Often the biggest obstacle to being successful as a home based business owner is not finding leads and prospects – though that is critical. The biggest obstacle is managing the internal response to the question – NOW WHAT? Often this question is followed by a – deer in the headlights – response which is then followed by stagnation. Following stagnation comes fear, buyers remorse, and the spiral downward can begin.Now what? For home based business owners in the network marketing and direct sales industry, this question is a common one. But is the answer? The product and/or service being offered is great. The compensation plan is in set. The company has a steady track record. The process for finding leads is in place. The marketing tools are already designed and provided. So what is left? Two words – personal development.The internal dialog of the home based business owner is what is left. What you say to yourself becomes paramount. The level of confidence, being self-empowered, understanding internal strengths and weaknesses, and being laser focused on a goal or dream – are often part of the missing links in growing any business. 90% of the challenges for home based business owners are in the lack of personal development. What creates this – lack – or the need to ask, NOW WHAT? It is one thing – STUFF.Now what? Let me define stuff. Stuff is the unspecified, intangible, often negative element we introduce into our minds through our words, thoughts, or some other outside stimulation. When we do not focus our thoughts effectively, they can become scattered, miscellaneous, and fixated on stuff that can lead to negative notions, toxic relationships, and fear of taking even calculated risks.As a new home based business owner (particularly in network marketing) part of your STUFF can be not being able to determine which direction to go with you new business. Not having direction can lead to stagnation and eventually withdrawing from the system in place to assist in your success. Stuff is dwelling on mistakes you have made in the past, being angry at someone who did something to you in the past, being afraid to enter into a new venture because you heard someone share a horror story, worrying about your health at age 50 while you are still 35… and on and on.Stuff will find its way into your life regardless of who you are, how much money you make, and what your status is in life. Stuff keeps us from moving forward with our lives and we need to it let go, and quickly. Especially if you entered in to a new home based business venture to make money. The clock is ticking, and STUFF has no timekeeper.What is the solution? How do you begin letting go of stuff?It begins by making a commitment to yourself, a commitment to your dreams, a commitment to your family, and a having a belief that you deserve to have what you want out of life. That said, please remember the old adage that you do not get in life what you want, you get in life what you are. 100% of your success is centered around your philosophy about what is success. What does success mean to you? What image appears in your minds eye when you imagine being successful? Capture that image in words by writing it down in your personal journal. Make it a part of your business plan and strategy. Read it every day. This will help keep you laser focused on your goals and dreams.Before you take one more step toward working your home based business, you must first identify your philosophy in all areas of your life. What is your philosophy about money, friendship, being a spouse, parent, son/daughter, and business owner? According to the late great Jim Rohn, your philosophy is what determines your internal conversation, which becomes your values, which determines your decisions, and thus drives your actions and direction.Letting go of stuff begins in part with deciding who you want to be, then creating a plan to be that person-no matter what! Making a personal commitment is critical to having success in every area of your life including business, friendships, marriage, and finance.Part of the first step in the process of letting go of stuff is to acknowledge that you have stuff. Acknowledge that you want, and perhaps need to change something. Acceptance of the stuff in your life is also key, just as acceptance of anything you want to change. Before remodeling a home, for example, you must first accept its current condition. After taking inventory, you can then make plans to remodel. The same is true for making long-lasting, inside out changes in your life, and thus your business. You must first take inventory of the stuff that is keeping you from moving forward. Identify it. Accept it. Then begin the process of letting go of it.NOW WHAT? The answer lies inside of you. Begin by letting go of stuff.

You came up with a great idea for a business and kicked it off without a hitch. What was once an extra bedroom downstairs is now a bustling hub of activity. After three or four years, you are on your way to expansion and even thinking about hiring a few employees to help you out. Life could not be more grand.Then the bottom drops out of your joy when you din that for all of these years, you have not properly filed any of the home based business taxes and you are about to be audited for that.Before you get started with a business of any kind, it is important to fully understand how the tax laws will affect you. There are many aspects of the home based business taxes that differ from situation to situation- and there are a number of deductions that you can take that will keep the amount you need to pay to a minimum.Don’t assume that because you don’t make a lot of money from your business, especially in the beginning that you are totally absolved from paying home based business taxes at all, but if you are diligent about your record keeping efforts as well as careful about looking for deductions, you can minimize the bite.If you are knowledgeable about doing taxes and keeping records, you may be able to handle home based business taxes on your own, however, because they are so complex and so busy, you might consider having an accountant handle them for at least the first few years of your business’ existence.There are exceptions for who will have to pay home based business taxes, however, those exceptions may not apply after certain conditions are met. And, just because you run a business that is technically subsidized by the government, such as a childcare, that does not absolve you from the need to pay these taxes- you are still taxed on the income which is generated by the subsidized payments. It can all seem very confusing and a little frustrating, but it is the law.Some of the expenses generated by your business can be used as deductions for your home based business taxes. For instance, some of the cost of maintaining your home, which is now your professional work space may be considered a legal deduction. You can also use the cost of part of your electricity, heat and other daily expenses in certain situations. Before you go making a million deductions on your tax form, make sure they are actually a legal deduction to take and that you are rightfully incurring these expenses in the course of running your home based business.For those who use the Internet to perform their work, the cost of their Internet service and up keep of their computer may be considered to be a viable deduction on their home based business taxes as well. Again, check before taking these deductions on your form.

A home based business opportunity is wonderful in many aspects. But, there are some warnings that you you most watch out for.Starting a home-based business is not the solution to every problem for every person. although many home-based businesses are successful, and the people who started them are happy with the results, more than a few home-based businesses end up causing far more headaches than their owners anticipated. Starting your own business is hard work, and there are no guarantees for its success.So the next time you’re lying on your sofa, dreaming of starting your own home-based business, don’t forget some of the potential pitfalls:. The business is in your home. Depending on your domestic situation, working in your own home – a home filled with any number of distractions, including busy children, whining spouses or significant others; television; loaded refrigerators; and more – can be a difficult proposition at best.. You’re the boss! When you’re the boss, you’re the one who has to get you motivated to work hard every day – there’s no one standing over your shoulder watching your every move. For some people, focusing on work is very difficult when they are put in the position of being the boss.. A home-based business is (usually) a very small business. As such, you will likely be more exposed to the ups and downs of fickle customers than larger businesses are. Not only that, but also, if a customer decides not to pay; it could be devastating to you and your business.. You might fail or not like it. there are no guarantees that your business is going to be a success. Failure might cost you dearly, including financial ruin (some small number of business owners have had to declare bank-ruptcy when their businesses failed), destruction of personal relationships.Personally, I love working for myself. However, I felt compelled to warn you, that just because you are entering into a home based business opportunity, does not mean that you will be successful.

Starting in real estate often means being the “jack of all trades” in the area. Your expertise becomes anything related to real estate, whether it be listing homes, selling homes, or maybe even doing a home loan. Your real estate career gets even more clouded as you get involved with the different types of real estate from condos, homes, land, multi-units or maybe even stretching to commercial. Performing this many real estate tasks is a juggling act that very few agents ever survive.

In order to close business every month, have a life, and experience the big rewards it becomes necessary to specialize in a in a niche of real estate. Before we can examine the benefits of specialization let’s examine the fears that many people have about selecting a niche:

I will lose business by specializing
There aren’t enough transactions for me to specialize
I don’t know enough about anything in real estate to specialize
These are all common fears to experience before selecting a niche to specialize in and dominate. As you are considering your niche, I invite you to consider the following question:

If you had a possibly fatal heart condition and you were looking for a Doctor to help you, which Doctor would you select?

A) The Doctor who is a Podiatrist, Pediatrician, and a Cardiologist

Or

B) The best Cardiologist in your state

For most they would select “B” because that Doctor would have handled more conditions than the “A” Doctor. She would have the experience, have run into more problems, have solved more cases and would have to be the absolute best in order to make a living in just one area of medicine.

So, by selecting a niche are you turning away business or are you inviting more of your niche than you ever could imagine?

Selecting your real estate marketing niche will bring you a flood of business for that niche. In order to demonstrate your expertise in a particular area, it doesn’t take shouting from the treetops that you are the “expert”. Here are some methods that you can do to demonstrate your expertise in a niche and start bringing in more of the business:

Write articles – Write articles about the type of real estate product that you have a passion for. For example if your passion is condos write articles about home owners associations, selecting a community, and even choosing the right floor plan.
Contribute on forums – There are often community forums where local residents bring up questions about communities or their local city. Participate in these forums (without directly asking for business) and answer questions.
Attend community events- This can range from attending a local board meeting of home owners to having a small booth at a farmers market. Wherever you attend make sure it is complimentary to your niche.
There are many different ways to share your expertise in order to bring in more business. The first big step is just committing yourself to real estate marketing in the niche where you have the most passion. To your success.

As an individual we all have targets and set goals in our finances, hence adequate information to the right investment is very important. Considering the fact that good investments help us to actualize our objectives in our education, career, capital projects, family needs, etc, then it’s imperative for us to understand these investments.

Presently, we are faced with the recovery of the economy after experiencing the global economic meltdown for more than two years of economic impasse. In most African countries, especially Nigeria do not seem to get on a good start as the government has limited funds to inject into the economy (Capital market) unlike other developed nations of the world are currently doing. Therefore, there’s a need for us to make the right decision at this trying period. There are different types of Investments available to us; Savings, Insurance, Bonds, Equities and Stocks, FOREX, Real Estates, Importation and Exportation, and what have you. These may sound interesting, but we must look before we make decisions in our chosen investments.

For most people, making the right investment decision can be a tough one. They assume that you need enough money to venture into a lucrative business. It is always a good idea to do some research before you can make a decision as to what you want to invest in. This is better achieved the most when you gather information on your type of investment because you want to make the right investments that would work best for you. It is financially wise for you to know the investment basics so that you will be in a position to have variety of choices. Is this where the use of funds comes in? It is advisable that you use your savings especially if you plan to invest in long term. Moreover, you do not need a lot to get into investing though; you can use your monthly savings and investing consistently. The Stocks and shares option is one of the most popular and profitable business.

Also investing in Insurance policy is another guaranteed way of investing without having fear for drop in market price. Unlike the stock market, Insurance is a sure way of getting your money back with a certain accumulated interest over a stipulated period of time that is if there have not been any occurrences before the maturity date. This however, would be discussed exclusively in my subsequent articles.The mutual fund investment option is yet another form of investing whereby organizations collect money from different individuals and use it to venture into suitable quoted company stock at the right time.This reduces your risk of losing money since you are not directly investing in the stock market. You should look out for all loop holes and engage the services of a financial expert to help you make suitable investment choices.

Before we delve into the various investments stated above properly, there is a need to highlight the basic Principles of Investments that would be our guide to a successful venture. I shall discuss 5 of these proven principles that would guide us through;

The first investment principle we must know is to get the foundation right of any investments plan and all the hiccups we envisaged or encountered would be checked. The problem most people have is that they try to solve their challenges from the surface. It is easy for one to quickly take a pain relieving tablets to stop his toothache problems without knowing the cause. Alright let’s look at our business transactions as an instance. A growing businessman borrows money from his fellow business men to build his business venture. By doing this overtime he became heavily indebted. But in order to be free from his indebtedness, he quickly pays his debts without ever considering the fact that his greatest weakness could be poor financial (money) management. In Nigeria today, an average 60 percent of the population are into entrepreneurship in one business or the other yet most of them have little idea of their venture which accounts for low returns in profit every quarter. This dismay performance could only be attributed to their poor knowledge of the said business, hence the business foundation is lacking. In addressing such situations, understanding the roots of these investments
would place us on the driver’s sit to know where and how to make great returns on our investments

The second principle simply tells us to set values in our investments’ plan and life goals generally as a yard stick to take us to our desired expectations. Values are internal anchors we set ahead of time to guide us in time of decisions making. It is also important to note that in our individual offices and business places, values we set for ourselves would determine the future and success of our careers and business ventures. According to Hamel, G. in “Rethinking the basis for Competition” in (Gibson, R (ed) Re-thinking The Future, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London pp. 76-92 he says that “the big challenge in creating the future is not predicting the future. Instead, the goal is to try to imagine a future that is plausible – a future that you create based on values.” As matter of fact, we must place great values on our investments and businesses for it to grow beyond limits.

On the third principles of investments, we must draw out our investments plans and strategy. One does not expect a high dividend as a return on your investments from a quoted company if you don’t invest well on that company. In any investment we do, there is need to know the strategy to adopt in getting good returns. Let’s look at the stock market for instance, you would not be foolish to invest in First Bank PLC in the Nigerian Stock Exchange that has reached its’ bullish state when you know most investors are bailing out after a period of planting then smiling to the banks for a good investment. You have to understand the investment first (foundation) then adopt a particular plan or strategy that would suit it for a stipulated period. That is why; Sun Tzu, great author, posits that “the General who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought while the General who losses make but few calculations beforehand”. You should know that whatever plans or strategy you make does not really guarantee you success as it may not suit the kind of investments you are into but get the right information to guide you through. Hence, you are advised to invest in financial books, business tips or any investment instruments to put you ahead of your contemporaries. By doing this, you must have drawn an investment philosophy that includes your; aim, period, returns and interest of your investments.

The fourth Principles would centre on our spiritual strength in business. Knowing that sometimes we face all sorts of problems and setbacks in our investments or business activities, we may not have the physical power to overcome them. To be realistic, we need to look up to God by committing our businesses in His hands irrespective of our religion or faith. According to the Book of Proverbs; “If God can see everything in the world of the dead, he can also see in our hearts.” If we commit our ways to God, He would direct our paths. We should always seek Him when faced with any problems. I also suggest you renew your minds with great spiritual and inspirational materials. Great authors like; T.D. Jakes, John Mason, Joyce Meryce, Mathew Ashimolowo, Dale Carnegie, etc have wonderful works that can nourish our soul and make us achievers even in the face of adversity. You would find out that what you consider as problems are not problems, but some stumbling blocks you encountered as challenges to your road to success.

The last Principles of investments which is the fifth, has to do with you as an individual. As a child while growing up, we all aspired to be one great professional in our chosen field. That’s the reason why Education could be adjudged as the highest form of investment. I must say that that most professionals or CEOs these days don’t utilize five percent of their brain. With the latest technologies at our finger tips, we seldom use our brain to work even getting the least calculations. Knowledge they say is power. The more knowledge we acquire, the more resourceful we become in affecting our lives positively. We have to invest in ourselves to improve on our business ideas and skills as change is inevitable. To buttress this point, let’s look at Romans 12:2; “and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. Please make it a habit to invest huge part of your income on your brain and mind, as it’s such an investment that you would receive a 100% returns.