Blogging with Dena Peters: December 2009

11 Businesses You Can Start in Your Pajamas

For
the above entrepreneurs, wearing pajamas for a day at the office isn't
far from reality. From pet care to virtual assistants and even online
dating, we found entrepreneurs who are not just enjoying work from
their living rooms and bedrooms, but they are also making a good living
at it. In one case, a business owner grossed $10 million in a year, and
cleared half that amount. Here's a look at the hottest industries for
home-based entrepreneurs -- illustrated with some fun CEO
self-portraits.

Pet Care -- Paul Mann, Fetch! Pet Care

Approximately
two-thirds of American households own pets, making the pet industry the
sixth-fastest-growing industry in the nation -- with $43.4 billion
projected to be spent on pets in this year alone. It's no wonder then
that Fetch! Pet Care, a Berkeley, Calif.-based company that provides a
wide range of pet-sitting and dog-walking services is thriving. The
2008 Inc. 5000 company brought in revenue of $3.5 million last year and
operates on a franchise model that includes 200 locations nationwide
with a network of more than 3,800 pet sitters. "Pets don't know that we
are in an economic downturn, and it's been proven that pets are
therapeutic for people," says founder and CEO Paul Mann. "You don't
stop feeding your pet in bad times."

Virtual Assistant -- Tawnya Sutherland, VAnetworking.com

As
business owners have become more comfortable working virtually, and
work/life balance has increasingly become a necessity, the demand for
virtual assistants has grown significantly. Tawnya Sutherland would
know -- five years ago she started VAnetworking.com, the largest online
social network for virtual assistants, which has seen membership triple
in the past year to over 10,000 and revenue exceed $150,000. She
created the site as a space for fellow virtual assistants to share
information, exchange ideas, and discuss industry best practices.
Sutherland maintains that "VAs are a really diversified group that can
do just about anything." And, in addition to saving business owners the
cost of having an in-office employee, "it relieves you as a business
owner to work on the thing that you're most interested in doing."

Bargain Hunting Website -- Karen Hoxmeier, MyBargainBuddy.com

With
just a computer and an Internet connection, virtually anyone these days
can start their own website and market their products and services from
home without spending a lot of money. But despite the low barrier to
entry in this industry, not all businesses have worked out the model
for success quite like Karen Hoxmeier. The stay-at-home mom founded
MyBargainBuddy.com, which publishes hundreds of daily deals and coupon
codes for shopping sites all over the Web. "My business happens to be a
hobby that pays me," she says. "I love shopping and I love bargain
hunting. And if what you do helps someone else, that makes it even
better."

Accounting Services -- Melissa Nash Andrews, Accounts Receivables

In
a tight economy, one of the primary goals for a business owner is
staying on top of cash flow. But let's face it -- nobody likes having
to ask for the check. That's where Melissa Nash Andrews and her
company, Accounts Receivables, come in. A full-service collection
agency, Nash Andrews stays on top of her clients' accounts receivables
and provides a range of bookkeeping services for business owners
looking to outsource accounting. "If I can help another small business
person to stay in business and to keep their business, then I've met my
goal," she says.

Technical Staffing -- Bill Foster and Ruben Santana, XRoads Consulting

As
more companies contract out specialty services like recruiting,
staffing companies like Atlanta-based XRoads Consulting are seeing an
upturn in business. Founded in 2006 by neighbors Ruben Santana and Bill
Foster, XRoads specializes in placing people for technical positions at
companies located primarily in the southeastern United States. They
also help companies select and implement information technology
solutions that will best meet their needs. Both Santana and Foster have
leveraged their prior experience in the industry to grow their revenues
to $5.58 million in the first two years of business. "There are
definite financial rewards to being home-based and not having the
upfront overhead needed to start a business," Santana says.

Home Improvement and Organization -- Allan Young, ShelfGenie

Those
who are making money in the beleaguered housing industry these days are
people like Allan Young, founder and CEO of ShelfGenie, a company that
designs and installs custom-shelving units for the home. "A high
percentage of our clients are people who are staying put in their homes
but want to do an affordable upgrade," says Young, who recently began
franchising the sales model in April. Because the shelving systems are
customized for the client, there is no inventory for the franchisee,
and appointments are handled through a call center, making it very
feasible for the franchisees to get their business up-and-running and
achieve positive cash flow quite quickly.

Green Construction -- Nic Darling, Chad Ludeman, and Courtney Ludeman, Postgreen

When
it comes to purchasing products and services, consumers are
increasingly making their decisions with the environment in mind. One
company that has capitalized on this growing consumer awareness is
Postgreen, a Philadelphia-based real-estate development company whose
mission is to build green homes that are affordable for the average
family. Founders Chad and Courtney Ludeman, and marketing director, Nic
Darling, are working on a line of LEED-certified homes that will sell
for $100 a square foot -- a cost equal to a regular home without green
efficiencies. "We are making consumers look at houses differently,"
says Darling. "Instead of just a monthly payment, they are starting to
look at all the costs that go into owning a home, and we have a
distinct advantage in being much less expensive [to maintain] than a
normal house."

Graphic Design Services -- Sam Feuer, Mindsmack.com

The
way a company represents itself on the Web is becoming increasingly
important, and no one understands this mission better than Sam Feuer,
founder of Mindsmack.com, a full-service Web-design firm whose projects
include everything from iPhone application design to commercial
animation. From his home based in North Brunswick, N.J., Feuer manages
a staff of 44 along with a network of freelancers, some of whom work
globally. "The real key is doing the work at an elite level," Feuer
says. "It doesn't matter where my employees are -- I don't care if they
work from the moon -- as long as they get the job done and they are two
steps ahead of what the client is looking for."

Resume Writing -- Kathy Sweeney, The Write Resume

Given
the dismal job opportunities at many companies right now, job-seekers
are looking for any and every way to distinguish themselves from the
competition. Kathy Sweeney, founder and CEO of resume writing service
The Write Resume, is busy like never before, with revenue growth of 21
percent in the past year alone. Sweeney, who is recognized as one of
the foremost experts in the industry, has written resumes for people
all over the world, most of the time just from information that she has
gleaned from phone conversations with the client. "It's really about
relationship building and I believe you can do that without meeting
someone. If I can develop a bond with people then I know I'll be
successful in helping them."

Corporate Educational Services -- Joseph Pickett, Experts Briefings

Complying
with federal regulations is a tricky business, especially for companies
in the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries, where many will
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to send their employees
to required educational conferences. Joseph Pickett of Experts
Briefings has found a way around this big expense by offering companies
the same experts and packaged information through his teleconferencing
business. Pickett lines up the speakers for the teleconference and then
hosts it from his home computer, charging companies $400 a head.
Pickett purchased the company in early 2008 and has increased revenue
from $25,000 to $300,000 in less than a year. "My price for customers
and for most pharma companies is chump change, but for me working out
of my house, it's a lot of money."

Online Dating Site -- Markus Frind, PlentyofFish

A
new ecosystem of free software and low-cost Web services have made it
possible for Web start-ups with a little bit of traffic to bootstrap
their growth without raising tens of millions in venture capital. No
one has done this as effectively as Markus Frind, the founder of
PlentyofFish, an online dating site based in Vancouver, British
Columbia. Frind launched his company in 2003 by himself and with no
idea how to run a Web business. Five years later, PlentofFish is the
largest dating site in the United States, according to Hitwise, and the
company pulls in $10 million a year. You can read more about Frind, who
still works only a few hours a week, in Inc.'s January/February cover
story, The Money Comes Rolling In.

The virtual assistant is emerging as an important . . .

Published on December 14, 2009

by Lawrence Perry

LONDON, ENGLAND -- (NewsPR.us and OfficialWire) -- 12/14/09 --

Although the virtual assistant is a relatively new phenomenon, it is becoming a very important aspect of the business landscape.

Administrative tasks are repetitive tasks that form the bulk of what
need to get done in the work place. These tasks include setting of
appointments, typing documents, filing, answering phone calls and other
tasks. These tasks may be time-consuming but they are necessary to be
able to run a successful business. To ensure the success of a
business, a company must make sure that all tasks- big and small get
performed efficiently in the workplace.

Virtual assistants are workers that can do these tasks for your
business without reporting to your office. Because virtual assistants
provide these services for a good cost to the company they really help
companies achieve more in their business. This is why the virtual
assistant can be one of the important employees in your business.

Whether they work for your business only part-time or full-time, the
virtual assistant can really help your company in achieving its
business goals. You should consider the virtual assistant as nothing
different than your office worker that do tasks for your business so
that you can deliver products and services effectively to your clients.

Even if they are not physically present in the office, they form
part of your workforce and definitely form part of your business' back
bone. An efficient virtual assistant with good skills can help you
achieve business success. They can help you fulfill your business's
full potential with nothing more than their fees as your investment.
Human resources matter a lot in business and hiring virtual assistants
can be the best way you can gain good work force without the need to
invest extensively on the workforce. The virtual assistants invest on
their own office space, equipment, training and development.

So you are essentially paying for the skills and gaining benefits
from the virtual assistant's skills without really investing on them.

If you want have new ideas for your business but do not have the
time, the energy and the manpower to implement them, a virtual
assistant can easily implement your news ideas for the business.

Visit our virtual personal assistant sponsor: www.catchfriday.com

Blogging with Dena Peters

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

How To Use Virtual Assistant Services To Develop A Business

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Home based Businesses You Can Start In Your Pajamas in 2009 | Inc.com‏