Have you ever thought of owning your own home business? Perhaps you've even tried to start one up before, only to find out some 'hidden' rules that hampered your success. If you have, you are not alone! Many individuals start up home businesses without fulling realizing what they are getting in to.
What is Good (the Pros) About Home Businesses Anyways?
There are many great perks to owning your own business, including having the freedom to create your schedule and balance your work/life schedule as you see fit. Many pros of owning your own home business also include:
- Spending more time with family (great for stay at home parents)
- Earning extra income for, or during your retirement
- Earning extra income while on disability
- Having freedom to come up with your own ideas and see the success of something you have done and worked hard for
- Flexible schedule to accommodate for sick days, medical appointments and even having more than usual vacation days!
But what about the cons? Certainly there has to be a downside to having your own home business? You bet your bottom dollar there is! You need to be motivated and be able to motivate yourself when the going gets tough - and it will get tough from time to time. Nothing worth doing will come super easy in life! If you think you can sit back and rake in millions, please let me in on your secret because I'd love to know about that too!
What is Bad (the Cons) to Owning a Home Business?
Seriously though, there is hard work involved, just like any other business, home or otherwise. Some other cons are:
- Setting up and sticking to a timetable/schedule. It's easy to go off track and while it's great to be flexible you can't get into 'lazy' mode!
- Feeling inadequate. Face it, many people consider home-businesses not 'legit' and don't realize how much work goes into them. You will work harder than most people do who work for high-end jobs! Still, it takes awhile to get the business launched and stable (like any business) and you just need to ignore people who think you don't have a 'real job'. Especially if you are raising a family at the same time - now you are working even harder and most people will not understand that at all! (Trust me, I know!)
- No steady paycheque. Hey, I'm being honest with you. You are not on salary. You are commission-based and you get what you put in. Some months are great, some may be slow. As your business grows you will certainly gain stability but you have to be realistic with your money and goals.
- Here's a pro and a con - No one to answer to! It's great in one way but also, you are on your own. This doesn't mean you don't have anyone to ask for assistance, we'll get into that below! But being your own boss can be scary and if you have that reaction, you are totally human!
What Kind of Home Business Should You Choose to Start Up?
Now, I'm going to say
J.R Watkins because I manage a team of over 210 consultants across North America, have been with the company over 5 years and LOVE the products and company itself. However, the real answer is:
Whatever business you believe in!
Do your research and find out all the answers to the questions you have so you can make a sound business decision. Questions you need to ask:
- What is the investment cost to be a member/consultant etc
- Are there any hidden costs/fees
- Any min quotas or monthly sales requirements
- Can you sell anywhere (online, at markets, do home parties)
- Are you restricted to territories or where can you sell geographically
- What kind of support do you have (upline support)
- How long has this company been in business and do they have a good track record of paying commissions
- What kind of revenue can you expect to make and in what timeframe
What Companies I Tried Out: Avon, Partylite & J.R Watkins
When I was a stay at home Mom I was looking to make some extra income and something to keep me occupied when my child was sleeping. I had heard of
Avon but didn't like that you had to buy catalogues (campaigns) every 2 weeks. So that was out. Plus I heard you had territories so that wasn't my cup of tea either.
I did join
Partylite because I loved candles and smelly stuff and was super excited when a rep came to visit me and explain the program. A few things were left out when being explained to me but I still paid over $200 for the starter package and got my supplies. I took some orders from family & friends but was really dismayed when I found out I couldn't sell anything at our local market (Partylite rules). I was also upset when I was contacted by Partylite who told me I couldn't have a website with their stuff on it or facebook page since they weren't into the online presence thing yet. (not sure if this has changed but at the time I had to take down my personal website and facebook page). I also found out that if I didn't place an order every x amount of months I lost my status as a consultant and had to place an order totalling a certain amount in order to 'regain' my status and get my discount. So, that was the end of my Partylite career! Never ordered again.
I had also joined
J.R Watkins at the time, mainly because my mom and her friends were looking for a consultant. I tell you, best thing I ever did! I ordered a little here and there at first but soon I had people who wanted to join up under me. That was fine, what questions they had for me that I didn't know my manager did and she's awesome! (As is her manager!) It didn't take long for me to create a website to post listings of all my teammates and to create a program to help them grow their businesses (My college degree in Business Administration: E-Commerce & Marketing certainly helped here!)
Over the next few months I reached manager status and my team continued to grow. Most of my business is done online since we aren't restricted by territories. I don't place many customer orders which is fine since Watkins doesn't have any min order requirements or monthly order requirements! Their start up cost is only $39.95, no need to buy any 'packages' which is great! I continue to work with my team and help those out who want it and I make a comfortable income doing so. The business is stable and reliable and best of all, allows me to work at home, allowing me flexibility with my schedule for the important things in my life!
This is your business choice and one you need to be comfortable with. I say JOIN Watkins! Only because I know how well it works and how well known the products are, but you have to make your own choice and feel right about your decision.
If you want more information on the J.R Watkins business you can get it here....
You can also
email me anytime if you have any business questions and I'll be totally 100% honest with you. My job besides being an J.R Watkins Indep Consultant & National Team Manager is to help others make smart business choices and coach them if they want it. This is what I do and I love it!
All the best!
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| Tamara Laschinsky #378193 | |
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Tamara Laschinsky
#378193
Indep. JR Watkins Consultant &
National Team Manager
Email
Ph: 403.998.8597
Website
