The lifeline of any business is an established healthy flow of finances in and out of the cash box, or so to speak. Any event that alters this natural cascade of events leads to a troubled season. As blood is to the body, money is to the business.
According to a study, one of the reasons why a business can fail is poor management. There are many business starters who failed to look into managing properly their business no matter how strong it started. According to Small Business Administration (SBA), “two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at least two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years.” In other words, the 5-year window is very crucial to the success or failure of any business. Just because business started strong doesn’t necessarily guarantee that it will stay through strongly. The major decider will be how business is managed from the opening until the time investors can finally say, “business is smooth sailing, and we’re out of the danger zone.” Unless otherwise, managing the business is the saving grace that may save you enormous heartaches and disappointment.
With today’s fast life and the information highway, life has become much easier and doing business has become relatively easier also. With the internet’s capacity to do the talking and the walking for you and the many support group and other services that you can avail of in a click of a mouse, more and more businesses are sprawling the information highway. All that is required of you is to open up your eyes to a maze of possibilities, indulge and adapt to the changes that have happened which are inherent to the 21st century.
Some guy about half a world away for example is efficiently carrying out business processes through the internet. The United States is the world’s largest economy but look how it does business with some countries like the Philippines for instance. Their processes are taken care of in a remote country some thousands of miles away. In Manila and other Philippine cities, call center and business processing organizations and companies are sprouting like wildfire. Small towns that used to be seeing only hazy days have transformed into busy towns with over 5 call center companies. While this is good for the local economy, it works the same way for the mother company based in the US. Labor fees are much lower in these places than in the US.
So all in all, the world has truly become an interconnection of cultures and people. And with this comes my conclusion that, indeed, the world we are living in is a borderless world. What you are is in one way or the other, innately connected to someone else, to something else, and that your gift might be somebody else’s life in this world—in this borderless world.
Having a physical business address is very important for your business if you need to be accessible to your clients at whatever time. For somebody who is just starting out, being home based would be the way to go for you. It is a permanent address and since you do not have many customers, you will be accessible to the few that are there. You need to weigh your options before starting your business at home. If it will save you money in the long run then start it from home; but if your home is not located in a place that will give you an advantage in your market, then lease some office space.
You need to consider getting your business a post office business address. this way, your clients are sure to reach you. Nobody wants an unreliable service provider. It increases the chance that you will jump ship and move to another locality with client money. If you are a constant mover because of the nature of your business, then set up a website and put up a permanent email address. At the end of the day nothing beats the advantage of having a permanent physical address. As your business expands, you should consider getting yourself a permanent business address. This should be a long term strategy of a company. As it expands you need more space to contend with the customers. Eventually you will find yourself going back to the old school way of running a business, you will have a leased office instead of a virtual office and you will have an in-house assistant in the place of your virtual office assistant.
For the person whose business is based at home, you need to make the working area as hospitable as possible, depending on the kind of business that you operate. For most people who work at home they are constantly working on their computers. Make sure that you are located in a room of the house that has no clutter. Have a comfortable chair and enough space to work on. Storage facilities are just as important. You many need to have a filing cabinet that is big enough to house the papers that you will be working on. The beauty of working at home is that you can decide to place these storage facilities in a different room. At home you will need to have your business life kept separate from your private life. You will never succeed if you don t separate the two. To beat this you many have to consider getting yourself a virtual office or a shared office.
Get yourself a domain name even if you have a home based business. This way your business addresses will look reliable and attractive to a potential customer. The domain name should either be the name of your business or your name. You have to make a wise decision. If either your name or the name of your business is not conventional and are likely to jeopardize your business, get another one. A business name that is not catchy can impact your work negatively.