With the financial pressures everyone seems to be facing, it should come as no surprise that the Home Based Business arena is growing at a tremendous pace. It would easy to just assume that the increase in the number of people looking to start their own business is simply a result of the tough economic times everyone is facing. I happen to think, however, that there is something else at work here.The Internet is changing the way consumers conduct business and is the primary source of information for many people. Think about how you use the Internet and you will begin to realize how buying habits are changing. If you are typical of many consumers you begin by doing research on the product that you want to buy. More and more that research is done on the Internet rather than a book store or magazine. The next step is to search for the best price and, again, many times this involves a search on the Internet. Once a decision is made the purchase is completed. It is true that a typical brick and mortar retail operation might be the place of purchase. However, the Internet is gaining a larger market share every day. The traditional retailers are not happy about this and are quickly adapting to this trend by having a website for their consumer to make purchases from if that is their desire.So, how does this impact the Home Based Business owner? The growth of the Internet has revitalized this growing segment of our economy. A whole cottage industry has arisen with Home Based entrepreneurs becoming active with online stores with very affordable startup costs. There are some who make six figure incomes selling solely on E-Bay. This is not only phenomenal but word is spreading rapidly that a nice income stream can be created with a very low investment. This market has created another industry with businesses springing up offering automated income systems. Almost anyone can have a website up and running in a few hours. As with anything of this nature, be extremely careful about false promises of incredible wealth overnight. That almost never happens. It is very unfortunate that once a viable business opportunity is created there needs to be a constant effort to sort through the hype and separate fact from fiction.Just as with any other business category, new businesses on the Internet have an alarming rate of failure. You cannot create a website and sit back to wait for the money to pour in. If, however, the opportunity that you are evaluating seems to have a proven system of attracting visitors and does a good job of presenting the products or opportunity, it might be worth investigating. Just as Mail Order created a whole new group of Home Based entrepreneurs, the Internet and online marketing is already doing the same thing. It has made ownership of a Home Based Business a realistic possibility and has become a possible source of part or full time income for a new generation. The Internet has leveled the playing field for the small business owner.How do you enter into this exciting new world of opportunity? Just as with anything else, you start by gathering information from as many sources as possible. Keep notes and sort through what you like and dislike about what you find. You will start to create a very clear idea of the type of business you might want to create. There are many website owners who make information without creating a single product. They offer useful information and collect information from advertising and referral fees. The possibilities are nearly endless and the rewards can be impressive. Start exploring this opportunity today!

With the United States unemployment rate hovering just below ten percent and very few if any signs that the economy is or will ever improve, many present and future employers are very reluctant to hire new personnel. This reluctance only makes things worse than they are. People are scrambling for jobs that are not there and if there are openings, competition is fierce. This is why it’s time to get smart and start your own home based business.Take a look around you. Besides the grocery stores, do you see crowds at the mall or at department stores? The correct answer to that would be no. most of the stores in your city malls have relocated or mare than likely closed up completely. This sign should be telling you something. It’s telling you that people are shopping more and more online for their products and services than ever before. The world is becoming click and order consumers.Many of the mom and pop stores that the baby boomer generation grew up with have closed down. These stores were known as brick and mortar businesses and they are becoming a thing of the past. There are still some of these businesses out there due to the fact that the population still needs them. Have you ever stopped and wondered what happened to the owners and employees of those past businesses? Some may have moved on to a similar job that they may hope to keep until they reach retirement, others started their own business.With this sad but true situation of businesses not hiring or closing down, 79 million people this year will consider starting their own business. Seventy five percent of those will be in the home based industry. These newly formed entrepreneurs will be faced with some tough challenges in their new found venture and only 10 percent of them will become successful and 3 percent will be considered top earners.Don’t be discouraged by these facts. There is no better time than right now to start your own home based business. You might want to avoid businesses that are selling products such as lotions, potions and pills as there is very high competition in this area. The other bad thing about these types of home business opportunities is the high volume of product that you would have to sell in order to make some serious income. Your best bet is to find an opportunity that specializes in one area of expertise. This company must also have a high demand and sought after product. This product should offer awesome content and quality to the user. Along with being in demand, it must have high profits for the seller or distributor. Some of the top companies today are dealing in wealth management products that offer a great business opportunity with unlimited potential and the education on how to manage, grow and keep your money safe. These companies are looked at by millions of prospects each day and they are really only looking for the biggest thinkers and serious individuals that are willing to take massive action and change their lifestyle.Now is the time for the world to get smart and wake up. The opportunity for starting a home based business in the world has never been better. The old days of owning or renting a store front business where people walked in to purchase items is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Home based business opportunities are just that. They are your opportunity to discover and develop your niche in the world and change your lifestyle to the one that you want and deserve.

Building a successful home based business is simple, but not easy. When you work from home, it’s easy to get too comfortable and get distracted. Staying focused and consistent is important in building your business but can be hard to do when working at home. However, there are a few things you can do to help with this.A Few Tips On How To Build A Successful Home Based Business In 2011The first thing you need to do when working from home is to separate your home life from your business life. This is hard to do for a lot of people but it’s absolutely necessary for your success. Set yourself up somewhere in your house where you can have piece and quiet, and where you have no distractions. When it’s time to work, let your family know that you are not to be bothered. It’s too hard to try and build a home business when you have constant interruptions.You also want to make sure you set your work hours every day, and more importantly stick to them. I get up every single morning at 4:00 a.m. (I know, that’s early!). I work my business every morning from 5-9 a.m. and then I’m done for the day. Now you don’t have to get up early or do the same thing but for me, my family is still asleep so that’s a good time for me to be productive and get my work done. Just make sure when you set your hours that you stick to them no matter what time of day. Staying consistent and on a schedule is really going to help you stay organized and be productive.Lastly, focus on the tasks that are going to make you money. During your work time every day, do the things that are going to grow your business and generate income for you. Usually this is going to be marketing and driving traffic to your website, and returning emails, etc… Don’t spend time on designing your site or your blog, or surfing around on the Internet.Stay focused for those few hours and be productive. I call this my daily IPA’s. Income Producing Activities. For me, it’s article marketing, Ezine advertising, and one or two more tactics. I shut off my phone, minus my email account and just work. Like I said, building a successful home based business is simple, but not easy. Keep these 3 tips in mind and you should be ok.

It was 3:00 AM. The bills were late, creditors were starting to call on a regular basis, and Cynthia was struggling to hold back tears as she realized there was not enough in the bank to pay her bills.

How had this happened? She swore this would never happen to her. Yet, the numbers didn’t lie. She was on the verge of a financial collapse.

In the midst of her tears, she considered her options. She went online and read about an MLM home based business. As she learned more, hope started to return. She heard story after story of people who were where she was only a few years ago. Today, they have more money than they ever dreamed.

The same future was promised to her if she joined now. Feeling she had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, she whipped out her one remaining credit card and signed up.

Her excitement peeked when her supplies arrived, but that is also where things started to change.

She went to two of her friends and did everything she could to sell them on her MLM home based business. She talked and talked and talked. After 45 minutes of non-stop yapping, they both said they thought she was stupid for even trying.

Discouraged, she talked to only a few other people she knew with little success. Within two weeks of getting started, she was not any better financially and she had no one else on her list to talk to.

Several weeks went by where Cynthia did nothing. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she had no one to talk to. As time continued to go by, she began to feel like she had been scammed. After all, she had been promised a life of financial abundance. Instead, all she had was more debt.

Unable to bear it any longer, she quit her MLM home based business and gave up on her dreams.

A number of months went by. Cynthia’s finances were falling apart. Most of her accounts were in collections, threats of legal action were now a part of daily life, and she knew that soon she would have no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

Her stress could be seen on her face by almost everyone who saw her. Most tried to politely look away. However, one day, a man named Mark did not. “What’s wrong,” Mark asked.

“I have more bills to pay then money coming in. Soon I’ll be bankrupt and there’s nothing I can do about it,” Cynthia said. After that, she started going into details in an attempt to justify her situation.

Mark stopped her and asked, “Have you considered an MLM home based business?”

“No one ever makes any money in those,” said Cynthia.

“Who told you that?”

“Do you know of anyone who has made money in an MLM home based business?”

“Well, yea.”

“Who?”

“Me. A few years ago I was in the same place you are. Today I make more money than I ever dreamed and I get paid even if I don’t work.”

“How can that be? I actually tried an MLM home based business and lost every dime I invested. How is it you made money where I failed?”

How many people did you talk to?”

“Well, everyone I know I think. I guess it was about 15 people.”

“15 people? That’s it? I know why it didn’t work for you. You need to talk to a lot more than 15 people.”

“But I don’t know any more people than that. What else can I do?”

“Look, there are 300 million people in America. You talked to 15. Do you think that some of the other 299,999,985 people might have an interest?”

“Well, I guess, but what am I supposed to do? I’m not going to stand on the street corner and beg people to look at my business. That will turn people off who might actually be interested.”

“Advertise.”

“Advertise? Isn’t it expensive to run TV commercials and radio ads?”

“Yes, but that’s not the only way to do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let me ask you, how did you find out about the MLM home based business that you joined?”

“I went on the internet and did a search.”

“Exactly! What if all the people who did a search, like you did, found you? Do you think that could change your results?”

“Well, yes, but don’t you need a lot of money to make that happen?”

“I didn’t. Look, I was right where you are now. My finances were coming apart and I had already failed at multiple MLM home bases businesses. I swore I would never do another one when I met someone who told me about internet marketing.

“He mentored me and taught me everything I needed to know to market on the internet. All the things I learned cost me no money, were very effective, and could be done from the comfort of my home. Therefore, no running around town putting out flyers at $4 per gallon for fuel.

“Suddenly I found myself having people contacting me wanting to learn more and start an MLM home based business with me. It changed everything for my business and my life in general. I now get to spend all day with my family,” said Mark.

“So you’re saying that if I learn how to market on the internet, I can have people all over the country calling me? People who want to go into business with me?”

“That’s right.”

“How can I learn how to do this?”

“Well, if you’re willing to dream again, I’ll be more than happy to teach you everything I know about marketing an MLM home based business on the internet.”

That was the day Cynthia’s life changed. Within a few months, she had people calling her left and right wanting to join her in her MLM home based business. She found that so many were calling, she could not help but have success.

As the money rolled in, her life improved. Not only did she get her bills caught up, most were paid off in under a year. She was able to take her dream vacation to Europe. All of this happened not because she started an MLM home based business, but because she learned how to market an MLM home based business on the internet.

Business owners are hard-working and dedicated. They put in probably sixty plus hours a week. It is natural that they want to get paid for their time that they pour into their small business. Unfortunately, if it is a new start-up company, it probably isn’t making enough income yet to see a payday. If the business has been in operation for a while though, the bank balance might be increasing each month as profits start to accumulate.

So, how do business owners get paid? Are they considered employees?

Well, the answer to the question above is – it depends. Clear as mud, right?

It all depends on how the small business is legally setup and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. Most businesses that are relatively new are small enough that they are operating as sole proprietors or as a partner in a partnership. That means that they haven’t incorporated under state law.

There is good and bad news when a small business is operating as a sole proprietor or a partner:

The good news is that payday for the business owner can be any day they feel like paying themselves as long as there is enough money in the bank. They just simply write themselves a check. They aren’t considered an “employee”, because they are a “one-man-show” running the business. The Internal Revenue Service sees the owner and the small business as one entity.

The bad news is that they are not recognized as an employee and no federal taxes are being withheld from their pay. So when April 15th comes around and it is time to file the income tax return, the owner may owe quite a bit of self-employment tax on the profits of the business. That is why owners should pay quarterly self-employment taxes throughout the year if they think they are going to owe at least $400 or more in tax.
If the small business is recognized as a corporation or S corporation, it needs to set the owner up as an employee of the company and pay them a set salary or wage that is similar to what other organizations pay a person with the same skills. Payroll taxes will be withheld from the owner’s pay just like any other employee.

As an S corporation, the owner can also make draws or distributions if the business is making a profit, but no tax is withheld from these payments and it is best to talk with a tax advisor before doing so. There are limitations as to the amounts that can be taken out of the business account in this manner.

Hopefully this has answered the question of “How do I pay myself?” It can be tricky determining what the rules are regarding paying the owner of a small business. Consulting with a Certified Public Accountant is always a wise decision when setting up procedures for the organization.