3.3 million professionals consider their home to be their primary workplace, and in each of those homes, you’re likely to find an office where workers spend a minimum of 40 hours a week. Chances are, this office looks about the same as it did when it was first set up too. A new year is all about new beginnings, and it’s time to ... Read More
Deborah Sweeney
6 Tips for Turning Your Side Hustle into a Small Business
Want to turn your side hustle business into a full-time gig? Then keep reading for six easy tips to get started. Maybe it’s an Etsy shop where you make and sell jewelry. It could be a website where you offer social media consulting services for businesses and brands. Or maybe it’s a food blog full of original recipes you’re dreaming ... Read More
5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness While Working From Home
Now more than ever, workplaces are encouraging employees to practice mindfulness, the act of paying attention on purpose. Mindfulness means living in the present moment and using techniques to explore thoughts and feelings without any judgment. It's incredibly useful too, improving attention spans and reducing stress in both the ... Read More
When Should I Hire on a Manager?
Often, if you’re running your business from home, the idea is to run it yourself. There are many benefits to being the only employee - you only have to manage yourself, you don’t have to pay other people, and your business is being run exactly how you envision it being run. But as your small business grows, you may get to a point ... Read More
What Do I Do After Incorporating My Home-Based Business?
We’ve talked about the benefits of incorporating your at-home business before, but what comes next? Incorporating your business is a huge step. Once you’ve made the jump into creating a Corporation or LLC, you want to make sure you’re taking the correct next steps. You’re a legal entity, your assets are protected, your site’s live- ... Read More
Three Easy Ways To Market Your Home-Based Business
Starting your own home-based business is a unique challenge in itself. After doing all the hard work and getting everything off the ground, the next big challenge is marketing your business. If no one knows you have a business, all the hard work will be for not. So how do you get the message out there? Networking. Social networking ... Read More
Three Possible Employment Problems for Home-Based Businesses
Running a home-based business is different from any other type of company. You don’t have an office or a strict workspace – it’s just whatever you can carve out of your home. And while, traditionally, home-based businesses were solo ventures, more people are hiring people to help them out when the work piles up. While most ... Read More
Four Reasons to Incorporate Your At-Home Business
When you’re working from home, it can be easy to view your business as a side venture. Side ventures don’t need your full attention, and they’re less of a risk. But there’s no reason your at-home business can’t be a full fledge, incorporated business. Small business owners have a couple of different choices when deciding which entity ... Read More
How to Make Your Home-Based Business a Partnership
The vast majority of home-based businesses are sole proprietorships – according to the SBA a mere 4% of firms based out of a private residence operate as partnerships. And while going it alone may fit the standard idea of a home-based business, running yours with a partner can be a real boon for your burgeoning company. Not only is ... Read More
End of The Year Tasks For Small Business Owners
According to the Kauffman Foundation, after falling for five years, the number of new entrepreneurs as a percentage of the population finally picked back up. That means, for many, we aren’t just approaching the end of the year – we’re also approaching the end of their first year of business. And as exciting as that is, a lot of new ... Read More
Can a One-Woman Operation Still Provide Over-the-Top Service?
Over-the-top service is about providing every, single customer with the best possible experience. And while that sounds simple, it’s a concept with which plenty of small business owners struggle. It’s a tall order, especially when you’re a one-woman operation, since you may think the infrastructure just isn’t there to provide the ... Read More
Handling Your Finances as a 1099 Contractor
Working from home is a dream of many, and running your own business is a great way to do just that. Chances are that, unless you’re selling a product, you’re doing a lot of freelance work. And when you freelance, businesses treat you as an independent contractor, or a 1099 contractor, which alludes to the 1099-MISC form businesses ... Read More
Five Ways to Treat Your Blog Like the Small Business It Is
Blogging is a rapid growth industry, and plenty of people have found successful careers as bloggers. Still, few bloggers tend to describe their site as a small business. Only around 14% of bloggers claim a salary earned through blogging, so the vast majority of bloggers are hobbyists. Unfortunately, the makeup of the majority has ... Read More
How to Market Your Small Business on a Shoestring Budget
Marketing is something that’s changed drastically over the years. Gone are the days of paying the local newspaper to print up a press release. Though, nowadays, it seems that marketing tactics are changing faster and faster. Where there used to be only a couple of marketing options for small business owners, there are now countless, ... Read More
Tips for Maximizing Your Tax Deductions
The deadline for filing your tax return is coming up quickly. A lot of small business owners depend on a solid refund to help get the year off to a good start. But to get that big refund, you have to claim every deduction and credit available. Here are some simple tips to maximize your tax deduction this year. Don’t overlook ... Read More