How To Start A Sewing Business

With the economy as it is, many people are now wanting to reduce their clothing costs and make their current wardrobe last longer in order to cut expenses. If you enjoy sewing, you can start a work at home sewing business and make extra money for yourself.

How to get started?

1. Get a business license.
As a business owner, you can take several tax deductions and you’ll have access to wholesale sewing supplies.

2. Decide what your niche will be.
You can specialize in clothing alterations, making costumes, making clothing, wedding gowns, formal wear, home décor, etc.

3. Set up your workspace.
Set up your sewing machine, install storage bins or racks for your materials, keep an inventory and organize your supplies.

4. Decide on prices.
You can charge a certain price per task, charge a flat fee, or charge by the hour.

5. Advertise your services.
Advertise your sewing business in your local newspaper. Give out flyers or business cards to people you know and leave them in fabric shops, beauty salons and cleaners. Join some women’s networking clubs.

Turn your sewing skills into a profitable sewing business. Do something that you love in your own home and make money at the same time.

How To Start A Pet Sitting Business

Do you love animals and enjoy spending time with them? Start a pet sitting business and you can work with animals, be your own boss, and make money! There’s very little overhead and it’s easy to get started.

But before you start, you have to make decisions on the following:

1. What services are you going to provide?Some services are simple feedings and walkings while others may involve giving medications and light brushing.

2. How much are you going to charge?
Check out a few pet sitting services in your area so you can get an idea of what rates will be competitive. The price that you charge will have to cover your transportation costs to and from visits.

3. What areas are you going to cover?
These are the places you will target for business. You may choose those within a certain distance from your home or wherever you’ll be working from.

4. Which animals would you like to work with?
You can limit yourself to just cats or just dogs, but you’ll make more money if you service both. Consider whether or not you’re comfortable working with all breeds and whether you’ll work with birds, rabbits, reptiles and other animals.

Now that you have made your decision, how do you get started?

1. Get a business license. It will give you a professional edge and makes you more trustworthy to your clients. You’ll also be able to take advantage of many tax write-offs.

2. Become bonded and insured. This is very important for you and your clients’ protection. Insurance will cover you against any damage caused to a client’s home, injury to their pets, and loss of client keys. Bonding will cover you against theft of articles from a client’s home by anyone working with your business.

3. Print business cards. Choose a cheery layout with an animal picture on it, and include your company name, email address, phone number and state that you are bonded and insured. Put your rates at the back.

4. Create flyers with your prices listed on them.

5. Get an appointment book to keep track of your assignments.

Ready to get clients? Begin to advertise and market your business.

1. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. Build a good reputation by pet sitting for neighbors and friends.

2. Visit local veterinary offices and pet stores and ask if you can leave a batch of business cards and flyers with them.
3. Post flyers at bulletin boards in supermarkets or other high-traffic places you feel pet owners would visit.
4. Place a small ad in your local paper for a fairly reasonable price. You can also post ads in free community papers/ magazines.

5. Create a website to help promote your business online. Give detailed information about you, your policies, procedures and pricing.

6. Distribute business cards at the local dog park. Network with people while socializing with their pets.

Once you have clients, provide excellent quality service to keep them. Make sure you are punctual and are always giving them and their pets the very best service. Provide their pets with lots of tender loving care. Remember, customer service is everything.

How To Avoid Work At Home Scams

In recent years there has been a huge increase in work at home jobs and more people are making money online. However, this trend has also created an opportunity for people to conduct fraudulent acts on people seeking legitimate work at home jobs. Here are 5 tips to help you avoid work at home scams:

1. Avoid jobs that guarantee you wealth, financial success, or that will help you get rich quick. Stay clear of jobs that offer you high income for part-time hours. If an opportunity seems “too good to be true,” it probably is.

2. You should never have to pay to get a job. Legitimate employers don’t charge to hire you or to get you started. Don’t send money for start up kits.

3. If an ad or website tells you to “act now,” don’t! Genuine business opportunities don’t use high-pressure sales tactics to try to force you to make a fast decision.

4. Always research the business or company that is presenting you with employment. Use resources like the Better Business Bureau. They have an online registry of all legal businesses in the United States.

5. Search for jobs in the right places.
• Ask people who have successful work at home jobs to guide you in your search.
• Search on message boards or e-mail groups for ideas on where to start your work at home job search.
• You can look at free listings that provide work at home opportunities.
• You can find work at home jobs through trusted sites instead of search engines.

What are the top 3 work at home jobs that you should avoid at all costs?

1. Envelope stuffing
In this classic scam, instead of getting materials to send out on behalf of a company, you get instructions to place an ad like the one you saw, asking people to send you money for information about working at home. This is an illegal pyramid scheme and you could be prosecuted for fraud.

2. Craft assembly
The way this scam works is that you pay for materials and equipment upfront. Then you make the items but the company never does buy them back from you. None of your work is ever “up to standard” according to them.

3. Data entry
In this scam, you’ll get a useless guide to work at home jobs or a disk with generic information on how to run a business and a list of business names. If you bother to contact the businesses listed, you’ll find that they’re either not interested or pay an abysmally low rate.

Hundreds of people fall for work at home scams everyday. But with a little foresight and some research, you can easily avoid falling prey to one of the many work at home scams out there.