6 Essential Skills for Home based & On Line Business
6 Essential Skills for Home Based Business
By Don Paul Fuller
A home based or online business is not really different from a traditional brick & mortar business, in that practicing and improving your skills will make your business better than before. Here are 6 building blocks for success in your business.
1. Financial Skills
You would think that in a home based business that financial skills would be less necessary than in a full scale commercial enterprise. After all, a larger business will have financial issues far beyond those of Mr. & Mrs. Ordinary Home Business related to the sheer size of their operation €" they will need accountants, lawyers, and HR gurus etc.
However, the lack of resource means that financials skills take on even greater significance in a home based or online operation. Take tax laws pertinent to your situation, for instance. Do you know the rules relating to expenditure of a business nature, as opposed to personal expenditure? What about recording income, and expenditure €" or distinguishing between assets and liabilities?
To be an effective small business owner & operator, you need accounting, administrative and organizational skills, as well as in-depth knowledge of the financial geography of your chosen enterprise. What are the potential pitfalls, the probable profits?
Often, an entrepreneur will find a business coach or mentor to help navigate the unknown. Or your business community may have forums and other self-help aids to your industry.
Some businesses have systems that can be replicated, so that all the financial skills are catered for in the back-office. An example would be the MacDonald's franchises
2. Technical Skills
In order to stay in touch with, or surpass the leaders in your chosen niche, you need to read all the books, attend all the seminars workshops and conferences €" your technical knowledge may be the extra edge you need to slay your competitors.
At the least you will need to be aware of the barriers there are to successful business in your niche. Without this, you risk failure from changes in technology or from a lack of understanding of the problems you will face.
3. People Skills
The way you relate and deal with people in your business, especially if you are working from home, will be a key to success. Your good manners, your politeness will translate online and your customers will get the €feel€ from your tone. Attentiveness to your customer's needs will promote repeat business, and your they will feel they are important to you.
Before you send email or mail a message to a customer read it from their perspective. Are you polite? Or rude? Checking the tone of your messages will reflect in the success of your business
4. Communication Skills
It is essential to be able to communicate effectively at a variety of levels, in a variety of manners, to a variety of people. By up skilling your communications your messages will be more effective and reduce the chances of being misunderstood. One simple skill such as learning how to differentiate between the ways people learn, and adjusting your communications appropriately, may supercharge your income.
5. Personal Skills
Healthy self-esteem and self-image is absolutely imperative, in order to tackle day to day business challenges. Entrepreneurs, especially on-line and home based, will spend much time flying solo, and without these attributes, it will be difficult to focus on your plans and remain motivated to defeat the challenges that will be there.
6. Marketing Skills
Marketing at its most basic, is all you do to promote your business, yourself and your sales message. As such, it incorporates your communications, your technology, your people skills and your personal skills in order to get your target market to make a positive buying decision regarding your offer.
You need to know how to segment, how to target your market. A system will need to be developed which will simplify while amplifying your marketing efforts.
It may seem too much to do. But, with a little discipline (found under Personal Skills) and a few minutes a day working on these skills will see a dramatic increase in the viability of your on line or home business. You will go a long way to turn your annual income into your monthly income€¦
By Don Paul Fuller
A home based or online business is not really different from a traditional brick & mortar business, in that practicing and improving your skills will make your business better than before. Here are 6 building blocks for success in your business.
1. Financial Skills
You would think that in a home based business that financial skills would be less necessary than in a full scale commercial enterprise. After all, a larger business will have financial issues far beyond those of Mr. & Mrs. Ordinary Home Business related to the sheer size of their operation €" they will need accountants, lawyers, and HR gurus etc.
However, the lack of resource means that financials skills take on even greater significance in a home based or online operation. Take tax laws pertinent to your situation, for instance. Do you know the rules relating to expenditure of a business nature, as opposed to personal expenditure? What about recording income, and expenditure €" or distinguishing between assets and liabilities?
To be an effective small business owner & operator, you need accounting, administrative and organizational skills, as well as in-depth knowledge of the financial geography of your chosen enterprise. What are the potential pitfalls, the probable profits?
Often, an entrepreneur will find a business coach or mentor to help navigate the unknown. Or your business community may have forums and other self-help aids to your industry.
Some businesses have systems that can be replicated, so that all the financial skills are catered for in the back-office. An example would be the MacDonald's franchises
2. Technical Skills
In order to stay in touch with, or surpass the leaders in your chosen niche, you need to read all the books, attend all the seminars workshops and conferences €" your technical knowledge may be the extra edge you need to slay your competitors.
At the least you will need to be aware of the barriers there are to successful business in your niche. Without this, you risk failure from changes in technology or from a lack of understanding of the problems you will face.
3. People Skills
The way you relate and deal with people in your business, especially if you are working from home, will be a key to success. Your good manners, your politeness will translate online and your customers will get the €feel€ from your tone. Attentiveness to your customer's needs will promote repeat business, and your they will feel they are important to you.
Before you send email or mail a message to a customer read it from their perspective. Are you polite? Or rude? Checking the tone of your messages will reflect in the success of your business
4. Communication Skills
It is essential to be able to communicate effectively at a variety of levels, in a variety of manners, to a variety of people. By up skilling your communications your messages will be more effective and reduce the chances of being misunderstood. One simple skill such as learning how to differentiate between the ways people learn, and adjusting your communications appropriately, may supercharge your income.
5. Personal Skills
Healthy self-esteem and self-image is absolutely imperative, in order to tackle day to day business challenges. Entrepreneurs, especially on-line and home based, will spend much time flying solo, and without these attributes, it will be difficult to focus on your plans and remain motivated to defeat the challenges that will be there.
6. Marketing Skills
Marketing at its most basic, is all you do to promote your business, yourself and your sales message. As such, it incorporates your communications, your technology, your people skills and your personal skills in order to get your target market to make a positive buying decision regarding your offer.
You need to know how to segment, how to target your market. A system will need to be developed which will simplify while amplifying your marketing efforts.
It may seem too much to do. But, with a little discipline (found under Personal Skills) and a few minutes a day working on these skills will see a dramatic increase in the viability of your on line or home business. You will go a long way to turn your annual income into your monthly income€¦
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