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HELP! I need Ideas to start a business
prosperngrow
subscriber Posts: 1
Hello Everyone,
I`m in desperate need to fulfill my dreams of working my own thing from home or partially outside the home or whatever.I`m having trouble finding a business to start. I`m a Personal Assistant now(part time). I have done home and office organization. I`m hoping someone(s) can give me an idea of what i could start that doesn`t require alot of start up cost. I can see the dream but, I`m having the trouble achieving it. I have tried but my problem comes with getting my business exposure, the marketing end of it.
The things I like to do is , organize,decorate, being a personal assistant, I love researching whatever I need to know, I grew up in a home/office cleaning service so I know it like back of my hand, but, I don`t want to solely do that, I know Admininstrative Assistant work(did for years). I have a passion to help people, I love being creative and do something original and different.
Any Ideas with the background I have...I can maybe roll into one and do?????
prosperngrow11/10/2007 7:23 AM
I`m in desperate need to fulfill my dreams of working my own thing from home or partially outside the home or whatever.I`m having trouble finding a business to start. I`m a Personal Assistant now(part time). I have done home and office organization. I`m hoping someone(s) can give me an idea of what i could start that doesn`t require alot of start up cost. I can see the dream but, I`m having the trouble achieving it. I have tried but my problem comes with getting my business exposure, the marketing end of it.
The things I like to do is , organize,decorate, being a personal assistant, I love researching whatever I need to know, I grew up in a home/office cleaning service so I know it like back of my hand, but, I don`t want to solely do that, I know Admininstrative Assistant work(did for years). I have a passion to help people, I love being creative and do something original and different.
Any Ideas with the background I have...I can maybe roll into one and do?????
prosperngrow11/10/2007 7:23 AM
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Comments
What is your website for viewing your inventory & prices?
Aimee
The Virtual does sound like a good idea, I need to research it or if anyone knows anything about "Virtual Assistant" please share some info. I would appreciate it.
Bestof Asia do you have a price list or a website??
Virtual
assistants
If you enjoy administrative work and are good at it, you may be a good
candidate for a virtualassistant (VA) job.
The best VA’s come from administrative backgrounds, but anyone who is
detail-oriented, loves to work in a support role, and has a well-rounded
work history would possibly do well in a career as a VA, said Stacy
Brice, one of the founders of the VA industry.
Brice, who provides help and training through AssistU.com
, said the pay could be rewarding, based on how
well you do your job.
Because VAs are business owners, they set their own fees, based on the
value they can create for their clients. You`ll see fees all over the place,
but AssistU-trained VAs generally have fees that are $30.00 + per hour,
Brice said.
Why would someone hire a virtualassistant?
Many small business owners, sole-practice professionals and entrepreneurs
hire VAs so they can concentrate on what they do best, rather than getting
bogged down in administrative details.
Oh, and also so they can work at home. You`ll find graphic artists, Web
designers, technical consultants and all kinds of independent professionals
working at home and using virtual assistants these days.
I use a virtualassistant so that I don’t have the responsibility of
overhead, payroll, etc., said Jonathan Pool, a Michigan-based mechanical
consulting engineer. In a way, it’s like having a consultant of my own,
someone with their own expertise.
In addition to AssistU, you can find valuable information at the
International Virtual Assistants Association and at
Staffcentrix.
Have a great day!
In regards to pay. It`s hard to find a good VA for less than $35 an hour and goes up to about $75 an hour. If you are good, then you will find a ton of work.
Best of luck.
Aaron
Thanks for your reply! I was wondering how and where do you market yourself to get business? I don`t doubt I can be a good one because I have an administrative background also but, I wouldn`t know where to start to get customers.
Anyone who ask "I need ideas to start a business" is not ready to start a business. You need to have ideas first, then pursue it as a business.
Why? Because if you have to get ideas from other people, you are simply not going to be competitive. Whatever business you enter into, you are no better than the next person going into the same business. It probably doesn`t require special skills (administrative background is not a special skill), so anyone can get in. Most likely, you will end up competing on price and work long hours to make the end`s meat. That`s not the way to create a successful business (or even a successful self-employment job).
This is simply how free market works. When a product or service can be offered by anyone, it is a commodity, and it always end up being a low margin thing.
You have to dig deeper to find something right for you. "Administrative background" is just a start. You have to find something which differentiate yourself more.
Let me give you an example - if you have been doing administrative work for a particular industry, that will be a great asset and not everyone can do it. Let me be even more concrete - if you have done import/export administrative work, you can easily do an import and export consulting business, because that is foreign to most people.
That was just an example. You need to think about your past experience and think hard about what make youself different. A lot of things may be so natural to you that you don`t even see it, but may be very valuable to others.johnqh2007-11-17 20:57:34
There are tons of places on the internet to get training and also get jobs.
The bigger preparation begins in your home/office. Do you have an organized area? Do you have all the office equipment that you will need? Do you have software that is going to be required by your clients? Do you know how to use a lot of various software? Do you have a landline phone? Unlimited long distance? Etc.
Currently, I use a VA for getting our membership site (www.BusinessOwnersOnline.com) up and off the ground. She writes articles, makes calls, works with my other designers, etc so that I don`t have to do any of that and am able to do other stuff that is more worthy of my time. She is the most amazing lady ever and worth every single penny. Her personality and great attitude make her an absolute breeze to work with, plus she is willing to try new things and also learn (a huge plus for any VA).
We have gotten into more of a friendship because of our working relationship. We aren`t able to pay her top dollar, but we do other things for her that make up for it. For instance, for her 30th birthday just recently, we sent her a nice assortment of wines from one of our clients that she was working with. Wine is one thing........but it was extra special to her because this was locally made and someone who she worked with on a project.
Why does she do what she does? She used to be like a paralegal in a law firm working 60-80 hours a week on salary, taking work home, getting calls at all hours of the night, etc. One day her 7 year old daughter said....."Mommy, why are you never home?" Then it hit her and it was time for a change.
Now she picks up enough work to fill the 6-8 hours a day her daughter is at school plus a bit more if needed. Either way, she is home all the time and has the flexibility to do whatever she wants. She is heavily involved in 2-3 different organizations plus also very active with the PTO at her daughter`s school. We have her get all of our projects done and usually give her 15-20 hours a week or two depending on the workload.
So that just tells you some of the things about our VA, what you need to be ready for, etc.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Aaron
Having the common sense approach to investigate what you might like to do with the rest of your life will probably be plagued with the not so common sense approach of doing it for little or no cost or free. Also an expectation to make big dollars fast. I need it and want it now!
Another desire would be to do something that nobody else is doing or thought of so there would be no competition. Don`t forget that whatever you end up doing it has to have little cost but be very profitable with it`s perceived value. In other words buy or manufacture something that costs you .10 cents or less and sell it for 50, 60, 70, 80 cents or more.
Then comes the marketing of the business you`ve chosen. Do I have a budget for it, what would be the like-ability of the product or service that referral`s would be created as a high percentage of new business.
Well, I hope I didn`t sound too much like a soothsayer or palm reader in fantasy wishful thinking. We are human and it is very natural to dream about such a business and with all that was said above, this business would have to be fun, rewarding, not boring but creative and with ongoing future possibilities to grow both offline and online.
Oh if only there was a special start up business that had those qualities. Other than the `free` or small cost (whatever that means to you) I have such a business that is available. It meets all the fantasy requirements mentioned for $4900.00. It does not have the fantasy of a `hands off` business and it magically grows itself. No, that you have to do. Play with the business. Notice I didn`t say `work` the business. If you play with this business, you will be very successful.
www.businesscardnotecards.com features the product business I`m referring to. Email [email protected] with the request to send the free report that will explain this business in great detail.
My business is helping others find their own home based business.
Brooke Folk
www.thehomebusinessdepot.comBrooke11/29/2007 1:24 PM
With your skills and interest, you`d be perfect for home staging, in my opinion.
Best of luck!
I know exactly what you mean!!! How would you like to have your own website with 4.8 million products of Books, CDs, DVDs, Video Games, and College Textbooks? What if these products were priced in a way that they beat the prices of other on-line book stores almost everytime? What if you didn`t have to do any of the money handling, shipping, returns, etc. and got 40% of the profits? What if you got coached by some of the brightest business people (Robert G. Allen, Richard Paul Evans, Mark Victor Hansen, etc.) weekly on how to build your business? What if those business men gave you a promise that after one year, if you didn`t feel like your life was better, you could get out of the business and get 100% of your money refunded? What if you paid less than $40 per month for all of this? I found that this is working for me. I couldn`t afford a lot of money to start up a business because I am a single mom, but this company is a "no brainer". I can`t wait until I`m able to quit my JOB (by the way JOB stands for Just Over Broke).
Natalie