Hello – All the WAHMs of the world! We know your out there, with your  super successful at home businesses. If your a true WAHM? If  your a REAL WAHM entrepreneur or have a successful direct sales business and would like you to contribute to our site, please do!  Tell us about your home based business success story! Would you like to share your story to help other women? Other ladies would benefit from learning about your success stories! Which types of home based businesses have you found worked for family? Which ones are you personally having a great success with, as a  home business? Which ones have you tried which have been flops in the end?  Women often ask us which ones are great ones to take a chance on.  We feel in this economy, if we as women can help each other. WE should when we CAN! Other women would like to hear your thoughts on the topic of home based businesses. Please share your ideas and your personal secrets to success as WAHM. The dream of many women is to have what YOU have, a successful home based business while raising a family. Please help the future WAHMs of the world by sharing!

Please share your ideas, thoughts and comments.

Once you get going with the day to day of your business,  you loose the direction you once had. All the plans you initially had in your head will be  gone.  You don’t think so, but it happens, write everything down in a notebook or or better yet out it in a  spread sheet.  Believe me once you start doing the actual business part each day,  you’ll  never remember all the creative things you thought of in the beginning. I recently found a piece of paper with some of my early ideas.  I was amazed how great my early ideas were!

It so important to have many things in place before your up and running. You will not have time later!

1. First, Research and read up on what your thinking of doing. Learn everything so there are no surprises.

2. Do a business market analysis of your area or on the net,  for what your planning on doing. Make sure there are not too many others doing the same thing.

3. Get all the tax, business name,  checking accounts, credit accounts, permits, licenses,  etc. all set up and taken care of early.

4.  Set up social networking sites. Start making new contacts and advertise for free your new business.

5.  Set up a Business plan.

6.  Set up a  Marketing plan.

7. Get good business lawyer. Look  some offer great deals!

8. Get an accountant to give you advice,  you’ll need to know for you taxes later.

9.  Make a business check list to follow.

10. Find the vendors you’ll need and who are you going to sell to?

11. Find the materials you’ll need to run you business?

12. Funding where is it coming from?

13. Think about getting an business advisor!

14. Insurance you may need some.

15. How about copyrights, trademarks or patents with your business?

16. Buy a computer, phone, scanner, etc.

17. Domain name purchase, hosting and  website development  all needs to be done.

18. Software which ones to use?

19. To much to list and the list goes on, but this a start!

Write your business plan very early on with goals – 1 yr, 2 yr, 5yr, 10yr etc.  Really think about and develop you marketing plan,  so you can really get started.

Make lots of “to do lists”,  so you don’t miss anything. I even color code mine to importance, OCD like, but hey it works, right! Do not skip ahead in steps. Figure out the order of events and how they need to be done.  Some things can be done much later and some have to be done first to build the other steps on.

As a mom take small baby steps each day towards your goal. Slow and steady gets were you want to be just fine.

I recently had a interesting conversation about just this.  We talked about how a business can grow too fast and become out of control fast. You don’t want to have hire people right away, just in case do you have some informal help? You also don’t want to forced to  sell the business you have worked hard to develop, because it’s bigger than what you can now handle.

Slow growth is important, believe it or not. You can control the business growth yourself!

If I missed something just let me know,  I’ll add it to the list. This list is just to get you thinking and planning for your future. You can be a mom and run a business, I know many who do successfully. It’s all a matter of time management and putting out the big fires first.

Perseverance is needed,  but we have this quality,  we’re Moms!

Good Luck and happy brainstorming for you new adventure!

Wow! What loaded questions! I guess I need a disclaimer just on this post! I think it depends on who you ask. Depending on if your think half full or half empty on the economy.  Your own views of the economy would reflect in the answer you’d give, I guess.

Well I have a few thoughts on this. A very humble opinion from a very humble lady.

Well we all know the economy is way down. On the other hand we all know of some businesses who are  still doing well. If your very fugal with running your business, your OK.  If  your business is a necessity, you can do well. I know of a few businesses who are doing great. They may have a business on the dirty side, but it’s a necessity.

We all know the free following money period, we went through as a nation is gone for good.  The free money for mortgages, having fun spending your home’s equity, and the easy  loans are all gone.

That being said, people who are willing to think outside the box and try new things can make it. If you have a more modest approach to doing business, you can do fine.  So if you want to start a business on a shoe string and think smarter about your spending, you may just make it through this rough time.  If you want to run out and spend tons of money on a start up company, I would hold off . Right now doing so would not be the time, you’ll be belly up in no time. Think smart and act smart with your money.

I do think this is a great time to put your ideas and thoughts together, while taking it slow. The pace to take is slow steady – baby steps. Think things out very well  before you act. This is a great time to wait out and learn as much as you can, if you want to start a business – Research, Research, Research.

We are all watching and waiting to see how the economy is improving here and there. We are seeing small signs of some improvement. I’d be real savvy.  I approach my business at all times like it’s a savings account more has to go in than out.

On a personal note, I am a talk radio fanatic. I’m a big Dave Ramsey fan http://www.daveramsey.com I love to hear all the opinions of others.  Some on talk radio, just follow with the common sense of our previous generations, Dave does. Dave Ramsey gives common sense business advice.  Radio talk shows are a great place to at least get you thinking.

I’d would love to know what your thoughts are too. So really please email me and/or comment. I’d really love to hear what your thoughts are on this matter.

I have saved all the business cards I’ve been handed. Great networking is done by having business cards of other businesses to hand out.  By doing so I have become more efficient at networking with my contacts.  When someone asks me, if I know of someone who has a product or service. I have a stack to pull from. The process of spreading the word of other businesses, in your card stack,  you yourself become more knowledgeable. You learn what others are doing with their businesses. Your learn the business concentrations people have selected to focus on. You learn what’s hot in the market place, the new  business trends, and what people are the most in need of for services.

Your card stack is a sampling of the business types and the demographics of your community.  Which in itself may get you thinking. What type of businesses are missing in your area? Can you fill a hole or niche which is needed in your area?

Saving and recycling the cards,  to others is key.

As you may have already guessed, I have a passion for networking.  Many of my friends are very creative business people with great products.  The key here is they are very creative and business people.  One often over rides the other, the creativity time over takes the time to run a business. Often what happens, the time needed for the creative juices  to flow, takes away time for running a business.  So they have a website, Great products and No customers.  AH, that’s were the networking comes in.  Networking doesn’t have to be dull, so use your creativity on the networking part as well.

Networking Wahm

Networking is a powerful tool and an integral part of business and professional development. Some people are natural networkers, although many of us find ourselves avoiding events because we don’t know how to take advantage of them.
It’s not all hard work. With the right method it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Here are some ideas which you can use to help you get the most out of your network.
What is networking?
As described in the Collins dictionary, a network is an interconnected group or system. Therefore networking is the process of using a network or interconnected group to your advantage.

Why network?
Networking gives you the opportunity to gain insights into other businesses and contacts, and increase your exposure. At a networking occasion you are presented with the opportunity to tap into a wealth of information and experience in one room. A great asset of networking is that you never know what treasure is around the corner.
If time allows for it become involved with a networking organisation. This will open up even more opportunities. Budget and time permitting, organise to be a guest speaker or a sponsor as this will greatly increase exposure for you and your business.
How to network
This is perhaps the most daunting part of the process. Follow these tips to make it easier:
1. Make sure you have enough business cards to hand out and make sure you swap cards; this one of the most important items you can take from the event.
2. Look professional and dress accordingly.
3. Set out objectives for the evening. Are you looking to build your contacts or are you after a certain type of contact? Try and hit your objectives early, then you can generally mingle and increase your exposure.

If you do not find it easy to start a conversation pick a couple of current news topics you can use.
5. Take a colleague or business associate if turning up to an event on your own seems tough. Alternatively it could be a good opportunity to take a new business contact.
6. Take a look around the room – if it’s not a seated event look for opportunities to enter conversations.
7. Manage your time and don’t get stuck in one conversation. The room is full of ideas, so use the time wisely. Have a general rule of 15 minutes per contact.
8. Remember that everyone is there to network, so the person you are speaking to is also after knowledge and contacts. Think about what you can provide them. Even though you might not get an immediate return you might see potential in the future for a returned favour.
9. Don’t dismiss any opportunities – you never know where conversations might lead.

10. Set up future meetings at the event – it’s much harder for people to reject you face-to-face.
What to do with the contacts
So, what happens to all those business cards? Firstly you need to categorise them. You can then enter them into an appropriate database which can be set up in Excel or Access. Your database should include information such as contact details, where you met the contact and any special interests or insights you might have gained during your conversation.
Make sure that all ideas are written down in your database and that actions are documented straight away. Networking is mentally and physically draining so notes will ensure the benefits are not lost.
You then need to work out what to do with them – do you have any immediate tasks?
Reaping the benefits
The most important part of networking is ensuring you are able to learn and grow from the experience. The more you gain the better. By setting up some tools you can make sure you don’t miss any opportunities. Eventually what once seemed like the daunting process of networking becomes second nature and an important part of growing your business.

Claire McLennan is a business analyst  writes articles for Microsoft Small Business

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com