Industrial Process

Archive for December, 2009

10 Ways To Help You Plan Your Home Office For Productivity And Comfort

Some home offices are set up in a dedicated area just for the business but most people need to have a family room bedroom or guest room do double duty.

Getting focused about what you need your home office to do for you will help you buy the most efficient equipment and have the most effective layout to help you get more things accomplished.

1. What do you want this space to be able to accommodate? Are you planning on using this space to just get household bills paid in and maybe keep a few records or are you starting up a small business and looking to run all of your office operations out of this space? Make a list of all of the things you will need to do from your office space.

2. Develop a floor plan: Once you have made your list of all the things you will need to be able to do from your new home office space develop a floor plan and begin to draw where all of your equipment will go.

3. Don’t estimate the space: Get out that measuring tape and measure where everything will go. Refer to your floor plan and using small pieces of masking tape mark out where you want everything to go. Then you can see if things fit in the actual room as well as they did on your floor plan.

4. Don’t forget to plug in: Check your office layout; are the existing electrical plugs near the space where you are gong to put your desk? Are the phone jacks in a good location on the plan or are they berried behind those file cabinets. Review the floor plan the actual layout of the room and where the windows electrical outlets and phone jacks are and revise the plan accordingly. Now is a good time to have a few more outlets wired in or add that second phone line.

5. Who will be using this office space? Are you sharing it with your kids? Are you sharing it with your partner? Answering these questions will help you decide what furniture to buy. Does it need to be sturdy and serviceable to hold up to the kids use or can it be a little more upscale for just the use of you or your partner.

6. Get organized with the right home office furniture: A lot of the home office furniture today is designed to store your computer and other electronic equipment. Measure the computer hardware that you have to make sure it will fit into the unit you are considering. Be careful to make sure your CPU tower and printer will fit in the allocated spaces in the unit.

7. Don’t forget miscellaneous storage space: Make sure you have a place to store printer paper envelopes light bulbs and other bulky supplies.

8. How much paper will you need to file: The idea of a paperless office is a good one but in reality it just doesn’t happen. You will need to decide how much filing cabinet space you will need. How much room will you need to store CD’s books software manuals magazines etc. Will you need a bookcase as well as a filing cabinet or will a hutch on the top of the desk give you enough room.

9. Don’t forget about flat workspaces: How much area will you need to work on for a desk space? Will one desk that holds the computer too be enough or do you need some kind of drafting table for works in progress to be kept laid out. What about a table that can be folded up when you don’t need it for a large project having enough storage space will ensure that clutter doesn’t eat up your flat spaces.

10. How to carve out space in a room that will need to do double duty: Look at each room in your house with a fresh eye. Make sure the room you choose is the best solution for your home office space needs. Measure the room you choose and draw a layout plan that incorporates the existing use plus gives you room for the new office portion. You may want to reorganize the existing layout for a more efficient use of space. Think about getting a self contained home office center. They are a wonderful compact way to hide your computer and other office equipment and they will blend in with your other room uses.

About the writer:

copy;BZ RigerHull.www.inspiros.com For valuable free articles assessments practical success toolsmailto:A1smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach Four Agreements Facilitator TeleCourse leader We help you communicate powerfully reduce stress Strategically Attract success increase your financial wellbeing.
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5 Questions Every Successful Entrepreneur MUST ASK To Make More On Your Cool Ideas

All wealthy business owners know that the difference between just being an entrepreneur and being an industry leader lies in choosing viable projects. The key is to focus on those ideas and projects that will give you the greatest return for the time money and effort you invest in them hence choosing high Return on Investment (ROI) projects.

Successful people know how to discern a “cool” idea from a profitable idea. How many times have you said to yourself “This is a great idea!” but nothing ever comes of it? Here are a few common scenarios that many eager entrepreneurs experience:

* “I’ve invested hundreds and thousands of dollars on a product or service that I thought was a great idea but no one purchased it.”

* “I was brainstorming with a friend and we both loved this idea of working together to create a seminar but we never made it happen.”

* “I have a big vision of opening a school for (fill in the blank) but it’s funny I never have time to focus on it.”

* “I know I need to implement a sales followup system and make prospecting calls but I always get busy with other things.”

* “I can work in my business all day long providing the customer with an excellent product or service but I hate marketing and sales so I just never get around to those aspects of the business.”

Here is the bottom line… what you focus on expands. If you focus on activities that don’t generate a significant financial or emotional return on investment you don’t really have a business. Period.

This concept isn’t just about financial return. Sometimes an idea is still viable even if it doesn’t provide a monetary return. R.O.I. can also be measured in the time you save by establishing systems in your business so that you can spend more time on your business and less in your business.

Your return can also be measured by credibility and prestige in your industry which would lead to more opportunities. Your R.O.I. might be money saved by reducing errors in your systems. Your R.O.I. may be an emotional feeling of fulfillment or completion. A truly viable idea addresses all of these possible returns. So how do you assess your R.O.I.?

Five Questions to Assess R.O.I.

1. Will your idea move you closer to your bigger vision of success?

There are only two types of business activities: those that move you closer to your vision and those that don’t. If you’re spending a significant amount of time focused on tasks that don’t move you closer to your goal how will you reach your desired outcomes?

2. What is the potential revenue opportunity?

What costs will you incur? What will you charge? What volume do you need to sell to recoup your costs? At what point have you broken even and at what point have you made a healthy profit?

3. Will it reduce errors or costs in the business?

Is this idea going to improve your process so you can reduce errors or costs? How will it impact the bottom line of your business overall?

4. Will it increase your time availability?

Will this give you more time in the end? Or will it take more time than it’s worth? It’s not uncommon for seemingly good ideas to turn into greedy time bandits that steal your time and money. Remember 20 of your time investment should return 80 of your results.

5. Will it increase your prestige and credibility?

Is this idea going to position you and your company as a leader in your industry increase your credibility and entice your prospects to do business with you?

So Now What?

Once you understand what your R.O.I. criteria are make a list of your top 5 ideas. Then test each idea against the 5 R.O.I. Questions above. Rank each idea using the following scale:

1 = Definitely No 2 = Not Really 3 = Neutral
4 = Somewhat 5 = Absolutely.

Lastly add up the scores. The idea with the highest score wins. This is an idea that has enough viability to overcome the “cool factor” and really align you with your goals. Now get started! Don’t forget to map out a plan and schedule the time to work on it.

About the writer:

Melanie Benson Strick the Entrepreneurs’ Success Coach helps people get out of overwhelm and onto the success fasttrack. “The 5 Massive Mistakes that can Put you Out of Business..and How to Avoid Them” is FREE at http://www.Successconnections.Com

How To Start Your Own Internet Business Even If You Dont Think You Can

In this brief article I hope to start you on your way to an Internet business that isethical honest and legal and that can still make you millions of dollars using primarilyfree resources. You can start your very own business with very little startup cost!

Today I would like to help you with the first step: the decision to start a business at all.I know what you are thinking at this point”well who wouldn’t want to make a milliondollars?”. However starting a business takes more than just the desire to make money.Starting any business requires that you learn how to run that business. It requires sometime and effort. An internet business is no different. There are some key concepts that you will have to learn but it does not require that you are a business wizard or that you even have a college degree. The resources for learning how to start and build a business are literally at your fingertipsthey are available on the Internet for FREE. Yes for free. I am not trying to sell you anything!

Let’s get back to deciding whether or not beginning a business is right for you. Doing the following exercise is a crucial step before making any large decision. We are literally starting at assessing the core strength of your business which is you. If you do this exercise you will learn what money means to you. If you ask anyone of the street if they want to make more money they would probably say yes. But if you ask them why that it is harder to explain. This exercise will help you to know what money means to you which is a very valuable lesson. If you do this exercise before you get started you will have it to motivate you thoughout the rest of your life really even if you do not start a business at all.

This exercise is simple and only requires a paper and pen. Sit down in a quiet place and think about what money means to you. Envision yourself with all the money you desire. Where are you? What are you doing? Where do you live? For most people money means security first then freedom. Security means that we can easily afford our basic needs like housing and food. Freedom is all the other stuff. Usually it means:

Freedom from: a boring job working for someone else a low wage worry about paying bills. Try to come up with other examples that are meaningful to you.Freedom to: buy new things take trips own your own home have the best for their kids live where you like make your own working hours relax more spend more time with the people you love give to charity.Hopefully the “freedom to” list is longer than the “freedom from” list because it is the “freedom to” list that is the one that is more important. Even though you may be in a situation that you want to improve you need to see where you want to be and think about that not focus on what you don’t want. (This is called the Law of Attraction which I hope to discuss more in another article).

Perhaps you are one of the lucky people who has everything that you feel that you need. Congratulations to you! I hope that you have found some benefit in doing this exercise. Most people find that although they are not in a bad situation by allowing themselves to dream a little they can visualize their ideal situation which usually does not match exactly where they are. They see a situation in which some more money would be helpful. There are many ways to solve that dilemma. You can get another job. You can cut down on spending. You can repay debt. All of these are ways to increase your income.

However most people that are making lots of money have their own business. That is a fact. Read “The Millionaire Next Door” by Dr. Thomas Stanley and Dr. William Danko to prove it to yourself. (This is not a plug for that book. Use your local library!)As I wrote in the beginning an Internet business is a way to start a business with very little startup cost. It does take some time and effort but the potential is there to achieve your dreams.

I wish you success!

Access a website that is absolutely free of charge and is written by a multimillionaire who literally started with 2! Click on this link to go to http://www.wealthmentoronline.com/ and have unlimited access to his free 120 page book and hours of stepbystep video on how to start your own Internet

About the writer:

Dianne AnsariWinn is a freelance writer and has been widely published on the Internet.