Many successful businesses have closed down due to the attitudes and habits of their owners. These owners create barriers between them and the customers by adopting a negative attitude and ultimately drive the customers away. In order to run the best home based business, you must develop a positive attitude. You must know that winners never quit and quitters never win.Your attitude dictates your decisions and actions. You have a choice each day to choose your attitude and you alone are responsible for it. You cannot blame fate or destiny for whatever happens in your business.Take responsibility for how you feelBe objective and evaluate yourself in order to make your business the best home based business.Every change that you wish to make in your life must first begin with a personal, honest, evaluation of where you are in life. I know it is not an easy thing to do. Attitude issues often center around people. Let’s begin by talking about you – How do you feel about yourself? Do you have any negative thoughts?Try to identify the factors that prevent you from having a positive attitude. If you want to have the best home based business, then a change in your attitude is definitely necessary. You need to take full control of your attitude and subsequently your actions.Give customers priorityInstead of putting your needs first, you need to find out what your customers wants. Your business is not about exhibiting your power or ego. Customers come to you because you are fulfilling their need.Learn to say “No” Your ability to say “no” is vital to your success in business. However many business owners find it very difficult to say no to their clients, suppliers or business partners.If you want to protect the interests of your business, you need to say no to certain things. If you have a ‘no credit’ policy then you have to be firm and steadfast in saying no to your clients. You must not give in to customer’s demands for free samples, free installation or free service if it hurts your business.Be flexibleIn a home based business being rigid and inflexible can soon lead to bankruptcy. You can never run a business according to your will and wish alone. It can survive only if you listen to customers’ suggestions.Many entrepreneurs do not listen to customer’s needs and wants. They consider listening to customers as a nuisance. Soon these customers will flock to another accommodating home business owner who is open to their views and suggestions.In order to have the best home based business, you need to have a positive and aggressive attitude and be flexible towards your client needs and wants.
Qualities You Need to Have a Home Based Business
Having a home based business has the potential to be a wonderful opportunity if you possess or learn the following attributes. It is best if you analyze yourself and face up to your individual circumstances and what your unique situation may be. You have the highest potential to succeed if you possess or learn the following attributes.1) You have to be bold enough to let your client’s know you will be working from your home. Most often because of the nature of your business they infer or know. If not, they need to know up front. Before they hire you, they can voice concerns and you can discuss them or better yet, they may have the kind of personality that does not mind working around the situations that may present themselves with your situation. This may be the very case, the more unique your skills and the more demand for your skills.2) You need to have the personality that can focus and stay on the task for your work, even if things are not perfect in the kitchen or the rest of your home. You need to commit to putting in the hours that it takes to make your home-based business work and work other tasks in after business hours. If you are easily distracted, this has the potential to cause problems and interfere with your success.3) You have to know when to go to Plan B. If you thought you could work with the children in your home and that is not working, the sooner you acknowledge it and do something about it, the better it will be for your business. You may need to have the children in child care for 4 hours a day, if that is what it takes to make things work.4) You have to set business hours that fit for you and stay with that commitment. If things easily “get in the way” you will end up not making a successful go of it. The working hours you have set need to be seriously “written in concrete” to allow your business to survive. Sure, there will be happenings with the children that require your time, but if it occurs frequently, things will not work out successfully for a home-based business.5) You have to use your time wisely. Most likely, the motivating force behind your decision to have a home-based business is to have more time with your children and family. When you are working during the business hours you have set, it is important you make the time work for you. Analyze your demands and work as efficiently as possible. Learn to do things more efficiently as you see what works and doesn’t work with your home – based business. Utilize all the resources around you and involve older children in those tasks that meet their maturity level. All will work for good.6) You have to stick to your goals. In the beginning, you will certainly have frustrations until you work out all the wrinkles. Remember the reason you wanted a home – based business, the clients that made it possible, and all the other goals you’re working on that have brought you to this point.This is a great opportunity! If you keep working at it and possess a positive attitude and tweak those things you need to make it all work out, your efforts will be crowned with success!
Five Tips for Selling at Live Auctions
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.