1. Know Your Market.To succeed in your home based business start up, find out what your customers want and give it to them. Ensure there is a demand for your product or service by carrying out market research. Know who your target market is. For example, will you be selling to local people or small businesses.Tip: Have a dedicated space in your house for your business and keep it completely separate from your home and family life.2. Be Original and Different.There are a lot of boring companies and products out there. Use original thinking and novel ideas to leap ahead of the competition. You can be different in the way your product is delivered and packaged or add a feature that no one else offers.Tip: Do not try to be different by having a lower price. Add value to your product or service and charge accordingly.3. Pricing.Build in all of your business costs into the pricing of your product or service. That must include marketing and advertising costs, travelling to visit clients, your salary, professional fees and how many sales you hope to make for the effort you are making.Tip: The right price is what your customers are willing to pay and should not be based on your operating costs.4. Decide How Your Business Will Operate.What is your home based business start up going to do and what does it need to do in order to succeed. Do you need a production line, stock or storage space. Are you going to provide a service, if so what tools and equipment do you need.Tip: Try not to buy brand new. Borrow or use free promotions and 30 day trials.5. Selling.As an entrepreneur you will be wearing many different hats, salesperson being one of them. Decide on your method of selling: Is it going to be phone, online, direct or affiliates. Once your business is turning a profit, you should aim to spend at least 50% of your time selling.Tip: Do not take rejection personally. It is a part of business.6. Business Management.Know what is working and what is not working for your home based business start up. You must keep on top of taxation, insurance and accounting. How will you manage the work flow if the business does better or worse than expected. If the business takes off will you need more staff. If so, where will they come from and how will you train them.Tip: Cut out that part of your business which is not making money. Do not be emotional about it.7. Financial Planning.Always do a cash flow forecast to determine your home based business start up costs. Can you carry these start up costs until cash comes in. If not will you need funding. When forecasting do not assume or guess. Base your figures upon experience. Yours or somebody else’s.Tip: Cash is king. Keep an eye on cash flow and make sure your customers pay you on time. Do not give credit unless you absolutely have to.8. Funding.If you need to raise funding for your home based business start up, consider the following sources: Your own savings, credit cards, bank overdraft, venture capitalists, business angels (wealthy individuals) or banks. You may be able to obtain government cash or cash in kind, in the form of training or innovation from the government.Tip: borrowing from family and friends can be more trouble than its worth. Look at other alternatives first.9. Outsource.When you begin your home based business start up, you will be doing all the jobs yourself. But as soon as money starts coming in, start to delegate. This can be in the form of outsourcing the mundane tasks to others. For example, your charge out rate may be $35 per hour. Outsourcing a particular task may only cost you $20/hour.Tip: Think like the business owner, not the employee. Cut costs.10. Wealth Mindset.Having a wealth mindset involves having a burning desire to succeed, faith in yourself and the business and perseverance, amongst other things.Tip: You must acquire this vital quality or you will fail.

Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

Small business owners should prepare management accounts alongside financial accounts. Management accounts are important for tracking, recording and reporting financial information for management purposes. There are no set standards for preparing managerial accounts and any business can design their own style according to their operation and business needs. There are several benefits associated with these accounts. Not only can small business owners enjoy the benefits of creating a competitive advantage but can also leverage the way they do business in their markets.Reduce ExpensesManagement accounts can help a small business to lower its operating costs. The information from these accounts will help the business owner to review the economic resources and other business operations. It helps them to understand the cost of doing business in their current situation. They will know the costs of producing goods and services and find out if cheaper raw materials will affect the quality of the final products and how consumers will respond. This will help them to source for cheaper factors of production and reduce the cost of doing business.Improve Cash FlowManagement accounts involve a review of the budget in comparison with the actual expenditure. This is a good way for small businesses to understand their roadmap to the future. Management accounts will go through the company’s financial history and come up with a master budget for the entire business. The owners will then know when to spend money and which items are either necessary or unnecessary.Business DecisionManagement accounts also help the small business owner to make appropriate decisions based on financial facts. Without these accounts, many managers make decisions based on qualitative analysis – this can be dangerous in the long run. Management accounts provide quantitative analysis for several decision making opportunities. Small business managers will be able to have a clear understanding of the implications they expect when they make their business decisions.Increase Financial ReturnsSmall businesses can increase their financial returns using managerial accounts. This is because the accountant can prepare a financial forecast showing consumer trends, potential sales and the effects of pricing strategies in the economic marketplace. The small business owner will be in a better position to know the amount of products to produce in the current market prices in an anticipation to beat the competition in any future price changes.Determining Production QuantitiesA company’s intention is to produce more than one product or service using the same resources. For example, a baker will produce cookies and bread using the same resources. A good accounting firm will make use of the workers to perform both auditing and preparation of management accounts. This will help business owners to understand which products to produce most and which ones to reduce. This is a complex process that involves market demand analysis, capacity verifications, and costs of production and financial ratios that can be achieved through management accounts.How Far To Process ProductsSmall business owners are often unable to clearly tell whether to process a product further or sell it in whatever form. Some think it would be more profitable to add value to the product while others prefer to sell it raw. Management accounts will help a small business owner to understand how far a product or service should be processed to maximize profits. The accounts show what happens when factors of production are increased even by one unit.