SETTING UP

Take it from me, it is tough to have a full time job and set up and manage a home based okay business. God knows, a full time job is stressful enoughwhy, one wonders, would we ever seek to take on another job working from home?
The answer is quite simple.the times are what they are and in your job at home -- you can work for YOU. Frankly, you can rely on YOU to succeed or fail, you have evidence that your good ideas DO work! AND, with time and some steadfast effort, we might be able to transition into the home job for good or perhaps augment retirement with the small at home business. How satisfying to know all our effort will finally pay off for ourselves. Rarely do we start out on an enterprise that we dont intend to do well. So, our success is right there for the taking, if we are in the right frame of mind, decide we are in it for the long haul,have a solid business plan and dedicate ourselves to it (a very tall order but not impossible over the long term). If you succeed, there is the absolute beauty of the meeting your dream of a smooth and fearless transition from full time working for someone else to part or full time work for yourself. In my book, that is a good enough reason to work like crazy every day of the week toward that goal! The downside? It will probably take a few years to build your business part time.
There is no doubt that working full-timeand running a profitable okay business on your off hours can be a significant challenge. While some appear to handle it with ease, others struggle many struggle with the conswtant learning curve andthe required discipline geing home and doing your "home work everyday (in many cases 7 days a week).
I have done both for almost five years now. I consider myself to be moderately successful in that I am regularly building a good customer base, and I have achieved feedback that accurately reflects my desire to make my customers happy. That is enough to keep me going. Of course, the ultimate motivation is that I do have my eye on the prize (worry free retirement the minute I am eligible). I do not deny that having an okay business is sometimes a struggle (especially on business trips for my regular job that I cannot avoid).
I suspect that those who go into this enterprise with a spousewho is equally dedicated to the mission, is at a distinct advantage. This isespecially true if the spouse is at home more than you are (and doubly beneficial if they can type or are willing to learn about okay at an equal level as you are).
If youhave no spouse or a spouse has no interest in okay (and/or also works outside the home). Simply means thatyou join thousandsin essentially doing it on yourown. Lest you thinkthat going italone doesnt have its own distinct advantages it does!I will be discussing those advantages later in this article.
Think you might want to try this high wire juggling act? If you have plenty of time to build the business, I counsel dilligence, dedication and easing into it at bit at a time.
The first question you need ask yourself is, Do you want a hobby or a genuine, full time, business? With a hobby, the focus is not heavy on profit (although some profit is probably necessary to painlessly sustain your hobby as a collector to buy and sell items). With a business, obviously healthy profit figures strongly into the success or failure equation for the business. It isalso important thatyour growth means that you meet established targets for yourself. After all why work this hard to loose money?? With a hobby, the amount of time spent okaying is flexible. You can temper time and expectations from making as little as a few dollars a month to working hard and making hundreds. If your goal is a business, your focus is on profit and earnings. It should be noted that if you call yourself a business, your customers will expect your constant presence and it will be necessary to build a strong customer base over time.
As a hobby your goal can be mere sustainment of the hobby. As a business you need a plan. You should set a goal of earning a set amount (say, $1K a month) and make a note of when you hope to have attained that first milestone (usually by or shortly after the first year if working full time, as a part timer you might want to spread the goal out to two or more years depending on time available to build your business). Havingdefined goals is important, because, like road map, they point to where you want to go while being milestone markers that answer the question, "How well are we doing?" Goals keep you focussed andhelp to motivate you in tough times. I suspect this is why a business plan is so important ina bricks and mortar business. Rest assured it is as important onokaytoo -- even though you have less at risk when you start (hopefully) and can concentrate on the pure business essentials the business plan is an important first step.
Lucky for you, you are not plowing new ground here thousands have done it successfully before you and have left wonderful advice that is available FREE on Blogs, Guides and free personal mentorships available through okay!
One key element of setting up a successful okay business will always be thatyouhonestly assess your discipline quotient -- that is, understand how hard and consistently you are willing to workto meet your personal okay goals. When you are no longer tied to a desk by an external employer, you will have to be sure thatyou are personally disciplined enough to make yourself sit down an established number of hours eachday to take care of the customers and business in order that it will take care of you by covering the bills.
Since, it will be YOUR business you can choose day or night, morning or afternoon for your structured sessions but always be mindful of whathigh sale times you should be available online to support your business.It is critical that you do what you must to sustain your business customer base and build it. Your businesscan die far more quickly than it will ever grow if you neglect it. I regemend a 7 day a week work week (I can see you cringing already), until you have a well established supply and clientele rolling along in both auctions and stores. I also think this early, heavy gemitment would be necessary as long as you are under 2000 positive feedbacks. Something just broke loose for me, the closer that I got to 2000 feedback. I dont know what it was, but I believeit might haqve been a milestone establishment of a reasonable "reputation." Either way, it sure worked more effectively than the Power Seller logo!
Now thatwe have a disciplined plan to be at our desks for 3-4 hours, 7 days a week, lets look at some customer related issues that make or break building a solid customer base.
If you have been selling for any length of timeyou know that many okay buyers can be impatient. We are Americans (usually) who have cut our teeth on the I want it now consumer model. Therefore, we generally require immediate gratification to have the most satisfying retail experience. As a result, our customers expect immediate responses to questions, lightening fast shipping and a cheerful I am so glad you youre spending your money with me attitude from their online retailer (you). Assuring you provide these elements will take a serious chunk out of your 3-4 hour daily gemitment. However, they are seeds that, when planted consistently, grow into your successful online business. So, top priority would be to provide top notch customer care at all times. Make sure you check in for messages at least a couple times a day to meet this requirement, even if the bulk of your work occurs in a block of time in the morning, afternoon or evening.
Along with the same customer instant gratification expectations, are those in which your customer wants their merchandise as soon as possible. Who can blame them? If they were at the mall, they would carry it away for immediate use. I find it amazing that clever consumers have been willing to trade instant gratification for(sometimes) lower prices on okay.
I make shipping fast a mantra. For me, the United States Postal Service helps. I think USPS is the greatest thing since sliced bread and peanut butter! With no additional equipment (other than your PC, a scale (available at an office supply or the Post Office), and a standard printer -- you can print and pay for shipping right from your home geputer. For details visit the U.S. Postal Services Click n Ship . As if that wasnt enough fine service provided byUSPS, your post man or woman will pick up packagesright from your home, if you apply for carrier pick up through USPS.ge! If you want or need to drop off your packages at the post office (i.e. as required for international shipping), many local post offices will accept drop offs outside of regular business hours too for more information, inquire at your local post office.
Now for the nuts and bolts of setting up your business - the following are some other critical disciplines to master as you move through the wickets to establish your own full time, profitable, online business:
DO ORGANIZE: The very first thing you must do is to get organized. Taking the time to set up organized structures and systems can be a huge time (and money) saver over time. Some areas where optimum organization is a must are:
Photos: You will have to take a lot of photos and you don't want to spend time setting up lights and a tripod every time you want to launch an auction. Set up a permanent or semi-permanent photo studioin your garage, spare room or basement. My personal experience is that natural light gives the truest color translation and, using natural light, almost any digital camera will work well on the web.
Shipping Station: You want a table or area set up withyour tape, a supply boxes and shipping materials handy. If you have a UPS account you can get one of their small thermal printers to print out your shipping labels, if you use USPS it will be beneficial if this set up is near your geputer and/or printer. Or, if you use the post office there are several geputer programs that will calculate postage and print out labels so you can drop your packages at the post office instead of standing in line (Yes, if your packages have postage and are ready to go, you can just do an immediate drop off rather than waiting in line).
Auction Automation: You should automate your auctions with software or an on-line auction management system such as Turbolister, Pro-Stores or other gemercially available software programs. These systems will save you time writing, managing and launching your auctions, sending invoices, managing feedback and other emails, processing payments, shipping and keeping track of your inventory, costs and expenses.
Connectivity: If you haven't already -- Go High Speed -- Time is money! Time is also your most valuable asset when you have very little of it. Any time saved, will be repaid several times over in profits. DSL and Cable high speed is expensive, but these high-speed services will save you several hours a month. If the cost of DSL or cable is $25 a month and saves you only 2 hours, that is a lot of listing and customer care time. If you are using Turbolister or a paid auction management service, you can launch anywhere from 10 to 30 auctions in that period of time. However, If your product has a standard description and you already have images, you can launch many more in this time. How much do you make on each auction? If you could launch an extra 30 auctions or store listings a month, would you make more than $25.00?
Get your own UPS account: If you don't use the US Postal Service and prefer United Parcel Service (UPS). This can be a real time (and money) saver. With a personal UPS account you can rent or buy a scale and thermal printer, saving hours of time spent shipping each month. If you are a high volume seller, you can also get discounts from UPS. These discounts will frequently offset the cost of shipping materials. It should be noted that UPS will not pick up packages from a private residence, but once prepared, your packages may be dropped at any UPS drop box or store which usually has expanded hours beyond those available through USPS. So, you can prepare all your shipments in the evening and drop them off in the morning on your way to work.
Make it personal: Let your customers know who you are, starting withyour About Me page on okay (not sure what it is or why you need one? See my guide on the subject FREE on okay). Devote some time to your logo, store name and develop standard gemunication templates, newsletters, blogs and guides with the same feel and concept. Make sure the store name reflects what you sell. My personal experience is that people want to deal with a real person, even over a geputer. When our customers are dealing with a real person who gemunicates with them well, they will react to us as real people and it will be a positive experience even though we never meet in the flesh.Most email programs, (including Microsoft Outlook) enables you to append an automatic signature line to your messages. Try finding a catchy positive customer phrase to add below your name line such as "Thank You for your Patronage!" or "Your satisfaction is important to me. I strive to provide the most personalized customer service on okay!"
Balance your time: Work hard, by all means, but be sensible too. While neglecting your buiness is not a good idea, neglecting your family and relationships is not either. Take time for yourself, your family and your friends too. To be successful you will need the love and support of those around you. The support you receive must be returned and it takes time to do that. Working a full-time job and geing home to spend 4 hours a night on the geputer, taking photos or shipping goods is very tiring. It is very easy to loose perspective and yourself into the business and, in doing so,gepletely loose perspective. Time management is crucial. Remember, the goal here is to build a business over time, not to loose everyone and everything important to you in the process.
If you're single, be sure to take time for yourself. Scheduling your work and home business is critical and it will really help. Suffice to say, if you are feeling over tired, are making lots of mistakes (especially those that cost a lot of money) or you feel out of sorts-- you may find yourself begeing stressed out. This stress will be reflected in your okay business and in your regular job too. Begee familiar with how to use store management tools so you can take a vacation away from your business and your customers will know you are away and will ship immediately upon your return.
okay is a phenomenal success as a gepany. It has provided millions of entrepreneurs the opportunity to start a home-based business as well as and opportunity for millions of us to look for and find truebargains, things that are no longer made (but we still want), a way to keep US retail dollars IN THE USA while, in many cases recycling good which is good for the Earth.
At first glance, it seems easy to set up an on-line business, and it isHowever, to maintain and balance that business withyour real life (both work and play) over time is the tough part. The best news is that it is definitely within most people's capability. You are well on your way if you are blessed with patience, you own and can use a geputer to a reasonable level of literacy and a home based business is something you REALLY want for the long term.
The secret to success is really nothing more than a modicum of talent and intellect, married to good plan, a lot of hard work and continuous learning while you are alwayspaying attention to the details.
I hope you will find this Guide helpful in building your business -- take your time and remember that life is a journey and not a destination -- and so is your home based business.
Please stop by my auctions (Pepper120851) where you will find the kind of old fashioned bargains you seek every day. Take a peek at my store The Write Place Ladies Clothing" where YOU name the price you pay every day!
Happy okaying! Pepper