Small Office-Home Office Tips #12


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The Windows 98 Tip of the Day

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*1. CREATING PROFESSIONAL-LOOKING DOCUMENTS

It's easy to get carried away with clip art and color ink-jet 
printers, but that look can be much too informal for serious 
business correspondence, including resumes. For these 
documents, select crisp, easy-to-read fonts and use heavyweight 
paper--at least 24-pound--in an understated cream, gray, or 
white. Consider having your business stationery professionally 
printed in bulk, with matching paper and typeface for sheets 
and envelopes.


*2. SITE OF THE WEEK: BIZYMOMS.COM

Liz Folger, author of The Stay-at-Home Mom's Guide to Making 
Money, has developed a Web site for the book's audience. 
BizyMoms.com includes 250 ideas for home-based businesses 
(which would work for dads, too), information on how to spot 
scams, and a FAQ. The advice section contains quite a bit of 
meaty content, with articles on topics ranging from stress 
management to saving for retirement. One article dispels many 
myths about working at home, including the one that you will 
have more time for housework because you're not commuting. The 
reality, says Folger, is that "your showers for some reason 
become few and far between, your house will be messier than it 
ever has, and 12 loads of laundry at a time isn't unusual." 
But the flexibility and independence of working at home make 
it worthwhile.

http://www.bizymoms.com


*3. WORKING ON SPEC CAN BE RISKY

When you're starting a new business, you may consider doing 
work on speculation ("on spec") to gain experience and, you 
hope, start a relationship with a new client. The practice is 
risky, however, because the prospective client is under no 
obligation to pay you. Some clients may take unfair advantage 
of you, asking for changes without committing to the project. 
Approach spec work with extreme caution, weighing the potential 
odds and benefits of getting a contract with the time and 
effort you'll need to expend on the project.


*4. WHEN TO CHARGE MORE

Do some clients demand more of your time than others do on 
similar projects? Even though independent contractors often 
charge by the job rather than by the hour, you can adjust your 
rates to compensate for clients that tend to require more 
hand-holding or hair-pulling. Try to be fair, of course. If 
you spend 15 percent more of your time working on projects for 
a particular client, a 15 percent price increase is fair 
enough. But if you find particular clients especially difficult 
to work with and you're prepared to lose their business, you 
can gamble on larger rate increases.


*5. RELATIONSHIP SELLING

Many people who go into solo businesses are great at producing 
the product but uncomfortable selling it. Some fear you have to 
be pushy and talkative to be a good salesperson. Fortunately, 
"relationship selling" focuses on developing long-term 
relationships with clients, so there isn't so much of a need to 
aggressively make any particular sale. In fact, a key in 
building these relationships is to listen more than talk. 
Encourage clients to talk about what they want. You can then 
tailor your proposals to their needs, and chances are you'll 
stand out from your competitors.


*6. WHEN A DEADLINE ISN'T MET

The words "time is of the essence" in a client agreement may 
expose you to greater losses if a deadline isn't met. If you 
are ever sued, most courts would find that lateness constitutes 
a material breach in the terms of the contract, which means 
that the client can refuse to pay you for the project. Note, 
however, that whether or not a "time is of the essence" clause 
is included in a contract, clients may sue for damages if they 
suffer losses because a deadline spelled out in the contract 
is missed.


*7. SITE OF THE WEEK: SOHOWEB

SOHOWeb Technologies sells its Web development and e-commerce 
services to small businesses, but its Web site also offers 
quite a bit of free information for people working in small 
offices or home offices. Check out the Advisor pages for a 
series of articles written by experts on start-up businesses 
and marketing. Another useful section called Keeping in Touch 
gives you links to information on increasing Web site traffic. 
Some of the information is branded to sell SOHOWeb products, 
but if you have a Web site, you'll find useful links to 
discussion groups and articles elsewhere on the Net. If your 
site contains information useful to small businesses on the 
Web, you can also request consideration as a link from the 
SOHOWeb site.

http://advisor.sohoweb.net


*8. REDUCING THE COST OF SENDING FAXES

A Gallup/Pitney Bowes survey of Fortune 500 companies indicated 
that 41 percent of their corporate phone bills were for faxes. 
Now, we know that you're not running one of the 
mega-corporations, but it's still useful to look critically at 
your faxing habits. Are there times when you could send a 
practically free e-mail message instead? Does your word 
processing software allow you to fax over the Internet instead 
of making a separate call through your fax machine? If you need 
to do a lot of long-distance faxing and you have a relatively 
old machine, consider upgrading to a newer, faster model. The 
savings on your phone bill will help offset the purchase price.


*9. USING BAR CODES

If you create products for retail distribution, a vendor may 
ask you to put a bar code on the packaging. Small businesses 
can obtain bar codes through the Uniform Code Council (UCC). 
Membership begins at $500, based on your company's annual 
sales, and there are additional fees for products. You can 
learn more about the world of bar codes at the UCC Web site at

http://www.uc-council.org


*10. DEALING WITH DEBT

If you can't make a loan payment on time, don't just let the 
due date pass by without doing anything. Instead, call your 
bank (or other lender) and explain the situation. Most 
important, work out a realistic schedule to get back on track 
with your payments.
