4 Advantages to Going Green in Your Home Based Business Or MLM Business

Green is in! The environmental movement is at the forefront of every major trend right now. Cities, businesses, and homes are all going green. We even get tax breaks for buying green cars and building green houses. And, we should! With global warming, pollutants, and environmental conditions being responsible for mutations and birth defects this is the best movement we could ask for! So, how do you capitalize on it in your home based business or MLM? Go green and use this movement to your advantages. Here are the top 4 advantages to going green in your home based business or MLM:Advantage #1: Going green in your home based business or MLM sends an important message.Having a positive influence and using and providing quality, healthy products is highly valued by others. MLM’s and home based businesses create networks – networks of people who use a service or product and like it enough to tell others. Those people use the service or product and like it enough to tell even more people. And, so the cycle goes of promoting, using, and believing in products and services that are good for us, for our businesses, and for the Planet. We are creating behavior and habits that will be around for years to come. It will influence the youth population and will make a positive difference in our environment.Advantage #2: Going green in your home based business or MLM is cost effective.It may cost a bit more up front to develop green products but in the long run you’ll make more due to increased sales and demand. Green Squad Consulting in San Francisco supported this theory when it declared that it may cost on average 3% more to build a green building but you’ll save 30-40% on utility costs. Consumers value and understand green products. And, the trend is only gaining momentum.Advantage #3: Going green in your home based business or MLM provides a loyal customer base.Eco-entrepreneurs not only create and sell value-based products, but they tend to be very loyal to these products. People who purchase eco-friendly products have a strong sense of community, open communication channels, and tend to share ideas and product recommendations. Green businesses generally have a higher brand image and attract more new clients and as a result see higher profits.Advantage #4: Going green in your home based business or MLM gives you an entrepreneurial advantage.The environmental movement is huge. Embrace it and become healthier and wealthier. Green businesses and products improve a business image, attract more new referrals or clients, and reap higher profits because people are generally happier, healthier, and more productive. An online home based business or MLM that has green products is especially smart. According to Forrester Research, online retail sales will go from $172 billion in 2005 to $329 billion by 2010. Take advantage of these two huge movements (ecommerce and the green movement) with a green Internet MLM or home based business.Find the right home based business, and to learn why 97% of home business owners fail and how to be a part of the 3% who succeed, – you can’t afford not to!

What Yogi Berra Can Teach Small Business Owners About Estate Planning

According to baseball legend Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Yogi’s one liners often make me laugh, but they also make me think. His quip reminds me of the importance of having a plan when engaging in any endeavor that will impact our personal situations beyond the immediate here and now. That includes the process of estate planning. Now, I will grant you that Yogi probably wasn’t thinking about estate planning when he offered this particular slice of wisdom. Nonetheless, his words are absolutely spot-on insofar as the importance of planning for that day which we will not live to see. As important as having an estate plan is for all of us, it is of even greater importance for the small business owner. I think it is no exaggeration to say that thoughtful estate planning is an essential component of every small business owner’s overall business plan.

I think of a successful small business owner as someone who recognizes an opportunity to provide a needed product or service, and then invests the time, devotion and energy to developing and implementing a plan to seize that opportunity. I admire those thoughtful risk takers who harness their vision, business acumen and moxie in order to create, nurture and guide a sustainable business venture. I have found the small business owners I counsel to be thoughtful, deliberate and attentive to detail in how they go about the work of managing their businesses; i.e., they plan for the future. However, what I have also noticed from time to time in otherwise prudent and successful small business owners is a lack of any plan for their business when they die or are otherwise unavailable to manage it.

It is easy to understand how even successful small business owners who are otherwise consummate planners might prefer to avoid estate planning as it concerns their business operation. In at least one respect, these successful business owners are a lot like most people; that is, they are not accustomed (or inclined) to ponder their own mortality. It is a subject, even if not loaded with angst, which easily lends itself to defer consideration for “another day.” Yet, the stubborn reality remains that absolutely none of us will get out of this life alive. For the small business owner, Yogi’s wise counsel merits some thought, and action.

If you are a small business owner and have yet to start the estate planning process, let me suggest some relatively easy first steps to get you started. First, locate and then review your company’s organizational and governing documents. If your business is incorporated, these would include the corporate bylaws, shareholders’ agreements and those other documents your lawyers drafted when the business was getting started. If your business is a limited liability company or partnership, you will want to look at the company’s operating agreement or partnership agreement. Review these documents with the following questions in mind:

- How will your death (or permanent incapacity) affect the company’s existence?

- How will your successor be chosen, by whom and how much say do you presently have in that decision?

- Will your death trigger a buy/sell provision by which a co-owner, or the company itself, is allowed to purchase your interest in the business, notwithstanding the wishes of your own family members?

A brief review or discussion with your lawyer of questions like these may then prompt you to begin thinking about your vision for the company’s future when you are no longer able to guide it. A next step might be to consider how you would want the business operated in the event of your temporary incapacity or unavailability. A durable power of attorney will allow you (as the “principal”) to designate someone else (the “agent”) to make business decisions during your incapacity, while allowing you to retain the ability to withdraw or revoke the POA when you are ready to resume control of the business.

The POA itself might serve as the genesis of a comprehensive succession plan, by which you map out a plan to reduce your own involvement in the business and allow others to assume greater management and decision making responsibilities. An orderly transition plan is apt to increase the company’s odds of survival when you are gone. And, such a plan may help you to “let go” of control and devote more efforts to mentoring those who will eventually run the business you created.

Ultimately, you will want to focus your planning on what you want to happen to the business when you have died. Here, a well-designed trust agreement will allow you a great deal of flexibility, both in terms of retaining a degree of control while you are alive, and identifying your intentions with respect to the business after you die. The trust agreement enables you to select those who will administer your stated intentions when you are gone. You can, for example, provide for the sale and/or dissolution of the business over time, or provide for its eventual transfer to one or more family members. A trust agreement allows the owner a great deal of flexibility and for that reason makes it an extremely helpful tool in the business owner’s estate plan.

The bottom line is that you, as the small business owner, have the ability to ensure that with careful planning the company you created will survive your passing. This is a process that can be tackled incrementally over time. Given the uncertainties of life, however, the estate planning process should become a component of your overall business plan. There is no time like the present to start this process. Don’t be lulled into putting this task off for “another day”. None of us know how much of a future we will have. Or, as Yogi puts it, “It may be getting late earlier than you thought.”

Start A Home Based Business – Do You Really Need To Work Hard To Succeed?

Every day there are more and more people searching the Internet looking to start a home based business. Many people are doing it to replace a lost income or replace their current income because of the threats of lay offs. Others do it because they want to be able to work wherever, whenever they want, be their own boss, and provide their families with a better lifestyle.It doesn’t matter why you want to start a home based business, but what does matter is that you understand that it’s not as easy as pushing a big red button and becoming rich over night. The fact is, the majority of people think that starting a home business is easy and they will have no problem earning a full-time income. The truth is, to be successful with a home based business requires some hard work and dedication.If it were that easy to just start a home based business and earn a full-time income, wouldn’t everyone be doing it? Now, building a successful home business and earning a full-time income from home isn’t hard, but it does take some dedication. There are literally thousands of people replacing their incomes, supporting their families and living better lifestyles with a home based business. The common factor between all of them, hard work and dedication.Again, succeeding with a home business is not hard, but only if you are willing to put forth the work and dedication. Make sure you treat your business like a business. Too many people treat their home business as a hobby and don’t take it seriously. If you don’t take it seriously, you are not going to dedicate yourself and work hard. This is a real business, and you are the boss. No matter what home business opportunity you decide to start, the first thing you should do is put together an action plan and stick to it.Anyone in the world can start a home based business and do so successfully, as long as they are willing to put forth the effort and dedication to succeed.