There may be a number of home based businesses one can go into, as there are a number of positions available for a job seeker. However, there are select business ideas that are best fit for home based operations and finding this could lead you to a profitable road.

To find out the best home based businesses available to you, conduct a thorough research about the venture you want to undertake. First thing that you can do is to make your inquiries among your friends and neighbors who have established a home based business. Learning and gaining insights from their experiences will help you prepare once you have commenced operations of your own business. Even if the home based business you want to set up is rated best among the opportunities available to you, it will not hurt that you have made a business and financial plan of your business. In order to come up with this plan, brainstorm with your family and friends so that you can generate new ideas different from your own. You can also perform your research by surfing through the Internet and read about the actual experiences of people who have their respective home based businesses and assess your chances.

Normally, the best rated home based businesses are those that are engaged in offering their services. There is a high demand for web site developers, writers and for people who are skilled in doing consultancy work. The business of a consultant can involve work ranging from a financial character to performing certain marketing functions. If you are interested in doing this type of work, you should indicate the field that emphasizes your strength as a businessperson. Some of the best rated home based businesses focus on selling certain products that may be new or second hand like hard-to-find books.

Whatever your choice may be, if it is to sell a product or a service, the chances of your home based business surviving the competition is within your control. Your chosen home based business may fall within the category of best rated or not, but in the end, how you market your business is the most essential part of your whole operation.

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.

Okay, let’s talk about the reality of being a small business owner in 2013 and all of the chatter regarding the disasters of running a small business. There are so many voices out there that it’s becoming more difficult knowing who to listen to, who to trust and what you should do! I want to share what I think are three important things to do for success in this economy.Running a Small Business-Why Businesses DieDid you know that a report from FOX news stated that from 2008-2010 over 200,000 small businesses have gone under? And the news continues to sound very bleak as this year continues. Let me share some of my observations with you; they are my observations mind you so just bear with me because there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel and isn’t a train. Often the first sign that a business has started its death walk is the cutting back on the quality of services and goods; if it’s a restaurant for instance, they start to cut back on the quality of their food products in order to save some money, then they start to serve smaller portions and keep the price the same and last but not least, they never engage their customers for feedback. The death of a business!Running a Small Business-Knowledge Is PowerListen, we all know the importance of marketing; well, it’s also important to know what you want and need for your business. Sounds real simple but, most small business owners really don’t have a clue what they need to reach their ideal customers. Unfortunately, most marketing companies just want to make money off of you and they tend to promise you the world even when they know that they can’t honestly deliver the goods. Here are some things that you need to keep in mind when it comes to marketing:

Have a marketing plan or strategy for your business. Running a small business means you have to make the time to know what you need to invest into your business; you have to identify what or who your ideal customer looks like and then market to them.

No quick rich marketing! Please! And here’s the trap; you go with the guys who tell you that they have a new and creative way that gets you instant results and fill your head with visions of dollar signs and then-burned! Now, you don’t trust anyone and that leads you towards the death walk. The right marketing will get you results but, it can take some time depending what tools are used.

Time is money. We have heard that so many times and it is a true statement but we have to look at it from a different point of view; if you don’t take or make the time to step back and look at your business as a whole you’re a goner, game over, it’s a wrap! Please, don’t own your job, scale your business. Taking time to honestly evaluate your business will pay awesome dividends! Even if it means having someone help you in the process. Oftentimes, when running a small business, you’ll find that things aren’t as bad as they look.
Running a Small Business-What CompetitionHere’s a major trap most business owners get caught in; they market with their competition in mind instead of with their customers in mind. You are not trying to win your competition over; you want to get the attention of your customers. Listen; identify your ideal customer and market to them. Don’t start cutting back on the quality of your services or your products. The best way to solicit feedback from your customers is by using review sites. Running a small business can still be profitable in this economy if you follow these suggestions.