As the economy loses more and more steam, people are beginning to think more seriously about starting their own business. If you’re one of those people and are in a quandary about where to start, there aren’t many business opportunities that qualify for being able to start-up on a shoestring budget. But there is one that you can start-up (if only part-time to begin with) and be up and running within 48 hours. And that’s the lawn care business.

Indeed, one noted lawn care specialist, Daniel Pepper, suggests taking it one step at a time. “I’ve got a lot of customers that want to start the business part-time, and you can totally do that, because you control how many customers you want to take on. And for a lot of people, that is the way, and that’s what we recommend. That’s the way to start part-time. Take it step by step, take it slowly, let the business mature naturally, and so even though someone may have a full-time job, they can still on the side, after work, on the weekends, take on one, two, three, four customer accounts, and just go from there and grow it as a part-time business.”

As far as the kind of lawn care equipment one needs in order to get started in the business, you can pretty much get away with the bare minimum: a mower, a trimmer, and a power blower or broom. That’s all Daniel had when he started his business at twelve years of age. “I mean, anybody can start this business. It’s amazing, it’s unlimited, and as long as you’re disciplined, as long as you can just pick up the trick of trimming right, and pick up just mowing straight lines, and cleaning up after it, I mean anybody can do it.”

One of the things that Daniel emphasizes in the startup process to make money with lawn care is to just keep things simple. He says that generally these days, people don’t have or want to spend the time it takes to maintain their lawns. People will see “an advertisement or some form of marketing, and they’ll give us a call, and we’ll come out, give them a quote, and if it looks good, they’ll give us the green light, and then we’ll begin to look after their property for them.” And then there are the different cut intervals: do they want it done weekly or do they want it done bi-weekly? “Some companies even offer lawn cuts every 10 days, but that’s essentially the way that it works. It’s a very, very simple business…”

You can start with residential customers if you like, as those are probably the easiest to go after; but don’t forget the commercial prospects. There are small business owners, gas stations, apartment complexes, business office parks, and retail stores whose property has grass and trees that need tending. You could target a few commercial prospects and build your business on that alone if you wanted. There’s an unlimited customer base from which to choose to build a customer roster. You just need to look over the potential market and choose who you’re going to approach.

As far as marketing techniques go, every market is different, so you have to test for what works in the market you’re in. You can use a variety of techniques to gather intelligence, and then stick with the ones that work for your area. For some people, door hangers, hanging a flier on the doorknob of a home works well to get the word out. You could also, if you have a small budget, have the flier inserted in a local newspaper. Of course, there’s also classified ads. Many businesses simply use that, and thrive off just having a little classified ad, a three or four liner in the classified business section of their daily newspaper or weekly shopper. As Daniel says: “Every market’s different so it’s tough to nail down exactly what will work. Nothing is ever going to work the same in every market. You’ve got to test.”

What it all comes down to in order to be successful in a lawn care business is: knowledge and the execution of a business plan. For most people, mowing and trimming lawns is something they already know about or can teach themselves very quickly. Where people most often fail is in the planning stage. They don’t have a map for where they’re going or how to get there. They’re not aware of the pitfalls that can pop up and how to handle them. In short, they are unprepared to enter the business world and to do the things they need to do to become successful.

If you are serious about going into this business, then you would be doing yourself a favor to seek out the advice of someone who has already succeeded in it. Daniel Pepper has prepared a lawn care business course that covers all the ins and outs, the ups and downs of being able to run this business successfully. He calls it his Ultimate Lawn Care Business Formula. If you are seriously thinking of entering this field, you won’t find a better, more comprehensive legitimate guide to help you make money with lawn care.

Daniel’s lawn care business course is well worth looking into as it can not only help save entrepreneurs from making costly mistakes, but save them money in the start-up and operation of their business. Be wise and spend some time looking through the links below. If you’re serious about this, you won’t regret the time spent.

Most people who go into the house cleaning business target the average income earning individuals as their target market. However, there are some who target the upper class, higher income earning individuals as their target market because they find more cleaning business opportunities on these.

Whichever it may be, it is always up to you. However, just be sure that you determine which ones you wish to have as your target market so that you can employ the proper cleaning business marketing schemes and tools to your operations.

The Benefits of Having Wealthy Clients as Your Target Market

Every target market has their benefits and downsides, and so does having wealthy individuals as your clients. The benefits, however, are quite nice. Wealthy clients have big homes, estates, and even more than one home. They also have many properties like boats or yachts, for example. Some of them even may be in the hotel business or something of that sort. So basically, by having these people as your clients, you are opening more cleaning business opportunities for your company.

If you do a great job in cleaning the client’s house, they may like your working style and hire you to clean their estates, their string of condos, or even their yachts. Wealthy clients are also people who own businesses rather than work as an employee. So if they like how you do things, they might even hire you to clean their offices, their buildings, etc… Also, they can refer you to their other wealthy friends and family who may also have their own string of properties that they’d like you to clean. If you do things well, your business will be growing at a rapid pace, and you’ll be hiring cleaning crews, staff, and personnel even earlier than expected.

However, the downside of such is that their homes and other properties are expensive and costly and you have to be very careful when cleaning. Damages caused may cost you quite a hefty amount if you’re careless. And gaining access to their homes will be a lot stricter too. So if you can keep up with this, then you’ll be enjoying having a house cleaning business catering to wealthy clients.

How to Get Wealthy People to Be Your Clients

Basically, how to get wealthy people to be your clients is to go where the rich people are. To achieve this, the cleaning business marketing strategy is to join country clubs, exclusive clubs, and even business and other organizations. Expanding your network will get you to meet these people, but you’ll be keeping up with the expenses too. So which target market? It’s all up to you.

Men, when it comes to dressing for work you’ve had it easy until recently Men’s clothing has evolved over the years to a look that fits men’s body types and activities, and makes most men look great.

Most men look good in a suit, and the traditional colors for business, such as a navy or grey suit with a white or blue shirt, compliment most men’s skin, hair and eye colors.

Then along came business casual and a new generation of men in the workplace, and the old rules no longer apply. Putting together all the elements isn’t as easy as coordinating a suit. It’s more difficult to dress in casual mode and look good.

1. Every industry has a dress code. Do you work in a conservative industry, such as finance or insurance? You most likely need to wear a suit when meeting clients, and dress down only on casual Fridays.

On the other hand, if you work in creative industries, such as advertising or design companies, it’s fine to have a bit of an edge. But you have to tailor your looks to a work environment, and choose clothes that suit your body type, coloring and personality.

And if you work in a high-tech, such as a software design company, the look is very casual. But you still have to look neat and clean. Grungy is not a business casual look!

2. Look at the people above you, and your clients. What are they wearing? If your boss or manager wears a suit most days, despite the casual dress code, you should probably do the same. Remember that you should be dressing for the job you aspire to, not the job you have now.

How do your clients dress? Dress to make them feel comfortable. If they are dressed very casually, you can match them, but be sure to be clean and neat. Sloppy and grungy are not business casual looks!

3. When in doubt, dress up. A common rule for business is to dress in traditional business attire for important meetings with outside business people. They still expect to see a business suit or jacket when a business deal is closed. Wearing a suit to meet a new client, or for a job interview, shows respect. Wear traditional business clothing when conducting business overseas.

If you are staying in the office, you can wear a sweater and casual pants. But jeans are only allowed in the most relaxed environments. Check with your human resources department if you aren’t sure what’s allowed.

Putting together a polished, professional business wardrobe takes time and thought.

The anxiety and angst of 2020 are behind us. It was a year that left its mark on thousands of businesses everywhere.

Due to the pandemic many companies adjusted their business strategies, readjusted and then readjusted again.

Those with strong operational foundations were able to survive. They were able to adjust to the ebb and flow of the marketplace.

Some even thrived and made significant growth in sales and revenue. Others were not so fortunate and were forced to trim production and staff.

As the COVID economy continues, business owners must continue to adjust and add to their strategic processes. This includes an analysis, evaluation and development of a plan that establishes proper direction and the discipline necessary to sail through the headwinds that will surely be faced throughout 2021.

Case in point. I was a member of the 1988 USVI Olympic Sailing Team. We sailed out of the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove, Florida. When we raced, the course was set up in a triangle. That means no matter which way the wind was blowing you needed to make your sailboat move rapidly and maintain speed.

The course required you to not only fight hard to sustain momentum but to watch out for other boats. You could not let a competitor literally “take the wind out of your sails.”

The race included a high level of strategy. Sails had to be set precisely to make the upcoming 300 degree turn without losing velocity. It was an all-out effort to cross the finish line ahead of the competition.

Your business plan should do the same. That is formulating a strategy that not only enables your company to maintain pace but actually is designed to win the race in the new year.

One example of a winning plan is the popular Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®), used by thousands of businesses nationwide and worth echoing here. Like the EOS® plan, your strategy should focus on six key areas.

These include…

A solid vision. One where everyone in the organization is on the same page and rowing, if you will, in the same direction. The entire team must understand the direction of the business and how you are going to get there. Great progress can be made when employees have a clear vision of where you are headed and then spend the bulk of their time aligned with it.

Great people. Business owners need to surround themselves with excellent people from top to bottom. A great vision cannot be accomplished without a great team. Many business owners struggle in this area but the best companies have a strong group supporting them.

Data and metrics. Management must cut through all the personalities, feelings, opinion and egos. Instead a plan should be boiled down to a handful of objective numbers. This gives you an absolute pulse on where things are at any given time. These data points will help the team focus, engage and work toward your vision.

Issue resolvement. Issues can hold a company back. Most are solvable but left unresolved can turn a thoroughbred into a slow moving mule. These issues should be addressed at their root cause. When properly addressed they can be eliminated and/or their impact substantially reduced.

Processes. Companies have various business processes. Some are better than others and may be different for every employee. Management needs to document what these processes are and then simplify them to ensure they are followed by everyone in the organization.

Traction. Once companies enact these processes they hit a point in implementation where they are making great progress, never before imaginable. By identifying their top priorities, taking the time weekly to work through them and holding each other accountable, they are able to grow farther and faster.

Creation of the right strategic plan, with the proper processes for implementation, measurement and accountability, will enable a business owner to crush their numbers and rock their business plan in 2021.

Fast Food Restaurants may be a good place to get your team to bond, but are they good for business meetings? The informal atmosphere, casual approach and ‘meal’ environment may make your team feel relaxed and open to new ideas, but will they be able to focus or will distractions keep them from paying attention? Join me on a journey into unusual meeting ideas.

Planning a business meeting is generally straight forward. You have your equipment, agenda and goals all to hand as your staff troop in for another company up-date, but what about those who work out in the field? Or what if you want to shake your team up a little to help them think outside the box? Are fast food restaurants a good a place to hold your business meeting instead of the main office?

Obviously fast food restaurants exist for one reason: to serve up fast food so that hunger is satisfied quickly. The cuisine is not too refined and the cost fairly cheap. Table service is not always an option and the surroundings reflect a universal company theme. The atmosphere is relaxed but not too chilled and they don’t want you to linger overly long. There is usually canned music of questionable quality and often a family atmosphere. To a fast food franchise owner, faster turn-over equals faster profits.

So, fast food restaurants – are they good for business meetings?

1) If you are in a mainstream business and planning to move some boundaries or offload new concepts on your staff, a fast food restaurant could be used to your advantage. You could do away with ‘traditional’ business meeting mode and ease your staff into the meeting with an appropriate ice-breaker.

Here are a few pointers to help with business meeting productivity:

* Choose a location far away from competitors! You don’t want to offer them a birds-eye view of your plans.

* Choose the quietest period. Eg. Wait until kids are at school and mums at the shops!

* Pre-warn the manager if your team is large. Make sure there are vegetarian options on offer.

* Find the furthest place away from the evil music!

* Use the franchise model and environment to make comparisons with your new concepts.

* Thank the manager for the use of the premises – especially if you wish to return.

* Enjoy the event! Make sure you take all necessary equipment (agenda, pens, paper etc) so that the meeting can start promptly and end on time.

2) If you are a home business owner or MLM affiliate and time is of the essence, fast food restaurants make an ideal place to slot in a quick, informal business meeting to catch up with your team. Choose a location within easy reach of your team and local schools to aid a quick getaway. Make sure you have assembled all new products and information so that discussions can get underway quickly and end promptly. Enjoy the event!

Business meetings are an unavoidable part of business life, but who said they have to be dull and boring? The trick is to find different locations to turn them into Enjoyable Events! To achieve this, increase your skill base to leave ‘boring’ behind. Learn new methods and strategies that will take your business way out of everyday league and even help you achieve multiple streams of income. That way you won’t be dependent on one business idea alone. I hope “Fast food restaurants – are they good for business meetings? is helpful.

Also known as ‘process of transition’, the U-Process coaching for business success is a coaching for transition towards change. The client receiving the coaching can experience change in their emotions, from denial to acceptance and moving forward.

There are three stages in Scharmer’s U-Process of coaching. These are sensing, presence and realizing. These three stages represent the basic aspects of the process and all following the initial education process.

Before going to the U-Process model, the coach and the client should first establish what their goal is for doing the coaching. They should both be in accord with their targets as they processed with the U-process.

The U-Process Scharmer’s Model

The first stage in the U-process of Scharmer’s model is sensing. This is the part of the process where the coach helps the client build awareness through observation. The client needs to be able to observe his business, its current standing in the industry and the world, if he aims to have his business globally competitive. The second stage is presence; this is the part in the coaching model where the coach and the client start to receding, reconsidering, and allowing an inner perceptive to develop. The last stage is realizing it is about acting fast with natural flow from the knowledge the client acquired from awareness and presence.

The U-process model is about integrating with the world. At the second stage of the U-process is the “inner gate” where we drop the baggage of our journey, going through a threshold. It is like giving a re-birth to the client’s business. This helps the client to let go and discover whom they truly are, to see from the deepest portion of themselves, emerging consciousness that increases with a change in purpose.

The U-Process Study Case

The U-Process Study case created during the Global Convention on Coaching (GCC) by Dr. Sunny Stout Rostron, DProf, MA was for collaboration dialogue of stakeholders in one’s company. There are five process and based on the Scharmer’s U- Process model. The processes are:

1. Co-initiation – This process is about being sync with one another on the goals. Empathizing and knowing what the co-collaborator or stakeholder want to do to achieve the goals.
2. Co-sensing – This is the part where all the collaborator or stakeholder observes, from the doing researches to within the industry their company or organization belong, to what their business is currently at.
3. Presencing – Connect to the source of inspiration and will. Go to the place of silence and allow the inner knowing to emerge.
4. Co-creating – Pattern the new with living examples to explore the future by doing the strategic plan.
5. Co-evolving – Exemplify the innovative in the environment that enable understanding and performing from the whole. This process includes three stages: pre-convention, convention and post-convention.

This model is not only applicable for collaborative problem solving of stakeholders, it is also applicable for each individual member of the company or the organization. It only varies from where they would channel their inspiration, to how they will co-evolve themselves with the current process.

Many people who want to start a business have similar reasons for their ambitions. Typically, they are seeking autonomy from an employer, freedom, or control over their own destiny, which also means that they can determine their own income, work schedule, job duties, and career trajectory. However, upon launching a business, it becomes immediately apparent as to why many entrepreneurs describe their position as that of “chief cook and bottle washer.” This is another way of saying–in the absence of anyone else to address all of the major and minor tasks that must be accomplished to run the business–it is the entrepreneur who him or herself, must do everything.

Sweeping the floors, taking out the trash, wiping counters, answering phones, taking care of customers, packaging, shipping, invoicing, receiving, repairs, handling the bookkeeping, marketing: performing these tasks as well as anything else that must be done, is all in a day’s work for the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur becomes a jack of all trades and also falls into a trap. This scenario bodes well for a prediction: The business will never grow. This is because at the onset–when the entrepreneur’s imagination should have been running wild with “blue sky” possibilities surging through his or her head–there was only one overarching compulsion, which was to rush forward and print the title “President” on the entrepreneur’s new business cards. The entrepreneur was already afflicted with the “Me Incorporated” syndrome.

The job description above also explains why some displaced corporate executives who start businesses are completely unprepared for their new roles as business owners. Now they have to do everything; but, they were trained as specialists who operated in silos. They never had to clean the toilet or polish the brass handrails at “Behemoth Worldwide.” Their jobs there did not prepare them for survival in the “mean streets of Entrepreneur Town.” They can’t deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty that surrounds entrepreneurs, who must create their own destiny and fly without a manual. Their jobs were about keeping their mouths shut, fitting in, and saying, “Yes, boss–that’s a great idea [which you stole from me, you wheezing, blundering, conniving, drooling…idiot].”

Lest I go on into a full fledged rant about oversized corporations and the drone-like behavior that they seem to thrive on (not to mention ethical breaches and other shenanigans), let me stop right here and get back to the primary theme of this article. Suffice it to say that you want to start your own business, and you have your own reasons.

Given that I have explained the outcome of the “Me Incorporated” syndrome, it would be appropriate for me to discuss cause and effect, so that the affliction can be avoided. Let’s start with how you should think about your business in the beginning. Now hang in there with me folks, I’m going to be talking about imagination, crayons, scissors and paste, and being considered just a bit on the edge for a few moments.

Prior to starting a business, there are no restrictions as to the thoughts that you are entitled to have. When you are in the planning stages, it’s no time to squelch anything that pops into your head. There will be plenty of time for you to confront impediments after you start the business. Feel free to doodle, draw, color, paint, cut out shapes, and assemble anything that you wish. Draw other people a picture that’s clear as a bell and show them what you are made of. It’s your vision. Make it big and bold, and throw in a dash of pure crazy colored sugary sprinkles. Many phenomenally successful inventions were created by people who were proven to be geniuses instead of lunatics, only that was after they became successful.

As an example, let’s suppose that you imagined, instead of one sandwich shop, starting a chain of sandwich shops throughout a city. These shops could benefit from efficiencies of scale. Did you know that anything that you have printed, such as napkins, menus, cups, and sandwich wrappers in this instance, is cheaper in larger quantities? If you print 1000 of something, for a few dollars more, you could probably have printed 2500. Most things are “cheaper by the dozen.”

A few other examples of efficiencies are well worth mentioning here, so that your imagination becomes fully engaged. I once serviced a group of franchised business owners who wanted to collaborate and purchase advertising, acting together, instead of separately. First, I helped them write a cooperative agreement. You should know that even though they each provided the same services, realistically, customers would do business with the franchise owner whose store was closest. In other words, customers who were located downtown did business with the downtown store; customers who were located on the east side of town did business with that store, and so on. Technically, these stores competed with one another, but not really.

The store owners purchased a large advertisement in the yellow phone directory, and they split it up so that they had plenty of room to promote not only their individual locations, but also their brand name, and the features and benefits associated with their services. Any given single location could not have afforded to get all of that across; acting as a group of stores, they could.

The majority of all advertising is local advertising. Mom and pop companies advertise to consumers in their own respective market areas. Your single sandwich shop, acting all by itself, just about definitely cannot afford television advertising. However, with five or ten stores in a city, a chain of sandwich shops probably can. TV might be a great medium for featuring the satisfied faces of customers who are consuming your delectable culinary creations–if only your vision had called for that. Purchasing supplies, advertising, food, and anything else can probably be accomplished more efficiently when you are acting on behalf of several stores.

Let’s talk about personnel, too. Instead of rushing to become President, you should think about becoming CEO. In that role, your job is to be the visionary, and the team builder. “What are the qualifications for becoming a successful store manager?” is the question you should be asking. In case you haven’t followed my leap of reasoning–you need ten such store managers in our hypothetical scenario. You are the CEO, remember? Your role is to hire and motivate, compensate, and grow the overall enterprise. Your primary responsibilities are to plan, to confer with other team leaders, take the pulse of the markets in which you operate, understand the economy, and to fulfill the unmet needs of customers. As an entrepreneur, by definition, fulfilling unmet needs is what you are in business to do.

“Where do I get the money?” you may ask. Did you ever think about the fact that you can “sell” the notion of a bigger return on investment more effectively when you are wielding a more imaginative, stronger plan? Many small businesses, afflicted by the “Me Incorporated” syndrome as they are, will do nothing more than struggle and exhaust their owners, who are doing too much, for too long, for too little. Eventually, both the businesses, and the owners will submerge beneath the waters of insolvency and sink to the bottom of the entrepreneurial sea–or they will be eaten alive by larger, better adapted predators.

It is just as easy to say, “All I need is nine-hundred-and-seventy-three thousand dollars to underwrite the opening of ten highly competitive, efficiently run, strongly promoted, professionally managed sandwich stores” as it is to say, “Mom, dad, I was hoping that you could lend me two-thousand bucks for first and last month’s rent on a ‘sandwish’ shop.” No, it’s not a typo. I meant to say “sandwish” shop, because that’s what it is. It’s an uncertain proposal on the part of an unimaginative would-be entrepreneur, who has already demonstrated a lack of foresight or an ability to think beyond him or herself. It’s one thing to bootstrap a business startup, but it’s another thing altogether to proceed without any of your creative juices flowing. If you think “me, me, me,” all of the time, then you won’t think about sharing the work, sharing the profits, or building a team.

No, you’ll do it all yourself. No thanks to all of the other people who have let you down. There’s nobody who can make a “sandwish,” any better than you can. Nor can they run the cash register, accept a delivery, or do anything else as well as you can. “Oh, baby, baby, you are the best!”

To avoid the “Me Incorporated” syndrome, you need to create strategic and tactical plans representing your solutions for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, compensating, and retaining personnel. You need to have external resources lined up to accomplish what is not done in-house. You need a detailed marketing plan, to include the product, pricing, publicity, advertising, facilities, delivery, and customer satisfaction processes that you will utilize. Similarly, you need a financial plan, an operations plan, a technology plan, and contingency plans to manage business interruptions and risk. Whatever you were planning to write down, just add zeros, because that’s what it costs to start a real business and run it right, so that everyone gets their money back, along with a profit.

You will probably not have time to do all of this planning after you are overwhelmed with the responsibilities of handling every aspect of running your business all by yourself. It will be too late by then, for you will already be trapped in a quagmire.

Before you take the entrepreneurial plunge, decide what kind of business you want to create. If you ask for something bigger, and justify it, you may just have a chance of making it happen. What’s the alternative? You’ll be in charge of your own tiny little fiefdom, never knowing how things could have been, if you had only thought a little longer, a little harder, a little bigger, and a little less about how you could do every little thing all by yourself, either scheming to keep all of the profits, or avoiding reality thinking that you could wing it forever.

Put that “sandwish” down and think beyond what you can do yourself, and focus on what you can imagine. The transcontinental railroad that spans the United States was built one railroad tie at a time, but it was always the plan to connect the East Coast, with the West Coast (and a larger part of this vision was to connect the East Coast with goods shipped by merchants from places such as China and India). If you can envision, articulate, sell, and implement a business concept that entails serving, employing, partnering, leading, and uplifting others, you are probably cured.

At a time when jobs are in short supply, starting a lawn care business may seem like an alternative to those who have been laid off or who cannot find work with reasonable compensation.

This article will offer advice to those thinking of starting a lawn care business during an economic slowdown and discuss the statement that lawn care is a recession proof industry.

To say that the lawn care industry is recession proof is partially true because households using the services of lawn care professionals usually have above average, disposable incomes and are therefore not hit so hard during tough economic times.

However the ‘middle class’ market still makes up a sizable component of the overall market for lawn care services and the middle class is known to cut spending considerably during recessions.

It is true that lawns still have to be mowed no matter how bad the economy gets. However it is still common to see some households cutting back on unessential expenses like lawn care and possibly taking care of it themselves or having lawn care contractors mow their lawns less frequently. The lawn care market is so big though that even during tough economic times there is still a solid base of customers who would never dream of mowing their own lawns.

For those having trouble finding work during a recession a lawn care business is a great way to earn an income to get by. If you start your business during or near the end of a recession you will be well position to expand when the economy starts to recover.

Potential businessmen are hesitant to invest money into a new venture during a recession and may have trouble getting capital together. However in the lawn care business start up costs for a small operation are low. A Lawn care business therefore represents an opportunity with less financial risk involved compared to other small businesses.

Try to evaluate economic conditions within the area that you intend to target your clients as opposed to nationally. Some areas feel a recession harder than others. It is a fact that households in some wealthier neighborhoods won’t make any changes to their spending habits during a recession and these are the kinds of areas that you want to target.

The latest economic crisis has seen no relief in oil prices and anyone wanting to enter the lawn care business should have a plan in place to be as efficient as possible with fuel consumption (for both equipment and vehicle requirements).

So far, during the current 2008 downturn lawn care has been surprisingly resilient to the reduction in overall consumer spending. If you proceed carefully and cautiously and don’t over invest then a lawn care business is one of the few businesses that you can consider starting during an economic downturn or recession.

Most writers start young, secretly writing journals or poetry, and reveling in the pure joy of stringing words together. As they age, many of them will shelve their talents to make a living in a less-creative field, the majority will spend a lifetime writing occasionally, just for the joy of it, and a small percentage will come out into the world as professional writers.

So how does a writer know whether they are engaged in a hobby or working as a professional writer? The answer is found within a couple of lines of IRS tax law; it’s not creative writing, but for any writer who hopes to make money with their creative talent it should be required reading.

To the IRS there is only one reason to be in business – profit. If your primary motive is to become a famous writer, to put your words on paper because you need to get them out of your head, or to push a particular viewpoint, you could be a hobby writer. Or, you could be in business… it all depends on you.

Any freelance writer who treats their writing as a business can file their taxes as a business, once they understand what the IRS expects of self-employed writers. And, the benefits are big – a hobby writer must report all writing income but can only take expenses up to the amount of that income. Those in the business of writing are allowed to write off all expenses, even if they exceed the writing income. For part-time writers this can mean big tax refunds from W-2 earnings.

To the IRS, the distinction between hobby income and business income is clear; a business is always profit motivated. And, a business that has profit as its main motive is always looking for ways to increase their income, even if they are engaged in a part-time activity.

Even though the freelance writer may need a paycheck today, in order to be successful in the business of writing a writer needs a long-term business plan. Spending money on advertising, promotion, business classes, networking expenses, and the equipment necessary to do your job are all part of growing a business. Trip expenses that outweigh any potential for profit, the lack of record keeping on article submissions, running your writing finances out of your personal bank account, and not having a set working schedule are all signs that your goal may not be profit minded.

Being a hobby writer is not a bad thing; you just need to understand the rules about hobby income and expenses, and make sure they are reported in the proper place on your personal tax return.

For the serious freelance writer, because writing is considered to be a hobby by the IRS, the tax return of a professional writer with repeated losses could be pulled for an audit. If that happens, the IRS will ask you to prove that you are operating as a business. For the writer with a written business plan, a dedicated writing schedule, and good financial records, that’s generally an easy audit to win.

So, if you want to be a professional writer, let those creative energies flow when you write, but when it comes to taxes and the bottom line, remember what the IRS says… only those acting in a profit-minded manner get to file their taxes as a business, for everyone else, it’s a hobby.

Building Your Network Marketing Business by Jim Rohn is an excellent book that delivers excellent insight towards creating a successful and profit generating network marketing venture. Among the biggest mistakes people make is they will launch a MLM business without a decent plan in place. You can’t make that mistake and Jim Rohn has created the guide to help you stay on the straight and narrow path.

And it is important to do what you properly need to do when you launch a marketing business. There is a lot of money at stake.

Networking can be the path to extreme wealth. Is this an overstatement? Considering the fact that a large number of entrepreneurs have become quite wealthy via MLM, it would be safe to say it is not an overstatement.

This is not to say, however, that you can create a successful business in a haphazard manner. There always needs to be an effective and viable process employed in order to attain the proper results. The word success and the word haphazard really do not go well together when network marketing is concerned. Building Your Network Marketing Business by Jim Rohn helps provide clarity to the equation which is a solid help.

What makes this work so excellent is that it does not base its instruction on high risk, pie in the sky theories. Rather, this system is rooted in wise, proven concepts that have been proven to deliver results. Does that mean success is automatically guaranteed when you follow the tips provided by Jim Rohn? Success is never guaranteed. No one could guarantee an outcome. However, by providing solid tips and insight, the potential for success can prove to be more likely.

Building Your Network Market Business by Jim Rohn comes in both eBook, print, and audio CD format. Pick the one you like and pay heed to the words. You will find your potential to succeed increases as a result.

Another benefit that cannot be denied would be that this is a solid motivational tool. Some may dismiss the value of motivation and that is not a good thing. Motivation is often the linchpin for succeeding with a network marketing business. A great deal of work and effort is needed to make a network marketing venture generate revenue. This means you need to be motivated even when business is not going as well as you wished it would. Jim Rohn does provide a solid process for boosting and maintaining motivation. Clearly, that is a valuable component to succeed and Building Your Network Business by Jim Rohn offers excellent insight into gaining and maintaining motivation.

Network marketing is definitely a great source for amassing wealth. However, this is a business process that needs to be done right. If it is not done in the right way, generating wealth will not be likely. By following the advice in Building Your Network Marketing Business, the potential to generate wealth may be possible.