper.com/creator.html *EARN A "6" FIGURE INCOME IN 2000! hthttp://www.cashmailbox.com/index.php3?=code100652 * A flextime opportunity for busy moms! http://www.kellyskids.com * HAVE FUN! WIN PRIZES! http://www.shoppingdeals.com/trivia.htm *WORK WHEN YOU want to work. Join the exploding http://www.onfire.km.net * ARE YOU MAKING THE $$ YOU HAD HOPED FOR? If not or if you need a new product or service, visit us at http://www.chaservice.com * OVERWHELMED? FRUSTRATED? UNMOTIVATED? http://www.simplerliving.com/sln.htm * YES, YOU CAN raise a happy family AND earn a great living -- without leaving home! Find out how at the ParentPreneur Club, your source for home business news, tools and opportunities. http://www.parentpreneurclub.com * ADVERTISE IN OUR POPULAR CLASSIFIEDS AT OUR WEBSITE, http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/market/classifieds/links/add.cgi _________________________________________ Most people think of sending cards to their clients at Christmas time. Know what? They usually get filed with the others. You can guess where. Make your business stand out and celebrate your business' anniversary instead. Send it as a card or simply send a friendly email. Add festive graphics to celebrate. What to put in your message? Recall your accomplishments for the previous year, assert where your business is headed for the next year, call attention to your business' competive edge. Celebrating your business' anniversary will get you much farther with your clients than a stale Christmas card. Try it! _________________________________________ SnagIt I've used this handy little download several times. SnagIt captures anything on the Windows® desktop quickly and easily. This software actually lets you capture the whole page (not just what's on the screen), or capture only bits and parts of the page. From one-step capture of scrolling web pages to video capture and text conversion, SnagIt does it all. Shareware or shelfware. _________________________________________ Want to know how to be included here? * Excellent Ezine: MNE I-MOM News, Views, Thoughts & Tips Cyndi Webb, Publisher Subscribe .......... * Useful Discussion List/Board: FrankelBiz Rob Frankel, a well-known branding specialist, runs this loyal list "where we DO business while everyone else just whines about it." I've belonged to this list for some time. Read Rob's articles, develop business leads, offer discounts, find partnerships, all as a FrankelBee on the FrankelBiz list. http://www.frankel-anderson.com/frankelbiz/form.html_________________________________________ * Outstanding Home-based Site of the Day: Women Entrepreneurs Online Network (WEON) Rozey Gean has done a marvelous job of creating a network of women entrepreneurs who tutor and support one another. If you are new to the Internet or the business arena, WEON is for you. Participation is the key. ---------- * Just For Kicks Site of the Day: printQuick Create and print a real hold-in-your hand greeting card right from the printQuick website. Featured artists and wonderful graphics and greetings. This is plain old fun. By the way, it's free! _________________________________________ * Blush, blush. Thank you, Bob!  "I'm certain that HomeBizBytes will quicklybecome one of the most read and referred tresources for home based business people. Heidihas an unique talent for ferreting out the goodstuff and presenting it in a dynamic andentertaining fashion."Bob CortezTotal Quality Marketinghttp://www.tqm-online.comSubscribe to [homebiz] discussion list:homebiz-subscribe@onelist.comSend your feedback to me and I'll try to post it here! _________________________________________ * Please tell us how we're doing! Send any comments
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