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By admin, December 26, 2009 7:45 pm

Of all the home-based business possibilities, it’s hard to imagine one that’s more fun or potentially profitable than operating a home-based travel agency.
Not only do you get the enjoyment of sending people off on their dream vacation, but you earn a good commission for selling services that you do not have to actually provide yourself. What could be better than that?
If you’d like to become a home-based travel agent, and enjoy discounted or even free trips for yourself as well, then the following “Top Tips For Becoming A Home Based Travel Agent” will get you started in the right direction.
1. Affiliate with a legitimate host agency that has all of the required certifications.
The most successful home-based travel agents are independent contractors who work with a host agency. You use the host agency’s resources and established relationships to tap into their network of travel vendors and suppliers. It’s important that your host agency has the proper industry credentials and that they have a program in place that allows you to use those credentials in order to establish yourself as a legitimate travel agency.
As a home based travel agent you need certain credentials like the CLIA card. CLIA stands for the Cruise Line Industry Association. This industry-recognized credential allows you special agent rates on discounted cruises and offers a whole array of benefits to you and your customer.
To be recognized as a travel agency most host agencies are usually bonded and accredited through ARC/IATAN. ARC was established by the travel industry to provide prompt, efficient, and secure distribution and settlement of travel purchased in the U.S. IATAN-International Airlines Travel Agent Network endorses travel agents and provides the IATAN ID card, which identifies you as a U.S.- based travel sales professional.
If you are considering working with a host agency that doesn’t provide you with their IATAN/ARC number, and other required credentials, move on and select one that does.
2. Choose a host travel agency that provides comprehensive training
Even though you are an independent home-based travel agent, you still need professional quality training so you know how to operate in the travel industry as well as what you are and are not allowed to do.
Getting up-to-date on the best places to travel, tourism trends, and how to fulfill the needs of your customer is vital to your travel business. You want to choose a host travel agency that offers comprehensive training and courses on various travel services, products, marketing, etc.
For some host agencies, taking a course or training is necessary in order to be eligible for certain travel credentials. And, although it is not required to book travel, your job will go much easier and you’ll develop more repeat business, if you are well-trained and well-informed.
3. Choose a host travel agency that will help you promote your business.
Don’t choose a travel company that does not offer some assistance with marketing your travel business. The best ones will offer a turn-key website or online booking engine for your clients to use when booking their travel.
Even better are the travel companies that also provide you with automated marketing tools such as auto responders to handle email campaigns and promotions.
You’ll save money, and gain more customers, if you partner up with a host travel agency that provides ready-made templates to print business cards, postcards, flyers, etc. These are all the tools in your marketing arsenal that will help you get the word out about your home-based travel business.
4. Choose a host travel agency that handles ALL of the travel details for you.
Most host agencies handle all the booking and routine travel details for your clients, but what happens if a name is misspelled on a plane ticket or your customer wants a refund? Find out what type of customer support is available and read their policies carefully before you sign on as a home-based travel agent.
At a minimum, look for:

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By admin, December 22, 2009 7:57 pm

HOME BASED BUSINESS  VS. PRIVATELY OWNED BUSINESS

From: The Desk of Michael Clouser

This ever-growing topic deserves its day in the sun, as a matter of fact, deserves a spotlight.

Everyday millions of people get in their car and shove off to work, and on their way think to themselves, Ughh!! There has got to be a better way to make a living doing something I like.

Those same people also complain that they are sick and tired of making someone else rich. I was among the guilty. Very few of these people ever do anything about it because of these very important reasons.

Simply, they have bills to pay and they need medical insurance and stability. Good reasons Huh.

Well, yes and no. We will save this topic for our next discussion, OK.

For those who have already made up their minds to venture out and work for themselves, good for you. Now going into business for yourself has two choices. First, open up a business yourself, like a landscaping company, or a heating and air conditioning Company, or a hair salon or any type of store, just for a few examples.

The Second choice is join a home based network marketing business. The choices are also numerous. For example, Health and Wellness, beauty products, tele-communications, Travel and the list goes on. You see between the two types of personally owned businesses your choices are practically limitless and you are going to find something you love and are passionate about.

Okay, now let’s look at the differences. Starting a personal business from the ground up as in choice number one. You will need large sums of money up front to set up shop, for example; a building structure, whether purchased or rented. You will need a vehicle(s) for certain businesses, plus gas to run them. Then there is equipment and tools and or materials such as stock. Don’t forget possible employees. Last but not least insurance, in the form of health, liability, worker’s comp and unemployment.

If you are working off referrals and are successful great, but eventually, advertising will enter the picture in the form of newspaper, radio and phone book ads. Now before we move to our second choice there is still more to talk about.

Your time. Operating a personally started up business will consume a lot of very long hours and you could possible be working 7 days a week. This will make it difficult for time off and vacationing. Occasional sickness is not good because that results in loss of profits. Strict scheduling is necessary and with some businesses, emergency service can exhaust you. Income can be excellent but failure rate is high because of local competition.

Now, Choice number two: Joining a home based networking business; this is still a privately operated business where you are the owner/boss. The differences with this type of businesses are, you do not need a building or to pay rent. All of the company groundwork and foundation has already been done for you. You simply accepted and invitation to come on board and Market a specific product that has already been designed, packaged and stockpiled for you. Heck it is even shipped for you free of charge and that makes your business Global not local, and will give you access to an unlimited market.  Your only overhead would be a mandated auto-shipment of your product if that applies. Gas for vehicles may be a tenth of choice number one and not even an issue for most companies.

Now I might stir a couple of you with this statement, but you will have to actually work this as a legitimate business and that means putting in some hours to get things rolling. There is no such thing as a business that you start and walk away from and the checks are in the mail, let’s be real.

You absolutely get out of it what you put into it.

The great part about networking businesses is that you get to choose your hours and choose your days off and vacations can be spur of the moment. Why because it is a fully automated business that can be run from any location as long as you have a phone and a computer near by. You can close a deal at your son or daughters baseball game or while your shopping at the grocery store. I don’t recommend that because you will anger other family members but that type of freedom exists. People can always be called back in a few hours and nothing will be an “emergency”.

Most importantly with a network business is this, and pay attention: You must invest in training or you will not succeed. The best part of training is that you grow your business while you are training, so there is no gap in production. And the best part is you have employees (downline), but have no salaries to pay or insurance to provide. The only service you need to provide them is TRAINING and you owe it to them and to yourself, because if they are productive they will shoulder the brunt of the workload and you will eventually go on autopilot and assume a different role in YOUR Company, Leader and Trainer. The employees (downline) run the rest of the business.

In closing, everyone has his or her own niche and personality. What works for some may not work for others. Always remember that it takes hard work and investment in the beginning and my goal was to give you enough insight to make an educated choice as you adventure out into the world of private business ownership. Here’s to your success.

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By admin, December 18, 2009 8:40 am

As a home business owner, you may deduct the cost of driving in the course of your home based business, including trips to business meetings or seminars, to entertain clients outside your home, to pick up products and office supplies, to make deliveries, and to do business banking. 

If you are engaged in a network marketing business or an MLM Business, the cost of visiting prospective clients and persons (Leads) you would like to recruit into your sales organization is deductible, even if you are not successful in your recruiting efforts.

If your home-based business is your only employment, all of  your driving to and from your home office, which is your principal place of business, and different locations where you are actually involved in carrying on your business, is deductible.  But if you are also employed elsewhere, as an employee, figuring your deductible business mileage is slightly more complicated. The reason being that commuting between your home and place of work is normally considered a personal expense and is not deductible as a business expense.

In order to deduct business mileage as a  home office business expense, you must show that your home is your principal place of business.  Your principal place of business is where you regularly meet with clients or customers, where your more important work is done, or where you spend most of your time. The cost of going from your home office to a related business location is deductible, even if your home office is the site of a secondary business or job.  For example, driving from home to the bank to deposit business checks provides mileage that is deductible as a business expense.

Where a home-based business is only worked part time, be sure to conduct business in your home before going to a related business location, such as the bank above, or you will risk losing the deduction.  Keep a daily record of your business activities at home to prove you were traveling between two business locations on that day.

Computing your auto expense.

There are two methods of computing your automobile expense:

the mileage rate or

the actual expenses method.

You may use either method to calculate your costs.  You will, obviously, want to use the method that gives you the higher deduction.

Mileage rate. You may deduct a certain amount (this is an amount provided for by the tax legislation in the country in which you are carrying on your home based business) per mile for business driving.  If you use this method, you must combine the mileage for all cars driven for the same business. If you use the mileage rate, you may additionally, usually  deduct parking fees and tolls.

Actual expenses method. Alternately, you may deduct the business portion of the expenses of operating your car, such as gas, oil, repairs, insurance, car washes, tires,  auto loan interest and depreciation, if you purchased the vehicle or lease costs if the vehicle is being leased.

Generally, if you buy a new car during the year, the actual expenses method will exceed the mileage rate method.  This presumes, of course, that you keep complete records of your expenses throughout the year.  If not, you should use the mileage rate instead. Only expenses attributable to your business use of the car are deductible. 

This means you must allocate your operating costs and depreciation according to your percentage of business use.  Usually, parking fees and tolls do not have to be allocated, however.

To calculate Motor Vehicle Expenses you will need to record and have available the following information:

Total distance driven in year.

Total distance driven during year for business purposes. ( You would be well advised to keep a logbook to record this information on a regular basis.)

If you receive any reimbursement and or allowance for using your motor vehicle, and it is not included in your income, you must deduct this amount from any claim that you make.

Fuel Costs,

Repairs & Maintenance,

Lease Payments if Vehicle is Leased,

Copy of Lease if Vehicle is Leased,

Vehicle Washes,

Insurance,

Licence and Registration,

Parking Costs and tolls,

If Vehicle is owned, Make, Model & Year of Vehicle,

Year of Purchase of Vehicle,

Cost of Vehicle,

Interest on money borrowed to purchase vehicle,

Note: Taxation legislation differs between countries and each country may change their rules at any time. The information provided in these newsletters is accurate at time of publication. You should however seek specific information from your Tax Advisor or Taxation Department as it relates to your own situation each year that you are required to provide Income and Expense Statements.

Other topics in this series are as follows:

Number 1, Record Keeping,

Number 2, General Expenses,

Number 3, Purchase of Goods for Resale,

Number 4, Deductions for use of Home,

Number 5, Entertainment Expenses,

Number 7, Depreciation Costs,

Number 8, Business Meals,

Number 9, Salary Payments to Children,

Number 10, Travel Expenses,

Number 11, Demonstrators Samples & Promotional Tools,

Number 12, Gifts,

Number 13, Here Comes the Tax Man,

Number 14, Capital Items,

John Ritchie, A.I.B., A.I.C.B, F.I.C.B, email:brlynt@gmail.com

Copyright to this article belongs to John Ritchie. http://johnritchie.blogini.com. (Having Fun Making Money) Blog Site.

You may download and distribute this article freely and without restrictions. You must not, however, delete the resource box link.

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By admin, December 14, 2009 7:37 am

With a steady increase in small business start-ups, home based businesses and traveling/virtual office businesses – the market for professional Virtual Assistants has grown tremendously. In short, a Virtual Assistant is an independent contracted administrative professional who works remotely for another business. As a Virtual Assistant you will be responsible for having your own equipment, computers, faxes, and telephone lines. You will also be responsible for managing your own expenses and benefits. A Virtual Assistant in essence, is a business providing a service to other businesses.   The ability to work remotely or from home gives the Virtual Assistant the freedom they desire. However it is important to remember that the nature of the VA service demands the utmost in professionalism, reliability and care. If you are considering starting a Virtual Assistant business here are a few things that you will want to keep in mind:

1. What is your Virtual Assistant niche?: There are many types of services that a VA can provide. If you are a skilled medical transcriptions, you may choose to market your services to that industry. There are also generalists who specialize in basic office functions including responding to emails, fielding calls, keeping appointment books, typing and other office functions. Bookkeeping, editing, web design, legal services, Internet marketing, academic research and proof-reading are just a few examples of specialized fields for Virtual Assistants. It is important to be as specific in your services as possible as this will help you map out an effective marketing and advertising plan later on.

2. Is there a need for training?: If you are considering starting a virtual assistant business, then you likely already have the skill set necessary. However this is one industry that will require you to stay constantly abreast of all the latest trends, software, laws and regulations for your industry. You should be proficient in every way that a client may require you to be. This may call for you to take a few certification courses, but it will pay off as it helps you to maintain a competitive edge.   3. What are the legal requirements?: As with any venture, it is important for entrepreneurs to legally establish their business. Starting a home based business isn’t difficult, but be sure to check with your county, state and IRS as tax requirements may vary for this type of service based business.

4. How can I market or advertise my virtual assistant business?: The first order of business is to establish your company website. Your website will count as the first impression that potential clients have of you and your service,so it should be as professional as you are. Your methods of advertising will vary greatly depending on your Virtual Assistant niche. It will be important to advertise both offline and online. Business cards and brochures detailing the services you provide are critical and should be carried with you at all times. You can post classified ads on places like Craigslist or USFreeAds, or pay for print ads in local newspapers and professional journals. Word of mouth is always the most effective way to build not only your business but your reputation as well.  Identify notable business owners in your VA niche and offer them 60, 90, or 120 day free trial periods of your service. Even if they decline to hire you full time at the end of the trial offer, ask if they would give you a testimonial that you can use in your advertisements.

5. How much can I expect to make as a Virtual Assistant?: Virtual Assistant rates vary greatly from one niche to another and by experience. Generally speaking – the hourly rate can be anywhere between $25-$75.You will want to put a lot of thought into your price model, with great emphasis being placed on your target demographic. If the businesses in your niche have no need for a $25 per hour administrative assistant – you should reconsider your pricing model. Don’t low ball yourself on one end, and don’t price yourself out of the market on the other end. You should also consider packages that clients can purchase, for example – a flat rate of pay for X number of hours per week.