First Step Marketing

Most businesses require a trading licence (these are covered by the Licences Act). There are three types of licence — National Licences, Trading Licences and Occupational Licences.

There are also local variations, usually depending on municipal requirements, so you should check first with the Receiver of Revenue, and then with the zoning department of your local municipality. Read the rest of this entry »

Planning permission

The first area to consider is planning permission. The planning legislation basically divides properties into those which can be used for commercial purposes, and those which are purely domestic. Planning authorities are obliged to prevent residential areas being infiltrated by offices and factories, and so legislation ensures that a house which has been used for domestic purposes cannot be used for commercial gain without planning permission. In most cases such permission will not be given, simply because the local authority’s aim is to keep areas of housing and business as separate as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Your home is going to be your business base, so it is important that it should provide the facilities you need for the business you intend to start. For example, if you intend running a furniture- making business you might find difficulty operating from a twentieth-floor studio flat, although a writer could happily work in such an environment. You must analyse all the features of your home which could be an advantage and those which could hamper your work. Start by answering the following questionnaire so that you have the basic facts about your home in front of you. Read the rest of this entry »

Consultancy is a very popular way of running your own business. But consultancy in any field requires you to have a depth of knowledge and experience which your customers do not possess. It is no good setting up a home-based consultancy business if your customers know more than you! You will require a thorough knowledge of your chosen field, so setting up a consultancy service is best performed by people who have been employed in a particular speciality for some time. It could suit you if you are contemplating early retirement, for example. Read the rest of this entry »

For many people, the idea of a business is ruled by the images that come to mind when they think of various companies they’ve worked for in the past. Unfortunately, it’s this picture that most often intimidates new entrepreneurs who want to get their own businesses off the ground: either they think they need everything a larger, more established business has before they can open their doors, from fancy networked telephone systems to a professionally decorated office, and spend way too much to start, or they become overwhelmed at the amount of money they think they need to open their doors, and never do so because they figure they’ll never be able to come up with that kind of money. Read the rest of this entry »

To get started on your quest, first call your town clerk to see what you need to do to make your business legal on a local basis. The clerk will also be able to lead you to state offices so you know what you’ll have to do with the state government.

Here’s a rundown on some of the things you’ll have to take care of in order to start your business off on the right foot. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the easiest type of business to start, and the one that most solo entrepreneurs select to get off the ground. A sole proprietorship also requires a minimum of time to start, since the most you have to do is to register with your state government as a new enterprise by purchasing a business license. Once you have it in hand, you’re off and running. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you keep track of who is in your downline? All networkers, when they join a network, are given a personalised number. This number identifies them as belonging to a particular network. You may ask: ‘But how can I keep track of all the people in my downline?’ The answer is that you don’t need to. In network marketing each individual works three levels deep. You are directly responsible for the distributors you recruit (level one), the people they recruit (level two) and the people they, in turn, recruit (level three). That’s not too much to manage. Read the rest of this entry »