As recent as ten years ago starting a business, any business, cost a lot of money. Cash outlay was thousands of dollars and there was no way to get around that. The barrier to entry into the world of small business was set high enough that not everyone could jump in. Times have changed. Now, with just a couple hundred dollars you can start your own business online.
Besides business rent and equipment, usually a business owner's biggest expense is marketing. Traditional marketing by mail or in person is expensive and has been largely replaced by online marketing tactics. Online you can reach hundreds or thousands of people quickly and without breaking the bank. Pay for finding visitors to your website using Pay Per Click (PPC) services, direct email marketing, banner ads, or through commissions to affiliates marketing your products for you. There are many ways to market online, nearly all of them better than traditional marketing practices.
Ways to Save Cash as You Start Your Business
1. Work at Home - Forget an office building for as long as you can. Online businesses, even the top bloggers in the world like Darren Rowse, still work out of their home offices. Think about the delicious tax deductions for working out of your home too.
2. Rent Equipment - If you live in or near a major city you can likely rent out computer equipment you need for your business. Rented equipment is deductible on taxes and you are not responsible for it when it breaks on its own. You can have the latest made electronics at a great rate without spending the entire amount outright as you would buying it in a store.
3. Learn the Basics about everything you have to do. Graphics, SEO, marketing, copyrighting, lead generation and growing your business are all things you should get up to speed on as fast as possible. If you are not already competent with the basics of these topics it would pay you over time to do so. Even if you are going to outsource work in these areas you still need to be able to talk intelligently about them. Start reading or watching video tutorials online.
4. Work in the Cloud. Google Apps are a suite of applications that mimic Microsoft Office, and yet there is one major distinction. They are free. They are in the internet cloud and accessible from anywhere you can login. There is no need to take files with you on memory stick or send files via email - just login to your Google account and find them from where ever you are.
5. Pay Per Click - Search engines, FaceBook, and other companies offer you a chance to pay for each click on an ad you run with the company. When someone clicks your ad they are taken to your website or landing page that talks about your product or service. Cost can be as little as 1 cent per click, or, if competition is high - a couple of dollars per click. Pay Per Click is an area of marketing every business should become educated about.
6. Email Leads - Start collecting email addresses from visitors at your website from day one. Using Aweber.com or a similar service, start collecting visitors email addresses with an opt-in form so you can email them in the future with a permission-based email marketing program.
7. Partnerships - find parallel businesses that offer something you do not and work with them in partnership to sell some of their products or services as they sell yours. Think about trading services business to business to help you save money. Online you can trade banners with another site so neither of you have to spend cash outright.
Starting a business need not involve a lot of expenses that traditional business owners spend for granted. Spend time now to learn as many pieces of the puzzle as possible because it will save you a lot of money long-term. There are things you can do yourself, and things you have to outsource. Better if you do not have to outsource everything and can do some on your own. Educating yourself now will save you considerable cash as your business matures.
A lot of people jump into trying to start a business or make some extra money without thinking of any particular goal besides bringing in some extra cash. They're desperate to make some extra money, because they think a better income is all that's needed to improve their lives.
Don't fall into that trap.
Sure, making more money is great, and there are a lot of ways it can make your life better. You've probably heard the expression that money doesn't buy happiness but the lack of it surely brings unhappiness, and there's a lot of truth to that. But being successful in business is about more than just money. You have to figure out what you want from your business--and your life--before you jump into a new venture.
I'm fortunate enough to make a six-figure income from writing, which is something I've loved doing since grade school, and--even better--most of what I earn comes in the form of a passive income that lands in my bank account whether I'm at the keyboard typing away or if I'm in Hawaii learning how to surf or up at Whistler skiing the slopes. For me, one of the keys to success was to learning to write for myself and keep 100% of the revenue instead of getting paid hourly to write for other people. I've learned one other big lesson along the road to financial independence, and that's what I want to share with you today.
Before you start a business, there's one big question you need to ask:
What do you want your life to look like?
Let's say money isn't an issue. Your new business is a success, and you have plenty. So, close your eyes and imagine what your life would look like.
Are you traveling the world, stopping here and there to check on your business from an Internet café? Are you watching your kids at an after-school soccer game? Are you outside hiking or biking and enjoying a sunny day in the middle of the week? Are you driving a fancy car that you never could have afforded on your old salary?
Before you jump into a business, think about what you want from life. Most people who start businesses just end up making new jobs for themselves. They've traded their old boss for a new one: themselves. And because they don't get to clock out at the end of the day, as they would in a normal job, they end up working harder and longer hours than ever before. They may or may not make any more money than they did before. Even if they make more, they don't have the time to enjoy it. It's no wonder so many businesses don't succeed.
If all you want from life is things, working 12 or more hours a day may be okay, but one thing I've found is that what we really want--far more than we want fancy houses and mansions--is freedom.
We want to be able to set our own hours and take a day off when we feel like it. To my mind, that is a far greater fortune than all the money I've earned or all the money I may earn in the future.
Figure out what you want your life to look like, and then figure out how to build a business that will get you there. If you create the business first, you may be chasing freedom and happiness for the rest of your life.
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Are you considering dating after divorce? Has it been only a few months since your divorce has been finalized, but you want to go and put yourself out there and date again? Or have you been told how important it is to date after divorce, but you're not sure you're ready to meet someone new?
Not every woman is prepared to date after a divorce after the same length of time. Some will jump back into the dating scene in a heartbeat, but many feel a need to spend some time alone first. Read on to see when you should begin to date after a divorce and how to get back on that dating horse.
Rediscover the Woman
For some women, marriage simply swallows them up and they disappear with the relationship. They lose all sense of who they are and, over time, come to take on the role that is expected of them as a wife, forgetting completely who they once were. Before you decide to put yourself back out there again, take some time to discover who you really are. You may be surprised by what you find.
What have you set aside these past years in order to be with your husband? What sacrifices have you made? This is the time to catch up with the woman you left behind.
Grieving Process
Few are the women who leave divorce court sincerely celebrating their newfound freedom. For most of us, this is a difficult and heartbreaking process. Not only have we lost the man we loved, but it's the death of that marital dream that also pains us.
Many of us have dozens of plans for our future together with our husband and to have that all destroyed can be hard to swallow.
Take the time to mourn the loss of your love and your dream.
Dating After a Divorce
It's often tempting to talk about our divorce when we start dating someone new. The topic of past relationships is brought up and before you know it, you're going on and on about how badly your ex treated you, or, worse still, you're going on and on about how much you miss him and still love him.
Whatever anger, pain or angst you need to get off your chest about your ex-husband, do it with your friends. Spend a nice long evening venting and saying everything you feel and think about this broken relationship. Then you can meet this new guy with something else to talk about.
Eager Beaver
If you've become accustomed to living with a man and you feel the need to re-enter a relationship quickly, you might be setting yourself up for another failed romance. Not only are you apt to fall for the first guy who is remotely husband material, but you'll be going out on the dating scene with a distinguishable air of desperation.
Take the time meet the man who'll truly make you happy instead of settling for someone who'll simply replace your ex. You'll be happier in the end and dating after divorce will be a success instead of another failure.
