The myth of work/life balance
Another day, another article or blog about the ever-elusive work/life balance. The problem with work/life balance? It doesn’t exist. It’s a black and white term that doesn’t acknowledge the grey of life and serves only as eternal fodder for the media and puts continual pressure on people trying desperately to achieve it.
Think about what the term ‘balance’ means to you. Are you picturing a pair of scales with equal amounts in each dish? The definition of balance in Dictionary.com is ‘a state of equilibrium or equipoise’. Is this what you’re trying to achieve in your life?
Outsourcing Home Business Chores – Why & How
We all hate certain aspects of our daily home business routines; the data plugging, the end of day accounts, the blog updates (heaven forbid). My personal pet hate is searching for the perfect flexible jobs for the job board; it’s at the heart of hmp but I hate it.
Thankfully we’ve had an in-house team of web squirrels to find these jobs from the launch of hiremyparents so I’ve been able to do less and less of it over time. Slowly stepping backwards, smiling all the time, no sudden moves. I can now focus on the parts of hmp I enjoy, things I’m good at.
Finding wholesalers for your home business
An important element to creating a long-lasting profitable business is finding good wholesalers willing to work with you.
But, after a while, things slow down and you hit a wall. You find yourself chasing after prospects and wondering why it is taking so long to convert prospects into clients.
However, the process of finding a good wholesaler is not easy. There are a lot of scams out there, such as middlemen charging fees for the “privilege” to buy from them and inflating wholesale prices.
Even if you find a legitimate wholesaler, they may not want to deal with a small business much less a home-based business. This is actually the biggest challenge of small business when looking for a wholesaler, especially if the wholesaler is already servicing big businesses. Why bother with the small fries when you’ve got the big boys knocking on your door?
So how do you find good wholesalers?
1. Attend tradeshows: Tradeshows are a great way of finding suppliers, manufacturers and drop shippers for your business, especially if you require more specialized products. There are a number of tradeshows out there specializing in various segments – from kitchen and bath, to apparel to construction supplies.
Note though that some tradeshows are not open to the public, and you need to show proof of business identification. You may be asked to present your recent invoices, business cards, credit reference sheet showing companies you purchase from, and tax registration (Certificate or Business Registration Certificate indicating you are retail business). If you are just about to start your home business, you may show letter of intent from an attorney or bank on official letterhead stating the intent to start a new retail business.
To find tradeshows in your industry, you may want to check:
2. Industrial Directories. If you are looking for wholesalers in industry sectors, check out industrial directories. Thomas Register http://www.thomasnet.com is the most respected of industrial directories out there, and their web site offers about 67,000 product categories that you can search from.
Other industrial directories
3. eBay. An easy way to find wholesalers is through the online auction site eBay http://www.ebay.com . Wholesalers are everywhere on eBay, even dominating most if not all of the categories with their vast number of listings. Each category – from home and garden to clothing and accessories to cell phones – has a sub-category called wholesale lots where most of the wholesalers list their items.
4. Trade Magazines. Get hold of copies of trade publications on wholesaling, as they typically feature wholesalers, manufacturers and drop shippers. These magazines are mostly free, and feature a lot of ads from wholesalers that you can contact.
Examples of trade magazines include:
5. Online Directories. The web is full of online directories that list wholesalers, manufacturers, drop shippers and suppliers – with some more reliable, updated and screened than others. Make sure that you use specific keywords in your search (e.g. hair band wholesaler) instead of the very general terms (fashion accessories wholesaler) to help you narrow your search. Be careful though as some will sell you list claiming to be verified and updated listings of wholesalers.
About the Author:
Nach Maravilla is the CEO and Founder of PowerHomeBiz.com, an online magazine for home business entrepreneurs.
Other wholesalers for your home business articles…
Wholesale – How eBay Helps Your Wholesale Business Boom | THE Work …
When this happens expect that you will be needing a workspace in your home because you will probably get a lot of orders for stocks that inventory is already needed. You will need therefore business stuff like a computer, printer, …
5 Home Business Tools That Save Me Hours!
When you spend the majority of your time sat in front of a computer building your home business then anything that can save you time isn’t just useful – it shows on your bottom line. If you can save time on doing the day to day tasks you’ll have more time concentrating on the revenue creating tasks – such as marketing and customer support.
My 5 favourite home business tools are listed below but there is one thing you really need – something I came across by accident after setting up a new computer in my office – a second screen. Trust me, with two open screens my productivity shot through the roof, less ‘tab snapping’ and great for having a ‘resource’ screen and a ‘working’ screen. Try it.
OK, so here they are, if you have any suggestions or if you’ve found a better option let me know in the comments.
1. Lastpass – I love this one. All those passwords you’ve got written down can now be kept in one place. Unlike microsoft explorers password storer this one holds your passwords on a secure server that you access with just one master password. After logging in it fills all those user/pass forms in for you automatically. It even stores profiles that you can use to fill in your address and credit card numbers. This one alone must save me an hour a week – highly recommended.
2. Ping – If you’re still adding the updates to your blog on all the social network sites by hand then you need this badly. Ping.fm takes your blogs feed (or any feed) and then passes it on to over 30 different social sites making sure you get the best exposure. It takes a while to set up the accounts but once done you will literally save days in the month.
3. only2clicks – I’m sure this probably says a lot about my personality type but I really hate bookmarks. A dropdown where you have to search for the site you need or the group that it’s in – hurts my eyes and my brain. The solution for me was only2clicks – a bookmarking site that stores your saved pages as screenshots under relevant tabs. It just produces a much nicer experience for me and I find I can navigate a great deal faster.
4. AWeber – Now I love my members, I really do, but if I had to write an email to every one and welcome them to the site I would get nothing else done. And then there’s the explanation emails, the new feature email, the new jobs email – the list goes on. Thankfully, there’s Aweber. This is the most robust autoresponder service on the web. As soon as a new lead signs up on your website for free info or a call back or to receive a newsletter AWeber starts delivering the info they need. It drip feeds information to your potential customers hopefully convincing them of your service or professionalism until they decide to bite and give you money. It stops your leads from going cold and turns them into eager buyers without you having to constantly keep them up-to-date manually.
5. RSS – We’ve all heard of RSS and you may have clicked that link a few times to see what happens. But it seems that few people in the non-webby business world have actually grasped the power of it. It is the perfect method to consume focused information. If you have a company in the widget industry you can go to every top website or blog in that industry and grab their RSS. Those RSS’s are then put into your favourite reader and you have the most comprehensive and cutting edge newspaper in the world. Every day when you boot up the computer you will have all the latest news from your business world at your finger tips.
For the nuts and bolts of RSS take a look at the video below and don’t forget to sign up to mine.
Those are my 5 favourites, if you have any further suggestions then please comment so we can share them.
Related articles…
- Google Wave (silenciobarnes.com)
- Microsoft Office Live ~ 5GB of Online storage! (momblognetwork.com)
5 Reasons to Send Business Christmas Cards
The holiday season will soon be upon us, which means that it’s time for businesses to start thinking about Christmas cards. If you’ve never sent business holiday cards, or don’t make a point of sending them out every year, here are five reasons why you should start:
1. Meet Expectations. Although the adage, “It’s better to give than to receive,” is a sentimental favorite, those with whom you do business expect to be remembered during the holidays. Holiday greeting cards help smooth your business relationships during the rest of the year by meeting expectations during the Christmas season.
2. Improve Customer Relations. Whether you have a business-to-business enterprise, provide a professional service, or own a retail store, chances are that your success is built upon maintaining relationships with your customers and clients. Christmas cards show your customers and clients that you appreciate their business, and that you want to share the spirit of the season.
3. Cost Effective. Perhaps you already buy holiday gifts and remembrances for your best customers or clients, but business holiday cards allow you to reach many more people for relatively little money. You can purchase personalized business holiday cards for as little as $1.40 each, including options to select among many different styles and verses, several colors of ink, and imprinted envelopes. This is an excellent investment in your business.
4. Excellent Return on Investment. Chances are, you and your company receive business Christmas cards from your vendors and suppliers. So, you understand the warm feelings that arise when you read their holiday cards, and you probably experience a “carryover” positive impression when you do your purchasing in the New Year. If you doubt that business holiday cards generate an excellent return on investment, ask yourself this: All other things being equal, which company would you choose to do business with – the company that sent you a holiday card every year or the company that only contacted you when it was time to reorder or collect payment?
5. Limitless Choices. With the rise of Internet and ecommerce, companies have an unprecedented opportunity to select business Christmas cards that reflect their company’s image and values. The best online sources for business holiday cards have a wide variety of high quality card designs. In addition, the best online greeting card companies offer a free choice of verse, free coordinated foil-lined envelopes, free samples of Christmas cards, and a multitude of choices for personalization.
In today’s business world, you need to take advantage of every opportunity to differentiate your company from your competition. Sending business Christmas cards is a small gesture than can mean improved customer relationships and an excellent return on investment. You really can’t afford not to send holiday cards to your customers, clients, and associates.
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