Are you thinking that having a home-based business will give you the freedom of time and money? It might. You can work when you want, you can work if you want, you can even work in your pyjamas if you like!There are many advantages to having a home-based internet business. Be aware though, there are downfalls too. One key potential downfall in having a home-based internet business is that, since you are at home, you become lax and forget to treat your business as the business that it is.Your attitude can become casual instead of the business attitude it needs to be. You still need to have that professional edge that you have when you go out of your house to a different building to work.Dressing in business attire and standing when you are answering the phone are only two “tricks” that you can do to keep your business attitude at home. Yes, working in your pyjamas is fine, but you need to have a ‘business attire attitude’. If your attitude becomes lax, so will your performance.You need to spend the time on your business daily. It is not a hobby – it is your bread and butter. You need to be as responsive to your customers as you would in your business attire – not like you would with your friends.Having a home-based internet business has a lot of advantages. If you can keep it professional with a ‘business attire attitude’ you will indeed convey your professionalism to your clients and business associates and you will indeed have a successful internet business.

Today, more and more retirees are opting to start their own work from home business. Of course, opening a home based business can help deliver foodstuff on the table but aside from that, it can also make the retirees time more productive and gainful. It is basically an urge for self expression and an effort to involve oneself with something rewarding. For others, it can also be a way to recommence past dreams and aspirations.Not like an average worker, retirees have time to spare. As soon as a person decides to abandon the workforce, he has ample of time to begin his identifiable home based business. Then again, in opening any business, conscientious forethought is important in order to be successful. Before starting a home based business, here are some of the factors retirees need to ponder:Do what you know and loveMost retirees spend decades of working in various industries encompassing sales, marketing, IT, culture, arts, and others. It is best to use such experience and abilities to come up with a business idea in which one will be passionate to handle and manage. Visualize your other interests and not to mention your talents such as designing, baling and cooking. You may possibly use them in your starting business. Remember that it is important that you love what you are doing to gain the ideal outcome.Examine your fundsBeing an entrepreneur involves risk, markedly when it comes to money matters. Capital is basic in any business. First you need to have a good understanding on how much you are willing to plow. Pay a quick visit to your bank or audit your online savings. This way, you will not go over your financial statement and you know your financial capabilities as well. In order to daunted monetary problems, you need to work hard and be wise in spending. Self-discipline is very important in business.Enter into the right businessToday there are so many businesses that you can possibly venture on. You can either start your own business by direct selling or you can begin a website and promote your goods online. Before starting your work from home business, consider the following factors: Merchandise and services, branding, target market, budget and business fulfillment. You cannot start the right business without conscientious forethought. Read and research on the latest and most popular business at present.Come up with a concrete business conceptWhen it comes to business, everyone can do it – young or old. Comparable to the young business owners, you will go through the basic motions of a conventional start up. Therefore, you will need a solid business blueprint, just like anyone else. This plan will serve as a map that will help you to identify defining markers that you may encounter along the way. Before you open your business to your clients, you should think and plan out carefully what you want your business to be. Consider the things that can make your product or service different or special. Make your merchandise and services be heard by creating an online and offline presence. More or less, your business plan will cover your ways on how you plan to attract consumers, how you plan to beat competition, and others.ConclusionA home based business must be more than a way to help retirees spend their time worthwhile. It can also occupy their idle time as they have more time for themselves unlike when they are working in the corporate world. If you are very keen about turning a pastime into a business opportunity, start a business which will focus on earnings rather than your own pleasure. Having your own business after retirement will help in stimulating your mind and overcoming your boredom. It also brings in extra income to your retirement fund.

Having a home based business can be a great experience. You set your own hours, have more time for family and can go to work in your pajamas. Certainly you have heard all the upbeat, feel good positives on having your own home business. However, there are some pitfalls that can cause your business to go belly up before you even get a good hold on your industry. Many of these mistakes can be avoided with a little forethought and some planning. If you know what you may be up against ahead of time, you can combat it. Knowing and preparing yourself is half the battle. Avoiding these mistakes will save you headache and heartache.

1. Starting a home based business that is not appropriate for your home.

Whether it is a lack of work space, storage, inventory or your employees’ work space, you may need to look outside of your home for facilities. As a rule, online businesses and service businesses are typically easier to run from home than manufacturing businesses. Be realistic; don’t let your judgment be clouded by potential tax breaks or low overheads.

2. Lack of focus or motivation.

It is easy to get distracted when you work from home. You may not feel motivated to get up and work, may get distracted by the phone or the kids. You need to set aside time that is specifically designated for your business – and stick to it. Running a home based business is a great way to cultivate self-discipline. You really need to have that self-discipline to make sure you get your work done on time instead of watching TV or doing housework. Dedicate a specific time period only for doing your home business and do not let anything else get in the way of it (unless of course it’s an emergency).

3. You don’t have any growing room.

If your home based business takes off, you will probably get to a point where you need to expand. Expansion of your business may be as simple as adding a computer or new printer or as complex as bringing in more employees. While you are setting up your home business, prepare for eventual growth as well. Be prepared for the possibility of getting an office space if you need to even though you started out as a home business.

4. You don’t spend wisely and don’t budget well.

You may be saving on overheads such as rental when you work from home, but are you spending unnecessarily on equipment or maybe even some little luxuries for yourself? This can lead to over spending and you exceeding your budget. Set your budget and stick to it.

5. You fail to promote your business.

While you are sitting in your home office, wearing your slippers and sipping your coffee, you may get just a tad too comfortable and forget one crucial element for your business success – marketing and promotion. You have to get the word out and promote your home based business if you want it to get sales or orders. In fact, this is the most important part of your business. Unless you already have customers buying from you, or you are spreading through word of mouth, you need to market your business.

6. You don’t have facilities that are efficient or adequate.

When you work from home, it may be tempting to use the family computer or network your computer with the family computer. In a word – don’t. When the kids are playing games and downloading photos, they are using up bandwidth that you need to operate your business. Cut the strings and make your business computer separate from your home computer. All these limitations will make it harder for you to operate your home business.

7. You don’t have a business plan.

Just because you’re starting a home based business, you think that you don’t need a business plan? Having your home based business plan is integral for organization, goal setting and growth projections. If you don’t plan, you could face failure in a very short time. Planning your home business will help you to understand what investments you need to put in and the different aspects of your business. If you get out of course, referring to your business plan can help steer you back to course.

Having your own business can be exhilarating and liberating. Click the link below for a home based business opportunity that comes with the support and instructions necessary for you to market and operate your own home based web business.

Introduction

What is accounting software?

To track the financial process, the business owners or individuals use the accounting software to record and report income and expenses.

This is more effective and never drives grave mistakes with automation, especially for small businesses.

Why do small businesses prefer accounting software?

The majority of small business owners may not be much aware of accounting or finance management. So they prefer this software to manage their financial data.

The software helps to reconcile data, generate receipts, and integrate with the financial data.

So they don’t have to bother about the business account to balance.

Moreover, it saves time and money and improves productivity and performance through the transparency of financial data.

How do you choose better Accounting Software for Small businesses?

Searching for the right accounting software for your business is a daunting task.

Software designed for one business could not be suitable for another.

It depends on the enterprise’s size, the income flow, level of experience of the accountants, and the company budget.

If you are willing to choose any accounting software, it is always advisable to thoroughly examine some of the features before selecting one.

Here are some of the best accounting software, distinguishing itself with outstanding features and functionalities and specially designed for small businesses.

Intuit QuickBooks: Best Overall

QuickBooks is an accounting software released by Intuit.

It has a separate desktop version you can buy and install, and in 2019, they released the cloud-based system.

Millions of businesses use QuickBooks accounting because it designs for small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is very user-friendly, and business owners prefer this because they can handle this easily even though they don’t have accounting experience.

While coming to the price, it is very reasonable.

Features of QuickBooks Accounting contain:

With user guides and tax data export, it helps to file quarterly and annual tax returns.
Financial institution integration.
Sales tax calculations and reported tax payments.
Sort sales and expenses into tax groups automatically.
Scanned receipts are attached to the invoices.
Generate customized reports with cash flow.
QuickBooks Accounting offers a reasonable price:
Simple Start: $10 per month for business beginners.
Essentials: $17.50 per month for maintaining and expanding businesses
Plus: $25 per month to help more established and manages projects, inventory.
Sage Business Cloud Accounting: Best for Multiple Users

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a global label that provides online accounting for small businesses.

It designs for small businesses, which established in 1981 in Newcastle, England.

It lets you select your industry, company scale, and requirements. Over three million businesses use it.

Without any accounting knowledge, users can use this and can set it up for multiple users.

The main features contain:

Manage business accounting and cash flow.
Generate and share invoices.
Available on all devices so that you can access it from anywhere.
Auto entry and synchronization.
Integration with your business institution and other apps.
User-friendly dashboard and tax compliance tools.
Forecast cash flow and inventory management.
Collaboration with your accountant on any device.
Pricing of Sage Business Cloud accounting as follows:

Accounting Start: $10 per month for start-level financing to help manage cash flow.
Accounting: $25 per month for excellent cloud accounting with invoicing, cash flow management, and actual entries.
They currently offer a 50% discount for three months and a free trial for 30 days.
Xero: Popular with best features

Xero is a web-based accounting software developed for small and expanding businesses.

Small business owners and accountants prefer Xero, which established in New Zealand in 2006.

Without any accounting knowledge, you can easily set and use this software.

It is popular with its easy-to-use dashboard and can collaborate with multiple users simultaneously.

Small business owners choose this because of the features and ease of use.

Its two-step authentication keeps your data secure and a very reasonable rate for each plan which you choose.

The main features contain:

Generate and send invoices and create an account claim.
Integration with your business institution and other apps, including HubSpot, Square.
Quick bank reconciliation.
Active financial reports.
Secured financial data.
Collaboration with multiple accountants.
Pricing for Xero is as follows:
Early: $5.50 per month, send 20 invoices, enter five bills, reconcile bank statements, and capture bills and receipts.
Growing: $16 per month, send invoices and quotes, enter bills, reconcile bank statements, and capture bills and receipts.
Established: $31 per month, includes all Growing tier features plus multi-currencies, expenses, and projects.
Every plan comes with a free 30-day trial for unlimited users.
Zoho Books: Best in automation
Zoho was established in 1996 in India and had a corporate office in California.

Its accounting software, Zoho Books for small businesses, has outstanding features which lest you monitor your finance generate invoices and collaborate with users in real-time, and many more.

Zoho includes multiples products for customer relationship management (CRM), human resource management, and inventory control.

Small business owners incline to Zoho books for automation, bank reconciliation, invoicing, and more.

The app integration allows you to integrate with other software which you already use.

It also provides a payroll solution for companies in India.

The main features contain:

Tax compliance and financial reports.
Sales management and invoicing.
Bank reconciliation.
Client portal.
Reports and records.
Automatic tax calculations.
Pricing for Zoho Books as follows:
Free: Includes up to 3 users, 1000 invoices per year, and 1000 bills per year with basic features.
Standard: ? 499/month billed annually and included up to 3 users, 5000 invoices per year, and 5000 bills per year and includes everything in free plus extra features.
Professional: ? 999/month billed annually and included up to 4 users, 10,000 invoices per year, and 10,000 bills per year and includes everything in standard plus extra features.
Premium: ? 2999/month billed annually and included up to 7 users, 25,000 invoices per year, and 25,000 bills per year and includes everything in professional plus extra features.
Elite: ? 4999/month billed annually and included up to 15 users, 100,000 invoices per year, and 100,000 bills per year and includes everything in premium plus extra features with ‘Advanced Inventory Control’.
Ultimate: ? 7999//month billed annually and included up to 15 users, 100,000 invoices per year, and 100,000 bills per year and includes everything in Elite plus extra features with ‘Dedicated Account Manager’.