Released on: March 11, 2008, 11:42 pm

Press Release Author: prakash sharma

Industry: Education

Press Release Summary: In the first part of this series of articles, on managing
your online business at home, I wrote about the many management responsibilities and
functions you have rolled into one if you have your own sole proprietor business,
with no staff. Your management task is perhaps the most difficult of all.

Press Release Body: In the first part of this series of articles, on managing your
online business at home, I wrote about the many management responsibilities and
functions you have rolled into one if you have your own sole proprietor business,
with no staff. Your management task is perhaps the most difficult of all. You have
to manage yourself, in all those different areas of your business such as finance,
marketing, purchasing and computing.

I believe that if you think of your new home business as having different areas of
management for you to concentrate on, you are more likely to succeed long term. If
you can adopt some of the techniques of good management, you will end up with a more
sound business that will stand the test of time. You will be a better decision
maker, and it is decisions that dictate the progress or downfall of any business.
Decision making needs to be unemotional and as scientific as possible, but as much
as anything needs to be based on common sense. Good management is often a matter of
common sense, and that is why I believe you, whatever your background, can run a
successful business limited only by your ambitions.

The other virtue you will need in abundance is patience, and this an area where you
definitely need to manage yourself. Impatience brings emotion into your decision
making. It also brings self criticism, or criticism of others, when none is either
deserved or necessary. Patience, realism and common sense combined will contribute
greatly to making you a good business manager. With those three attributes, you will
be well placed to learn the skills of management in the context of your own small
business. You will be able to learn how the different functions of a business relate
to each other and interact.

That is not easy, but over time, if you apply yourself, it will all fall into place.
This is where patience is vital. Your age or background do not necessarily matter. I
know that in my late 20's I did not really understand business and how it all fitted
together. At 30, I knew I needed some sort of professional qualification, and I
decided on management accountancy. The syllabus was tough, with 18 exams over 2 and
a half to 5 years. What surprised me was the variety of subjects to cover. There
were exams in company law, business law, economics, corporate planning, marketing,
production, decision making, cost accounting, management accounting, mathematics and
statistics. Each subject was very different. Then, at the end, I suddenly realized
that all of them knitted together. The ones I hated (law) and loved (marketing) all
had a place in the scheme of things.

You, of course, have no need to study or be an expert in all of those things. But it
does help to at least be aware that some of them are, in their own way, critical to
your success. If you are taking a long term view of things, which you should be if
you are serious about having your own home business, you have plenty of time to
learn about those subjects that are most critical for your business:

Finance

Whatever your business, this is a very critical function for you to understand and
manage, so when it comes to learning all you can, financial management is a
priority. Much of this is again common sense, and realism, and there are many tools
around to help you keep good financial records. But as I mentioned before, it is
decisions that dictate the progress or downfall of any business. All decisions you
make will have a financial impact on your business. However, good financial records
alone will not bring the reward of better decision making. If you want to maximize
the profits of your home business, you may find it helps to have other,
non-financial records to aid your decisions. I will discuss this more in part 3 of
this series of articles.

Marketing

Marketing is what I love most about business, and it is equally important to finance
in all free enterprises. With an online business, the marketing side is an ever
moving area of expertise. Offline, marketing has long since stabilized. Online, it
has not stabilized at all; it is still developing and evolving. You need to be aware
of what's happening in the world of internet marketing, what has happened, and what
is likely to happen. Always remember, though, there will always be a financial
impact of your marketing decisions. You are obviously prepared to take risks, as you
have started or are starting an online business at home. As the manager of your
business you will need to balance the financial and marketing conflicts as they
arise. You have to strike the right balance. If the finance director in you is too
risk averse, you may stifle the growth of your business. If the marketing director
in you is too cavalier, and unrealistic about sales prospects, you may ruin your
business in one or two rash decisions. More on this in part 4.

Computing

If you are working online full time, or even part time, you will always need to be
looking out for developments in the arenas of software and the internet itself, and
maybe at times hardware. You may come across software that improves your efficiency,
makes life much easier or takes you into a new and better way of working. This is
another area where knowledge is power. You need to be competitive, and sometimes you
will come across new software that will make you more competitive. Try to keep
abreast of things in the software marketplace, as it affects your business.

Time Management

While not a function like finance or marketing, when you work at home alone you will
find that time management becomes key to your success and enjoyment of working from
home. It is a subject you should always be aware of and make conscious decisions
about. I will write more on this topic in part 5.

The above are just the key areas where you need to view your business from a
management viewpoint, and the list of course is not exhaustive. However, pay
attention to these from a manager's perspective, and you should benefit in the long
run. You will take the leap from being "employee" to "boss", even if you are the
only one you can be "boss" to.


Web Site: http://www.greateducationonline.com

Contact Details: nanak1040@gmail.com
,prakash sharma
,Chandigarh