Archive | February, 2022

Manny Khoshbin arrived in the U.S. at age 14 when his family fled civil unrest in Iran. They were penniless and lived in a station wagon for weeks before finally affording an apartment. Manny got his first job at Kmart, stocking shelves for $3.15 an hour. Fast forward to today and he’s a multi-millionaire.

His advice?

• Have BIG Goals. “Average goal-setting techniques create average results, Khoshbinn warns. He says you need to be more aggressive in charting exactly where you want to be in 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 years. “Set goals you can 100 percent commit to each year, and then stick to them.”
• Make a Plan. “You can’t drive from point A to B if you can’t see where you’re going,” Khoshbin says. So plan every step of the journey to achieving each one of your 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 year goals.
• Learn from the Best. To get to the top, you must become really good at what you do. Surround yourself with successful, like-minded people and learn everything that you can about your business. Experts aren’t born, they’re made, which means you can become an expert at whatever you choose.
• Check in Every Week. Once a week sit down with your goal list and see if you’re on the right path. Make adjustments, decide what needs to be done and let your subconscious find the solutions and paths to achieving your goals throughout the week.
• Be Stubborn. Too many people give up before they reach their goal. Remind yourself daily on why you are doing this in the first place. You might want to write out your big “Why” and tack it to the wall in front of your desk, to be reminded daily of why you are working hard to achieve your dreams.

One last note: If a Kmart stock boy can become a multi-millionaire… what can you accomplish?

Don’t quit your day job just yet. If you are a baby boomer looking to start a home business, there are 5 essential things you must do first.

Leaving the security of a job with an established 401(k) plan, health insurance or other benefits can create a real tug of war for baby boomers who want to pursue their dreams of owning their own business.

Analyze Your Exit Strategy

At the time of this writing, the youngest of the baby boomers are turning 42 and the oldest are turning 60. No matter where you fall into this group, analyzing and preparing your exit strategy from your job will be crucial to your long-term success as a home business entrepreneur. Do you have adequate savings? If you’re married, will you be able to participate in your spouse’s health insurance?

Create a Financial Plan

How much is your salary now? What are your fixed, variable and frivolous expenses? Create a solid plan so that you and your family will know exactly what the financial picture will be until your business gets off the ground and starts generating revenue.

Choosing a Business Model and Legal Entity

There are several business models to choose from; home party plans, consulting, and affiliate marketing to name a few. You have to make the decision based on your personality and what you are best-suited for. Choosing a legal entity for your business should be discussed with a tax accountant or your attorney. Options are sole proprietor, LLC or Subchapter S- Corp.

Set Business Benchmarks

You wouldn’t travel across the country without a road map, your business is the same. Setting financial and business-building benchmarks will help you to create a focused plan that will help you to reach your success.

Get a Physical

What does getting a physical have to do with your business? Once you leave your job, most likely your health insurance will change and as unfair as it may be, trying to get new health insurance when in your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s can be difficult. While pursuing your dreams of a home business is something you are probably very passionate about, if you do not have good health to enjoy the rewards of your efforts, not much else is important.

The baby boomer generation is like no other before it or after it. Technically, we are considered middle-aged, but we are anything but middle-aged in mind, body and spirit. We know there is more meaning to life than a commute to an unrewarding 9-5 job, but there are also important steps we must take first. Planning and preparing for your home business now will reduce headaches later on, and increase opportunities for success.

One of the attractions of working at home is the vision of freedom it invokes — no time clock, no time sheets, and no one to account to for how you spend your time. Yes, it is an attractive proposition, but like so many attractive propositions there is a heavy downside — you are likely wasting a lot of time.

I used to loathe making a daily schedule for my work and have always dismissed it as a waste of time — that is until my home business really took off and I realized there simply wasn’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all my goals if I didn’t have a solid daily plan.

I now have my own spreadsheet and agenda for the day and I have improved my productivity and reduced my stress immeasurably. If you don’t think you need a schedule for your home business then think again — and read on.

After a spate of relatively unproductive days when my “To Do” list seemed to grow exponentially every time I looked at it I knew something had to change.

Granted I was going through a rough patch. My home business was experiencing growing pains and taking up more than the usual time, my home life was putting a lot of extra demands on me, and my extended family was experiencing a number of crises that required my input as well. But I’m also old enough to know there is never a perfect time in life — you just live the one you’ve got. These are simply the problems I’m dealing with this year… Next year these problems will be traded in for new fresh ones.

After studying my time and chatting with some other work-at-home folks, I discovered five reasons to embrace a schedule:

1. It’s too easy to waste time doing non-priority tasks
2. It’s too easy to get sidetracked or distracted from your current task
3. Unscheduled work time can often overlap into your free time costing you freedom
4. Your free time can cross into your work time so you fall behind with important projects
5. Concentrating your time and effort on highest priority projects means more gets done

I’m not the only work at home business person using a daily schedule. I recently participated in an online forum discussion where men and women had moved to embrace a schedule in their own business — and found it more freeing than restrictive. After all, you are still the one setting the schedule so you are free to schedule yourself off for a 3-hour lunch, an afternoon, or a whole day whenever you choose.

If you find it difficult setting up your schedule and priorities for the day and week then perhaps your significant other or a friend can help you set your schedule. The important thing is to set one, and hold yourself accountable to it. As you do, your productivity will improve, and your business will grow faster.

Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you can afford to be loose with your schedule. In fact, you probably need to be even more disciplined with your schedule than if you worked outside the home, because there will be many more distractions at home trying to pull you into non-work activity.