Home Based Business – Cutting Down on Unnecessary Expenses

Difficult economic conditions and poor consumer spending have affected the financial health of many small business units. It is therefore critical to cut down on unnecessary expenses to increase profit margins. Home based business units should regularly review the budget in order to maintain a healthy cash flow.Appropriate evaluation of cash position can help overcome problems and it also creates opportunities. Self employment can be expensive with the requirements for corresponding utilities and infrastructure.
The following measures should be adopted by small business ventures to cut down futile spending and achieve operational efficiency:Negotiate with Pricing: All forms of services, products and consultations should be solicited through competitive bidding whenever possible. The least expensive quote with potential for high deliverables should be pursued.Leverage Partnerships: Essential resources can be effectively utilized through merger and partnership operations with other small business units. Mutual efforts can be initiated by compatible home based business owners to tide over competition.Monitor Expenses: Managerial actions should be initiated to keep track of expenditure. An annual budget for anticipated expenses should be formulated and frequently monitored over time. Heavy expenses should be broken down in to smaller affordable components.Avail Discounts with Bulk Purchase: Lucrative discounts available for purchase of products in bulk quantities should be undertaken. This provides for advantages and benefits with price difference. This can help save money on a long term.Advantage with Lease/ Rental: Equipments, office essentials and technological accessories can be obtained on lease to avoid shelling a heavy price with one time buy. Sale opportunities at auctions, garage sales and warehouses should be pursued in order to cope up with the pressing purchase needs.Consider New Suppliers: New suppliers should be considered for benefits with pricing, delivery and credit period with orders. There should be negotiations for cutting down expenses.Apply technology: Internet communication can be utilized wherever possible to save costs with postage. Marketing activities can be carried out through economical blogs, websites and internet marketing.Reduce outlays: Home based business owners must look for ways to cut operational costs. This can work to provide savings and higher profits.Update Asset List: An asset audit must be carried out to ascertain appropriate items for the computation of taxes and insurance premiums. Shadow assets that are no longer utilized can cause unnecessary expense for business units. Strategies must be devised to depreciate the given assets for tax purposes.Business costs must be reduced to increase profit margins. The cost cutting measures must be thoroughly evaluated before initiation.Home based business owners must consider outsourcing rather than hiring full time employees. Efficient management of cash flow and liabilities through smart cost cutting measures is essential for the viability of a business.

A Warning to Home Based Business Junkies

The most important piece of advise that I am probably going to give you this year is to do your due diligence when you are looking for a home-based business. Due diligence is essentially a thorough research of the home based business of which you are interested in joining. During my years as a financial advisor, I assisted my clients in doing their due diligence regarding their stock and mutual fund investment selections. Any partnership made with any entity other than yourself requires a thorough examination of the entity’s track record. This research does not have to take an excessive amount of time. You just want to have enough information to make an informed decision so that you are not like the home based business junkie, whom everyone runs from like the plague. To assist you in keeping your credibility in tact, here is a simple, yet powerful three-pronged approach to researching a home based business prospect.Rule#1: Find out how long the company has been in existence, as well as its track record for creating winners within the organization. This is very important. A company who focuses on creating winners will have a rock solid training program, along with a bullet proof compensation plan for its distributors. You do not want to jump into a business solely on unproven hype, only to find out that you have to recruit the one million man march or sale massive volume like Walmart just to eake out puny commissions. This is completely not the reason you want to be involved in a home based business.Rule#2: Find out who are the leaders and their track record in building successful organizations. One of the best ways to research company leaders is to find out what other companies they have built in the past and were they successful? The previous company’s track record is a striking indication for what to expect with the “new” company. Leaders who are inventive and pioneering usually have the best track records, because they are constantly focusing on improving the functionality of their business, as well as the business of their distributors.Rule#3: Make sure the sponsor you partner with is seasoned in the home based business industry. The absolute worst possible situation to be in is partnered up with someone who is either too busy to teach you the business or just does not care about your success. In the world of sports, there are many coaches; however, there are only a few of them that can motivate and coach their team to back to back championships. A great home based business coach is going to have a proven track record themselves. Documentation always beats conversation. There are many people who talk a good game, but there are only a few that actually play a good game. Usually, when you partner up with a “bad” sponsor, you end up an orphaned distributor. Do not let this be your case.

Tax Season! Ugh! The Benefits of a Home Based Business at Tax Time

Yes, it’s a royal pain in the butt to have to file our tax returns, but it HAS to be done, so stop whining about it and get going on it! (I have told myself this for the past 28 days, it’s now March 26th. I have 17 MORE days until April 15th to procrastinate with. I really shouldn’t be writing this article. I SHOULD be working on my taxes, UGH!)I know that many people feel the same way that I do when it comes to getting the tax return done. Why does it have to be so complicated? It seems that taxes are just one of those ADULT chores that NEVER goes away…hence the saying “death and taxes.”OK, I’m done whining for now.If you are a home based business owner, make sure that you take advantage of all of the tax deductions that our generous Government makes available to us when it comes to home ownership (something that is becoming more and more obsolete these days!) And what I mean is besides the normal deductions of mortgage interest and property taxes paid…if you are running a home based business, and even if it is just an internet business and it doesn’t take up a lot of space, you can still take the Home Office Deduction.Remember to Take These Home Based Business Deductions: The Home Office Deduction- This deduction can help take the biggest bite out of your tax bill. If you are a small business owner, self-employed and do your work from your home in a space that is consistently and exclusively used for your business, you can take this deduction, even if the space that you use in your house is not a completely separate room. It must be a clearly defined workspace where no personal activities take place.A percentage is allowed for this deduction…
Figure out the approximate percentage of your home used for business. For example, if you have an eight-room house and your office occupies one room, your workspace would be about 12.5 percent. You can also add up the total square footage of your home and the square footage of your workspace to figure out the percentage.
Add together your rent or mortgage interest, utilities, maintenance, real estate taxes and insurance and multiply the total by the percentage you use for your business. (If you own your home, you can also factor in the depreciation on the room or space you work in.) Your final figure is your allowable home office deduction.Business Expenses – Even if you don’t take the home office deduction, there are many other expenses that you can take deductions on to help reduce your tax liability. Keep all of your receipts throughout the year and a running log of all of your daily and weekly expenses to have proof that your deductions are legitimate. Below are some expenses that can be deducted:office supplies
postage and shipping costs
printing expenses
all phone expenses..land & cell
internet service used for your business
memberships in professional organizations
subscriptions to journals and magazines needed in your work
all advertising fees
business insurance
seminars and courses (include travel expense to and from)
services by other professionals (attorney, maybe a good tax accountant?)Big improvements, such as a new computer system or a suite of office furniture, can either be immediately deducted up to $25,000 in the year they are bought or depreciated over several years. (Five years is the typical depreciation period for most equipment.) It’s worth it to deduct large equipment purchases right away if your business is showing a profit.Hope this information has helped you out with your home based business.Good Luck with your taxes…I wish you many Happy Returns!