Legitimate work from home jobs?
You see this spouted everywhere – legitimate work from home jobs, earn $xxx per day! legitimate work from home jobs, earn from your computer!
It’s got to the point that if you see the word “legitimate” you immediately believe that it isn’t. What do they mean by legitimate? If you take them up on their offer and start to work then by that very act it is legitimate – as long as you’re paid (and not doing the books for the Mob)
Which I think gets to the crux of the matter – whatever it is you decide to do or try to break from the standard 9-5 is legitimate if you get paid – unfortunately most of these offers (if not all) only get one person into profit and that’s not you.
During our beta test of hiremyparents we have had our parents start a bewildering variety of ventures from your standard ‘virtual secretary’ to a high end ‘dog conditioner’ (dog trainer not dog shampoo, should probably talk to her about the title) and all of them have been legitimate because at the end of a working day they were a little bit richer than before.
So how do you make sure you’ll get paid? Well, there is no absolute guarantee. If you start doing a product launch plan for GAP or design the look of a new widget for SONY then chances are you’ll get a cheque – their reputation isn’t worth damaging – especially in todays socially connected world (more on that in a later post). But what if you’re doing the VAT for ‘Cardboard Inc’ a small but profitable company based in Nowhere, Wales. If you do the work how do you know they’ll pay up without any grief? Again, there are no guarantees but a bit of research could save you a lot of hassle down the road.
Below is a list of resources for the US and UK that you can use to check up on the companies that sign your cheques. Unless you’ve pulled off a $1m contract with someone I wouldn’t go too in-depth, just make sure that they’re legit and maybe do a google search for the company with the word ‘complaint’ added to the search box – you’ll be amazed at what pops up (social media again).
All in all I’ve heard no complaints from our beta parents concerning non-payment, and if you do hit a big pay-day maybe you should use an Escrow service or get paid in installments. But remember, most companies will pay up without a squeek but it only takes one idiot to ruin your cash-flow so a little research goes a long way.
Hoover’s Online
http://www.hoovers.com/free/
Companies House
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
Industrial Quick Search
http://www.industrialquicksearch.com/
IndustryLink
http://www.industrylink.com/
Foster Business Library
http://www.lib.washington.edu/business/bizweb/
Research Guides from the Baker Library, Harvard Business School
http://www.library.hbs.edu/guides/
Thomas Global Register
http://www.thomasglobal.com/
ThomasNet.com
http://www.thomasnet.com/
Manta
http://www.manta.com/
Rutgers Library Guide to Company Research
Thorough outline of company research issues and resources.
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/bus…
Yahoo’s Business to Business Directory
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/
D & B Small Business Solutions
http://smallbusiness.dnb.com/
BizWeb
http://www.bizweb.com/
Business.com
http://www.business.com/
Research Guides – Business & Management
http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/guides/business/
Industry Research Desk
http://www.virtualpet.com/industry/
Interview home business advisor – Antonia Chitty
I was lucky enough this week to finally have a quick chat with Antonia Chitty, a much respected guide to the ‘work from home’ community and home business advisor. She talks about generating ideas for a home business and how to publicise it. Her links are below:
Antonia’s Links:
www.themumpreneurguide.co.uk – the essential business start up guide for mums
www.prbasics.co.uk – handy tools to help you promote your business
www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk – a great place to start if you’re looking for ideas on how to combine working life and family
Home Business Security
I’m sure, like me, you have more passwords for more sites and services than the pentagon and keeping them stored safely and within easy reach can be a real problem. I’ve come across this new, and free, service that puts home business security up a couple of notches by storing all your passwords behind a master password in your browser.
It even stops that terrible habit, we all have, of giving the same password for everything by generating passwords that it stores. To top it all the whole thing is web-based so you can sign in to all your sites from any computer without jeopardizing your home business security.
Take a look at their video, below, this is their link and let us know your thoughts on the web tool so others can benefit.
Advantages of Working At Home
There are many good reasons to choose to stay at home and find work you can do from your home office or home business. The Work At Home industry is booming these days with more parents wanting to stay at home and more legitimate opportunities for disabled persons to find a way to make a decent income. Why is working from your own home office such a good idea? Here are just some of the advantages and benefits of working at home.
• Setting your own hours – You are in charge of when you work and when you don’t
• Spending more time with your family – More quality time for you and your loved ones
• Saving petrol money – You will not have to spend money on petrol when all you have to do is walk to your home office
• No commute – You do not have to drive to work through that rush hour work traffic
• More work opportunities – You have your choice of jobs depending on your area of expertise
• Tax Breaks – Contractors and freelancers can use their home office as a tax deduction – This may or may not apply for certain employee based positions
• Less stress – Working from home allows you more freedom and there is little to no on the job stress or competition
• No office politics – Even if you Work At Home in a position that requires sales, there is very little pressure to compete and promotions from within are based on productivity not popularity
That is a short list of reasons that working at home is so popular and desired by many. Many mothers of small children choose to work from home so they can choose their own hours and work around the kids and still contribute to the household income. Some couples even work from home by either using separate home offices or by staggering shifts.
Stick around – hiremyparents is coming soon – proper opportunities from UK companies allowing you to choose the job or project that fits with your skills and circumstances.
Things to think about before starting your home-based business
hiremyparents will be with you all the way once you’ve started your home business, we’ll deliver all the leads and opportunities you require, but being a parent is pretty much a full time job as it is, things can get tough. Take a look at these base questions and really think whether a home-based business is for you. The rewards are amazing, both financially and for your lifestyle, but you should take a long look in the mirror first because it will be hard and often lonely work.
1. Does your business have legs? Have you researched your business idea, your customer base and competition? If you haven’t you’re not ready to go it alone.
2. What are you going to do about childcare? Working from home, means working from home. This means you still need childcare. If you can’t afford it or intend to work when your kids are asleep or in school, ask yourself can your business and your stress levels take it?
3. Is your family behind you 100% and can you afford to fail? Depressing thought but essential to know because starting a new business is time consuming and a money drain for very little return in the first year.
4. Have you sorted your finances out? Do you know what your start up costs are and how you’re going to find the money?
5. Can you really work alone? If you’re good a good self starter who can motivate her/his-self, and pick her/his-self up when things go wrong being a home based entrepreneur could be the right choice for you.
