5 Top Things Baby Boomers Must Do Before Starting a Home Based Business
HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED TO START A SMALL BUSINESS??
Leaving the security of a job with established 401(k) plans, 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
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5 Top Things Baby Boomers Must Do Before Starting a Home Business
Don’t quit your day job just yet. If you are a baby boomer looking to start a home business, there are 5 essentials 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? Creating 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, the 50s 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, then 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 lead to less headache’s later on.
5 Tips To Make Your Home-Based Business Not Appear “Homemade”
One of the toughest obstacles we face when working from home is making it appear that we’re not, in fact, working from home.
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When clients call and there are kids screaming in the background, pets barking and meowing and timers going off for laundry and cooking, it doesn’t appear professional. So, how can we appear more professional?
Tip # 1: Have a clean, professional website with your own domain name.
Do not, under any circumstances, have a “free” website hosted on anoth…
One of the toughest obstacles we face when working from home is making it appear that we’re not, in fact, working from home.
When clients call and there are kids screaming in the background, pets barking and meowing and timers going off for laundry and cooking, it doesn’t appear professional. So, how can we appear more professional?
Tip # 1: Have a clean, professional website with your own domain name.
Do not, under any circumstances, have a “free” website hosted on another domain name with other company’s ads all over the place!
This is one of the biggest no-no’s out there! Decide, instead, that in order to appear professional, you must invest in a professional website.
If you aren’t skilled in web design, hire someone to do it for you or barter with another home-based business owner who does do web design. Choose a domain name that is closely related to your business’s name.
Tip # 2:
Invest in a separate phone line or in a distinctive ring tone for that line.
Most phone companies offer a plan where you can have two or more numbers ringing to one phone line with distinctive rings.
It’s usually better to have a separate phone line in your office, in order to avoid after-hours phone calls from clients. This also enables you to “shut the door” on work when you’re not there. Use a professional voicemail message or answering machine message and check the messages often.
Tip # 3: Think about how to display your business address.
How are you going to display your physical location? There are a few different options available. Most home-based business owners will say that they accept meetings by appointment only, to discourage clients from “dropping in” while they’re still in their jammies and haven’t had their morning coffee yet.
If you don’t want your customers to know you work from home, two other options are using a P.O. Box or attaching a “Suite” number to your address. If you use a P.O. Box, you will have to give your home address out for packages and anything they want to courier to you, but it does provide anonymity and discourages drop-in visitors.
If you attach a suite number to your address in order to make it appear a “business office,” make sure you mention to your postal carrier that you’re running a home-based business and that’s why there’s a different address on there.
Tip # 4: Define your office etiquette rules to your family.
What are the rules going to be for your kids and family members when you’re on the phone or meeting with a client?
Are you going to set a timer so they know when you’ll be available? Are you going to have set office hours and not meet with clients outside of those times? Are you going to have a play space in your office? This is especially important if you’re going to have small kids playing nearby (quietly) while you work.
Tip # 5: Invest in professional-quality promotional products and marketing pieces.
Don’t print off business cards from your printer, unless you have a top-of-the-line printer. Invest in professional-quality business cards and brochures.
If you can, have some letterhead printed up, too, for contracts, letters to prospective clients, and any correspondence that is business-related.
If you’re printing promotional products like T-shirts or apparel, coffee mugs, mousepads, etc., check the quality of the products put out by the printer you wish to use. Don’t just “price-hunt,” look around for the best quality and invest in your business.
