2007…..2007…..BEST AT THE BUSINESS CHANNEL….2007…..2007

Bloggers at b5media’s Business Channel compiled their top business stories for 2007, coming up with a great round-up at Taxgirl, 123+ Top Business Stories of 2007.

Among them was our selection of posts by Yvonne Russell and Mary Emma Allen:

Home Biz Notes rounds out the year with five popular posts including Mary Emma’s winning country grocer entry and mistakes for the home business owner to avoid.

Check out these b5media Business Channel stories and the others at the above Taxgirl link for great reading, information, and encouragment in your business world!

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

HomeBizNotes.com 

Shannon Cherry has a great reminder at StartUp Spark, Have You Taken Time to Plan for the New Year?

“Oh, no, not another New Year’s resolutions reminder,” you say. 

No, this isn’t the traditional “making your New Year’s list” (then never looking at it again) suggestion.  Shannon talks about making a plan of what you want to achieve for the year then orienting your daily/weekly/monthly activities to work toward it.

Of course, the unexpected may cause you to alter your strategy, but you should always be working toward that goal.  I’m good at making my daily “to do” list, but realize it isn’t always oriented toward to what I ultimately want to achieve.  It’s something like “putting out fires” as they occur.  And perhaps some of those fires occur because I’m not keeping my focus.

What about you?  If we have one resolution this New Year’s, let’s focus on what we want to achieve in our home business, income level, and family this year.

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

HomeBizNotes.com 

With the end of the year in sight, our minds will be turning to taxes…at least for individuals and business owners in the United States.  What can we still deduct, purchase, invest?

Kelly Phillips Erb at Taxgirl has some answers to tax questions in Ask the Taxgirl: Blogging Reviews .  As blogging reviewers, product testers, book reviewers, and such…what are one’s tax obligations and deductions?  What do you have to claim as income and what is a business expense?  What if you purchase something to review?  Can you deduct it if you do use it?

These and other similar questions may come to mind as you begin gathering your material together for tax time and to discuss with your accountant or tax preparer.  Check out Taxgirl to see if you can find answers there.

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

I awoke this morning to find a note from our daughter, who left for work at 5:15 AM.  “Mom and Dad, there’s water on the wall behind the freezer.” 

My husband Jim  discovered a tiny leak in an exposed cold water pipe in the basement above the freezer.  A very fine mist was spraying over the wall and dripping down.

“That’s the only line we didn’t replace when we did over the plumbing a few years ago,” he said, “because it runs up to the bathroom and is behind walls.”

So squeezed in between business matters has been plumbing repair which eventually will lead to a bathroom overhaul.  Jim turned off the water to that portion of the house until we could get to a “repair” point in the daily schedule so he could analyze fully what needs to be done.

Do you have those days with your business?  When the unplanned, unexpected happens and you have to squeeze in solutions to the challenges, along with getting your regular tasks completed?

*Sometimes it means working longer hours to get everything done.

*Sometimes you leave the challenge (if it’s not an emergency) until after your business day is finished.

*Sometimes it means giving up a social engagement.

*Or you learn to juggle and hope everyone affected by delays will understand.  Usually they do.

This wasn’t the only disruption in the past week.  The day before Christmas, the faucet on the kitchen sink began leaking, dripping down under the sink and onto the floor.  Another morning the electricity went off while we were preparing breakfast and other family members were getting ready for work away from home.  Fortunately the power company had that back on within an hour.  But we decided we’d better check out the generator and make sure it’s in working condition in case winter storms wreck havoc this winter.

Fortunately, I didn’t have the problem a friend experienced yesterday.  We were talking on the phone when she exclaimed, “Mary, I’ve got to go.  Water is leaking on my products.”

Later she explained that somehow melting ice and snow had leaked under the patio and through the ceiling of her storage room, soaking some of the merchandise she keeps there for her home business.  There wasn’t too much damage, but enough that they had to move everything from the small room.

Some challenges you can’t plan for nor avoid.  But you can have strategies in place that enable you to keep going with your business in spite of disruptions.

What do you do?

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

I’ve been “harping” on participating in contests in several posts here at Home Biz Notes, so I’m joining this GTD contest sponsored by Celine Roque at Pimp Your Work

What are my resolutions for 2008? In order to accomplish more than I did in 2007, I need to:

1. Find a way to stretch myself or “find another self” as my grandson calls it, so I can do more. (Maybe this is the virtual assistant mentioned in the Elance contest.)

2. Be more efficient and organized.  Do something each day to be better organized,even if it’s only 20 minutes, as Mike Murdock says in Secrets of the Journey.
3. Keep my goals in front of me each day, instead of making my list then misplacing it. (Is that part of being better organized?!!)

4. Reach for stunning goals that seems impossible, rather than reminding myself to “be realistic.” Look for those “out of the box” opportunities that will enable me to reach these goals.

“We don’t think big enough,” a mentor once told me.

5. Find more joy in my work and life by looking at what I have accomplished each day, not at what I haven’t done.

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

HomeBizNotes.com

Are you so dependent on the Internet that your business comes to a standstill when electronic problems occur? Does your business cease when your computer fails, your server has problems, or there are Internet challenges? What happens when electricity goes out in your area?

If you have a walk-in shop in your home, you probably can tally the sales on a calculator and make any computer entries later. If you operate a mail order (or online ordering) business, you can package and ship orders you’ve already received.

However, if your business is solely on the Internet, whether involving sales, writing, consulting, teaching, etc. you’re probably at a standstill. How will this affect your business and income for the day…or longer if the problem persists?

So…..do you have any back-up plans? You may want to consider formulating some.

*Do you have a second computer if one gives out?

*Can you go to the local library or similar facility if your server is down? Providing their server is a different one.

*Can you reach your customers by telephone?

*Are you able to continue production?

Have you needed to solve problems like these? What have you done?

Do share in the comments!

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

We are often so caught up with running our businesses, that we don’t take time to celebrate our successes.

Take a moment to reflect and enjoy your 2007 Home Business successes. They may be small milestones or major landmark successes.

Enjoy! It’s these successes that are not only affirming, but form the building blocks for future refinements, planning and directions.

We’d love you to share your 2007 home business successes with us… no matter how small or large.

HomeBizNotes.com

In the course of a year, you’ll find some articles/posts that seemed popular or helpful for your readers. They also may be are ones you particularly enjoyed writing.

It’s often difficult to narrow it down to five, but these are some that stood out in 2007:

Best Business Advice – Glide Like A Duck

Wrapping Up With Reader’s Comments

9 Mistakes Business Owners Shouldn’t Make

Will Graduates Start Home Businesses?

My Mother, The Country Grocer…Success Isn’t Always What You Think

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

 Home Biz Notes.com

Shoppers often look for “after Christmas” and “after New Year’s” sales.  So home business owners can utilize this as a shopping promotion, too.  The manager of a mall store told me shoppers are always coming into her store looking for special sales after Christmas and for new sales to start out the new year.  So her store regularly plans specials

1. Do you have Christmas or seasonal items you don’t want to hold over for another year?  Put these out at reduced prices in your shop and online…while supplies last.

2.  Plan a New Year’s special or beginning of the year special on specific items or to the first 10 or 20, etc. customers.

3. Run some specials on services through a specific date or to a specific number of customers, if this is a slower time for your business.

(However, when you plan your specials, make sure you aren’t getting yourself into a bind where you’re going to lose money on the items you sell.  If they are products you don’t want to hold over and store for another year, that’s one thing.  But make sure when you introduce new items at a special price, you state some limits or “while supplies last”.)

4. Organize an “Open House” right after the new year starts to introduce new items.  These may not necessarily be items on sale but new ones you’re planning to feature.  You might offer refreshments and door prizes with these.

5. Develop a gift card program whereby customers can purchase gift cards to give to recipients who use them to purchase from your store.  Laura Spencer, blogger at Work From Home Momma, mentioned gift cards in her post, After Christmas Sales – Top Tips for the Small Business Owner.

If our own household is any indication, gift cards were a major part of Christmas this year. For the first time that I can remember, every single person in my immediate family received at least one gift card as part of their Christmas, said Laura.

 What do you use for special promotions this time of year?

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

  As we approach Week #7 in the “apprentice” b5 Business Channel challenge, we’re to find for Kay, our prototype business owner, one post that will help her, inspire her, encourage her when she’s too busy to wade through the volumes of information on the web.

Kay, Enjoy the Journey of Your Home Business . When you’re frustrated, hurried, facing the balancing act between business and family, remember why you’re doing this…and discover joy in the journey. Look at your accomplishments and activities each day, no matter how small; enjoy and celebrate those along the way. This will make it easier to overcome obstacles and reach your ultimate goal.

(This is something I have to remind myself about periodically, as I mention in the the linked post above, Enjoy the Journey of Your Home Business.)