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10 Tips to a Thriving Work From Home Business
Whether you’re recently started your first home based business or you’re a veteran when it comes to balancing work from home, everyone could use a few tips to make their business successful. Here are 10 tips to create a profitable work from home business.
1. The Products – Know, love and stand behind the products you sell. If you know how they work, why they’re worth it and actually like and use them yourself, you’ll do a better job selling it to others. Know what similar products are all about as well. If your competitor sells a product like yours, be able to tell your customers why yours is better even if it costs more. Don’t bash the competition; just highlight your strengths.
2. Network, Network, Network – It’s important to build a business network. Be yourself and take the time to build friendships and other contacts beyond just potential customers. Building rapports doesn’t happen over night and it takes time to simmer. Keep spreading seeds and you’ll reap a great harvest.
3. Online Presence – Create a professional website for your business. You are missing a huge opportunity if you’re not doing business via the Internet. One of the first places people go to find something they need is the Internet and your product is no different. Even if you sell a lot locally, broaden your horizons by going online too. Note: No website is better than a cheesy, poorly designed one. If you don’t have the resources to have a professionally designed website, then hold off until you do. Continue reading
Work From Home Advice from Michigan’s Governor
I just finished watching the annual State of the State address presented by Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder. All partisan opinions aside, the former Gateway President and CEO, touched on many subjects. Much of what he said can be transferred into success with your own home based business.
I was born and raised in Michigan. Except for a small stint when I lived in California, I’ve been here all my life. I love it here. This is where I make my home and this is where my home based business is headquartered. I care about my state and also about my Scentsy business. So you can clearly see how easy it was for me to make the leap between the Governor’s State of the State speech and how it applies to my (and hopefully your) home based business.
Below are three quotes and nuggets of advice from the speech tonight that all entrepreneurs who have a home based job should heed:
- ”You can only build a brighter future by setting a higher standard.”
- “We cannot afford to slow down. We must maintain a sense of urgency and finish what we started.”
- “Success through Relentless Positive Action. No blame, no credit. Finding common ground and solving problems “
Take Care of Your Customers or Someone Else Will
You didn’t take care of your customers, so I did.
Dear Less Than Fabulous Home Based Business Owner,
I want to take this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for being a less than fabulous home based business owner. Because of your less than fabulousness, I have new customers and new recruits. For this, I have you to thank. You did not take care of your customers; but I did.
Remember all those sales you made during the holidays? Many of those were going to end up being gifts, don’t you think? I appreciate that you didn’t take the time to put your contact information on all of the products that you sold. Because of this oversight, when your customers gave them as gifts, the recipient did indeed love it, as anticipated. Yet they had no idea where to go to get more.
That’s the great thing about selling a consumable product – the repeat customers. And when you introduced these people to our fabulous products, they had to go online to find another consultant to buy from. Because I’ve worked hard to make sure I come up fairly high in the search engines, your former customers found me easily. Thanks. You did not take care of your customers; but I did. Continue reading
Secret to Effective Communication
Are you confident you are using effective communication when speaking with your associates? Find out here.
My former boss at Notre Dame gave me one of the most valuable pieces of advice about effective communication. He said whether you are communicating orally or in writing, you should always provide as much detail so that you leave no room for misunderstanding or for the need for additional clarification. Be thorough on the first try.
I still use this advice daily with my Scentsy business. Let me give you some examples to highlight this point.
1. You have a new team member who asks, “Is there a minimum amount I need to earn before I’ll get an electronic deposit?”
Poor response: “No.”
Mediocre response: “Nope, as soon as you earn $1, you’ll get paid on the 10th of the following month.”
Effective communication: “You start earning on your very first sale and will see your commissions deposited into your pay portal by the 10th of the following month. There is training on our pay system located in the training center, in the upper right corner of our workstation. You can also find information about bonuses and commissions in the Policies and Procedures located in your Workstation under the Resources tab. It starts in Chapter 10.”
Do you see the difference? One response is just lame. One gives the answer but doesn’t provide any source documents. The last response would be considered effective communication because it answers the question, shows the new consultants (the one who asked the question and the lurkers who have the same question) where she can find the information in print and also shows where the source documents can be found.
2. A consultant is unhappy because she thinks another consultant in town is breaking the rules. She complains on a team forum.
Poor Customer Service Will Kill Your Business
Customer service, or lack thereof, can certainly make or break a business and can cause a customer to either return or to never set foot in an establishment again. As a business owner, what kind of customer service are you offering your customers?
I was thinking about this subject last night as I was eating in one of my favorite restaurants. I experienced some of the most awful service I have ever received. Regardless of menu price, I believe a server should always provide great service, but especially when you’re dining in a place that is known to be higher end, I would expect service should be exceptional.
I won’t bore you with all the errors our server made but in general it consisted of her being crabby, slow, inattentive, and unsanitary. She was also obviously bothered that the guests would want to be waited on or receive the items they ordered. I kept trying to allow for the possibility that she had a horrific day or was battling some traumatic personal problems. Yet her pathetic service just continued to compound itself until finally we put on our coats and sat there bundled up until she eventually came back to give us the check so that we could leave.
I usually only go to this restaurant on special occasions and now won’t have another reason to return again for quite some time. Because I do enjoy the food, and realize that this one person does not represent the entire company, I may return next year at some point to try it again. I may. But it’s not the only restaurant in town, that’s for sure. If they don’t take care of their customers, someone else will. Continue reading
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