Working From Home?...
Working From Home?...
Author
Discussion

peter hh

Original Poster:

269 posts

237 months

Monday 23rd October 2006
quotequote all
Im posting this on behalf of a friend of mine.

He is currnetly thinking about working from home, but i said that most of the schemes out there are a rip off!

But he says there are other ways than just them Internet Business scams, ebay, websites etc..

So i put it to you, what are your thoughts on working from home via the Internet? Anyone ever made been successful?

Stephanie Plum

2,797 posts

234 months

Monday 23rd October 2006
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Got a pal who makes a fair bit on ebay - it's a lot more intense than just dabbling though! He works hard at it.

amar1978

681 posts

234 months

Thursday 23rd November 2006
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It can be done.

My experience:
I graduated from uni in 2002, worked as computer programmer for 2.5 years. I started to sell junk from my house on ebay and within 5 months i had left my job and started my own business from home. Nothing in life comes easy but i took some risks and 1.5 years later (now) i have business that turns over near enough £1 million and employs 5 people. Ofcourse i've had to move in to my own warehouse but if i wanted to take it easy and earn 50k-70k a year from home, i can do it easily, but im an ambitious person so too much is never enough.

There are various ways to earn money on the internet, it just depends which way you choose to do it but the most important thing i have found is, you must enjoy what you do!

Amar

Edited by amar1978 on Thursday 23 November 22:41

sam_r

2,379 posts

251 months

Friday 24th November 2006
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What do you sell?

amar1978

681 posts

234 months

Friday 24th November 2006
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I sell a variety of items, but mainly gadgets. Ebay is 60% of our business, the rest we supply to retailers arond europe

Amar

dappastyle

23 posts

242 months

Saturday 25th November 2006
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amar1978 said:
It can be done.

My experience:
I graduated from uni in 2002, worked as computer programmer for 2.5 years. I started to sell junk from my house on ebay and within 5 months i had left my job and started my own business from home. Nothing in life comes easy but i took some risks and 1.5 years later (now) i have business that turns over near enough £1 million and employs 5 people. Ofcourse i've had to move in to my own warehouse but if i wanted to take it easy and earn 50k-70k a year from home, i can do it easily, but im an ambitious person so too much is never enough.

There are various ways to earn money on the internet, it just depends which way you choose to do it but the most important thing i have found is, you must enjoy what you do!

Amar

Edited by amar1978 on Thursday 23 November 22:41


good on you mate,

It's good to hear that there are budding entrepeneurs (sp) out there.

What was the hardest thing to getting the business off the ground as I myself am doing so at the moment.

Cheers.

amar1978

681 posts

234 months

Sunday 26th November 2006
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Hardest thing was making the decision to leave a stable, well paid job in IT. Having my own business was scary but i wanted more in life then a 9 to 5. And because i had no kids and not married this was best time for me to take the 'plunge'. This doesnt mean you cannot do this even if your married with kids but for me, if it all went tits up i would be the one to suffer so to speak.

I also risked all my savings and 100k i borrowed of my dad, again another scary thing but too make big money you have to take risks. But the rewards can be great. My dad who believed in me is now retired at 50. He handles my accounts on part time basis, my younger brother works as head of sales and it is job to liase with factories and to bring in new products. So not only have i helped myself but others in my family, thats great feeling.

Bottom line i definetly recommend to running your own business, you need a little luck but if you believe in something go for it and if it doesnt work out atleast when you look back on it, you can say i gave it try!

Amar

hornie

368 posts

264 months

Sunday 31st December 2006
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I work for a large corporate andhave been home based for the past three years. Best fo both worlds. I occasionally need to travel (which is fine i can connect with my clients and real world) and i get to run my business day flexibly both for teh company and myself.

Different from the other comments regarding running own business, but this suits me well.

jamesuk28

2,176 posts

276 months

Monday 1st January 2007
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I run several companies from a Home - office, and really recommend it. People may think its the easy option but its actually the opposite.In the "office" most days at 6 am and finally pack in around 9pm, and its seven days a week. Well worth it though.

speedchick

5,271 posts

245 months

Tuesday 2nd January 2007
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I work from home doing Kleeneze, keeps me fit as I do all of it by foot, and the kids love helping out (they are out chasing catalogues as we speak), they did bloomin well for Christmas tips off the customers.

It works for me as I am alsways available for the kids, don't have to find childcare etc, and during the holidays I just put the kids to work!

A lot of them are scams, envelope stuffing etc, but some do work, (like Kleeneze and Betterware) if it is something that your friend may be interested in, then get him to contact me through my profile and I can give him more information (that goes for anyone else that may be interested)

autoart

153 posts

232 months

Wednesday 3rd January 2007
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These types of door-to-door sales businesses such as Betterware could soon run into problems. Around our neck of the woods, more and areas are being designated as zero tolerance zones for door-to-door salesmen/women and residents are encouraged to inform local authorites when companies knock at your door.

We never get anything now because we live in such an area, and we hear they are catching on further afield, so that kind of puts a stop to Betterware and co using the door-to-door route to market...

speedchick

5,271 posts

245 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
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That's going to be more of a problem for Betterware distributors as they are given a specific area, with Kleeneze you can choose where you want to go, so if it happens in an area where a Kz distributor works then they will just go along to the next available area, and if they have customers already in the 'no go area' then it is up to the customer if they still want their distributor to come. So the distributor should be ok if only going to established customers and not doing an all area blanket drop.

mrsz4

254 posts

233 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
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Great thread!

I would really be interested in hearing from other 'homeworkers' experiences, especially those who have started small businesses. I am just in the throes of starting a small business from home which I will have to run alongside my detestable 'office' job in the short-term. I am hoping that eventually it will generate enough income for me to leave the other job, so that I can dedicate my time to doing the work I want to do. The one thing that bothers me the most is accounts...as a sole trader, are there any common pitfalls to avoid?

Eric Mc

124,829 posts

288 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
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Hundreds

You need to talk to an accountant at as early a stage in your new business as possible.

The first major action you need to take is that, upon commencement of your new sole-tradership, you have three months within which to notify HM Revenue and Customs that you have commenced trading. At that point you may have to start paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions unless:

your income from Self Employment is less than the annual NI limits
you are already paying the maximum Class 1 NI as an employee
you are over pensionable age.

mrsz4

254 posts

233 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
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Thanks Eric, I will look into that some more. My business will never make 'big-bucks', (just enough to get by would be nice), but I do want to make sure I start off doing things the right way!

smiler.

11,752 posts

253 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
quotequote all
amar1978 said:
It can be done.

My experience:
I graduated from uni in 2002, worked as computer programmer for 2.5 years. I started to sell junk from my house on ebay and within 5 months i had left my job and started my own business from home. Nothing in life comes easy but i took some risks and 1.5 years later (now) i have business that turns over near enough £1 million and employs 5 people. Ofcourse i've had to move in to my own warehouse but if i wanted to take it easy and earn 50k-70k a year from home, i can do it easily, but im an ambitious person so too much is never enough.

There are various ways to earn money on the internet, it just depends which way you choose to do it but the most important thing i have found is, you must enjoy what you do!

Amar

Edited by amar1978 on Thursday 23 November 22:41


Can we have a link for the eBay stuff?


sam_r

2,379 posts

251 months

Thursday 4th January 2007
quotequote all
AMAR,

YHM.