Start A Cash Based Business From Home
If you’ve considered starting a business from home, but the start up cost and red tape scared you away, then maybe you should consider starting a small cash based business from your home. There are several advantages to starting such a business. We’ll take a look at sever as this article goes along. But the most important aspect of starting a cash based business from home is that it’s the simplest form of business you can start.
In my opinion, the biggest benefit of starting a cash based business is that there are many ideas you can use to get started. You start your business small, on a shoestring budget and you grow it from there. Perhaps at some point you’re doing all the business you want to do. That’s fine. A cash based business makes it easy to maintain your current earning level.
For example, when I sold goods on ebay, my income really depended on the amount of goods that I listed on ebay. If I wanted to earn more money from ebay, then I had to list more products. This meant I had to visit more garage sales, estate auctions and second hand stores. I could have grown my ebay business by hiring outside help and branching out to drop shippers, but I didn’t want to be that tied to the business. I had other ideas I wanted to pursue and didn’t want to be saddled with employees and vendors.
You can get started in your own cash business in any number of simple ways. There are a ton of success stories about people who started in business with little or no money out of pocket. Just because you want to start a business, doesn’t mean that you need hundreds of thousands of dollars and go into debt
I’ve known many people who started out simply mowing lawns. Over time that added equipment as they could pay cash for it and added accounts. Within several years they had a top of the line residential and commercial business that was debt free and profitable. Compare this to the many people who go into landscaping/lawn care by going into debt buying $7000 riding lawn mowers and $40,000 pickups and trailers. Then they complain they can’t make enough money to pay their bills.
One teenager I knew started his lawn care business by pulling a wagon with his lawn mower behind it. He carried a weed eater and blower in the wagon. He pulled this around the block and as he gained accounts, he pulled it to neighboring blocks as well. By the time he graduated, he had one of the largest landscaping companies in this town of 75,000 people.
I could go on and on with the examples. But the point is this. If you don’t have the money to lose, then start small and pay cash for all your expenses. If you can’t do that, then maybe it’s not your time to start a business.
Other Advantages Of Starting A Cash Based Business From Home
Another advantage of a cash bases business is that keeping financial records is much easier. When you have a checking account for your business and you only put income into that account and you pay expenses out of it, then it doesn’t take but a glance to know where you stand. No wondering if so and so is going to pay their account on time or worrying about an upcoming bill.
I’ve also found that I can get much better deals from vendors by paying cash. They’d rather have the money up front than open a line of credit for you and wonder if you are going to pay your bills each month. If you get the reputation of paying cash for everything, then most vendors will bend over backwards for you because they know you’re good for it. Burn them even once and you’ll ruin your relationship with them. This could cost you big time! Always pay your expenses on time with cash and watch you and your company get a good reputation much quicker than someone who flashes plastic around.
Resist the urge to use credit to grow your company. There’s a Biblical phrase that says “The borrower is a slave to the lender“. If you stop and think about everything you have on credit, and what happens if you stop paying them, then you’ll quickly see how true this saying is.
The same goes with your accounts. Resist pressure to accept credit. You may lose a customer or two, but in the long run, good cash flow will trump good credit! The same goes for credit cards as well. The fees you’ll pay for a merchant account and the fees you’ll pay for the ‘privilege’ of accepting credit cards and really add up.
Many financial experts content that the state of our economy as of this writing is due to an over indulgence of credit by both consumers and corporations. The ‘easy credit’ days are over and many people and corporations who relied heavily on credit to fund and run their businesses have now found their self unemployed and bankrupt.
What Are Some Famous Cash Based Businesses That Started From Home?
Glad you asked. This is because I run into so many people who think they have to run down to the SBA and beg for a loan before they start their business. So I’ll just give you a few examples of successful businesses that were started at home on a shoestring budget.
Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Sanders perfected his chicken at home then started serving it at his Diner. The rest is history.
Microsoft. Bill Gates started his tiny little business out of his Garage.
Grandma’s Cookies started in someone’s kitchen at home.
PlentyofFish.com. This Internet dating site got started in the apartment of its founder. Now it’s worth tens of millions of dollars.
These are just a few examples. The point is, none of these people ran out and took out huge loans to get started. Sure, after their companies were up and running they may have used credit, but getting their business off the ground was done at home with cash! So if you’ve put your plans on the back burner until you could get a loan, think hard about starting a cash based business from home. You just may be glad you did!