HOW TO CARRY A FEASIBILITY STUDY

Feasibility report shows the suitability of a project in both physical and economic terms. In other term it shows if a project is worth undertaken. This report should be unbiased and must adopt a logical approach.

STAGES OF FEASIBILITY STUDY
Feasibility study involves important stages which must be observed in order for an entrepreneur to be successful in his or her chosen line of business. Observing these stages properly ensures that the entrepreneur is on the right track in his business plans and actions.

1. Development of idea: this is the stage where the project/business idea is formed. It involves a lot of thinking by using the principle of organized thinking. Business idea can be generated from any source; friends, family members, you, or through formal sources. The idea need to be conceptualized and the final product must be visualized through the power of imagination. The features of the product regarding the size, color, quality, the target market, weight and others; should be properly thought of.

2. Finding of useful information: when I say information moves the world you have to agree with me because whatever any man does without information; is like taking a journey with your eyes closed and you may end up falling into a hole. At this stage, you need to source for every useful information you can lay your hands on like identifying alternative products, sourcing for data relating to your products, information analysis on the market environment and so on. You need to find information regarding the business location, regulatory laws regarding your product, economics aspect of the product and social conditions. Have you wondered the reason why some companies will volunteer to pay you in order that you fill their survey form? It is because information is very important and they are willing to pay for it. You can get information through observation, business survey/questionnaire, library research, records and publications.

3. The technical stage: after sourcing for data and information, you need to make use of it by making analysis regarding the project. This is a stage that reveals that the product may be worthwhile or not. These technical analyses ranges from financial analysis, economic analysis and social analysis; they helps to speak on the viability of the product. Financial analysis makes use of these methods in ascertaining the feasibility of a business project: pay-back period, net present value, annual rate of return, profitability index and so on. The economic analysis makes use of break-even technique, economic order qualities and linear programming techniques. When we talk about social analysis, we should think of social cost-benefit analysis.

4. Filing a project report stage: this is the next stage after making analysis and have seen that the product is worthwhile. In a big corporation where there are board members, the report will be taking to the board for an approval. An entrepreneur should make a report of his findings from stage 3 above and may consult other professional bodies (like a consulting firm) or associates for critical analysis of the report and its approval.

5. The execution and control stage: this is the last stage and it involves the implementation of the plan with exertion of control. You can't talk of execution in this stage without mentioning of control because control gives efficiency to the attainment of the stated objective/aim/goal.

HOME BASED BUSINESS

Working from home is a very nice way to earn the extra income, and gives the benefit to the person working. You can start a home-based business if you have some extra time in hand. Especially for housewives; it's really a trend now to do business from home. When kids come back from school and all your household chores get finished you are free. Then why not think of earning some extra money? Time management is the key to success for your online business.

Obviously everybody wants to work with full comfort and luxury. Consequently, Home Based Business is the best option. Let us discuss first what exactly this business is? It's actually any paid job that you can do on Internet, such as selling a product or any service other services. You have to attract customers to your website so that they can buy your product or services.

There are so many companies online that offer to join them and do business with their support. These companies help you in each and every activity related to your business. Whether it is marketing, getting traffic on to your website, payment collection, or something else.

On Internet, many options are available for business. Like Affiliate Programs, in which you can become an Affiliate of a company or website. You have to sell their product and earn commission. The more you promote the product the more you increase sales, and become a successful affiliate.

Another option is to work as a freelancer. You can join any site that gives you projects and you can do these projects within time limit and get paid. You can write articles, blogs, data entry, etc...

One more option is to sell your own product. Many companies provide the option of listing your product in many directories, and when a customer wants to purchase they can directly go to your website by finding the product from the directory.

All these methods of doing online business seem very easy and lucrative, but in reality, it's a bit confusing. Don't take me wrong. I am saying this because of my experience. I had also faced many hardships initially. In first stages it was difficult because we were not able to find the right business for the right company. But a little research on this topic can be very helpful. If you can do deep findings about the business then go for it as its very beneficial. Maybe you can find what nobody found till now.

In future, many problems can come in your way while doing business. But if you are fully ware of the policies and regulations of the company then you will be the lucky enough to solve the problems. If you can find a reliable company then trust me, your business would flourish.

THREE METHODS TO EARN PASSIVE INCOME FROM HOME

Everyone is looking for a way to create a cash flow without expending a great deal of effort. That is what passive income is. There are actually several ways you can earn passive income from home. The Internet offers an easier way to make this happen than money making opportunities that exist off line. It isn't necessary to work 60 hours a week to add extra income to your financial picture if you have a source of passive income.

Passive income is a cash stream that comes in without you being directly involved in the process. To make a great deal of money online most people rely on multiple businesses. There is no way that you will have enough hours in a week to be actively involved in every one of them. This is where methods that allow you to earn passive income from home gains even greater importance.

It's a little bit like a magic money line because all you have to do is start it up and cash appears. Just like anything else one can get into to make money you will have to put forth some effort to get the ball rolling. These are the different methods used to earn passive income from home:

1. Residual Income: This comes from things like memberships that are renewed monthly or annually by people who joined through a connection to you. It can also be found in reorders of products with some online merchants.

2. Leveraged Income: An example of this type of passive income would be that you write an ebook and enlist a bunch of affiliate marketers to sell it for you. Or you could start a business and franchise it to other new entrepreneurs.

3. Active Leveraged Income: Now this method does require you to be actively involved. If you are promoting something like a musical event or a conference that will make more money for every person who attends. It could be something like a live streaming concert that everyone who receives the password to attend online pays $20 for the privilege.

The possibilities for you to earn passive income from home online are huge. The above examples are only the tip of the iceberg and you would do well to research this topic in depth. From there you'll find so many ideas about how you to can open up a cash flow without working hard.

HOME BUSINESS SUCCESFUL TIPS

BE SERIOUS: If you want to know one of the secrets to home business success, here's one of them: get serious. I mean it. Sure, there are some people who live a jovial, care-free life and are successful. But generally, the people who bring in the dough are the ones who are serious about what they are doing.

SET YOUR BUSINESS PLAN: One of the first things you will want to do is to create a strategy or a business plan. If you work without one, trust me, you'll be lucky if you ever make any money online. As the saying goes, a fool and his money are fortunate to be together. So start planning. Don't blindly believe in your plan. Research others on the web who have undertaken similar business models and see if they have survived. Study your competitors in depth to learn what is working for them and what did not work for them. To better understand what has or has not worked for competitor websites, check out their time lapsed progressions using the Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org.Once you have determined your money plan, then you should undertake the development of a business plan and a marketing plan. Utilize professional assistance if you need to do so.

DO YOUR RESEARCH: The big question is how to find a reliable company? It's really one of the most difficult issues. There are so many related companies available these days that it has become a quite complex task to find the appropriate one. Sometimes it becomes so difficult to choose that you feel like giving it up. So if you have the capability to cope with this situation, you'd certainly succeed.

No need to panic. With little efforts you can make your search easy. First of all, it is really necessary to know everything about the company and their website. You have to understand the difference between the real and fake ones. All this takes time but it needs a lot of patience. Don't be impulsive and quick in your decision. It can lead you in trouble. I am saying all this because I had also experienced the same situation. Now I don't want anybody to get stuck like this. Always check and test the company before joining it.

In any offline business, we first check all the benefits we can get from it. You are not supposed to get along with the business until you are fully aware of its cons and pros.

SOME BUSINESS YOU CAN GET INTO: What business should you get in? Seriously, almost all of them work. Selling on eBay works. Selling information products works. Freelancing works. You've just got to focus on one business model in the beginning, and make it profitable first.

These are few pros and cons of working from home. If you decided that the idea of working from home is for you, here are 3 popular methods you can start with.

• Freelancing - If you have any skills that you pick up from your job, you can utilize that and freelance on home. Most of the freelancing jobs available online are administrative jobs.

• Blogging for money - If you think you have the skills and charm, you can definitely try to blog for money. This is a popular work from home idea and also great for some side income. You can check out my articles here on how to blog for money.

• Affiliate marketing - Start your own affiliate marketing business. Promote someone else's product and get paid a commission for every sales you refer them. A highly recommended work from home idea for aspiring entrepreneurs.

BUILD AN OPT-IN LIST: If all else fails, remember this: build a list. Yes, you have probably read and heard a thousand times over that money is to be had when you have an opt-in list. You may or may not have done anything about it. But if you still don't know where to begin, then you can do a lot worse than building your own list.

GIVE FREEBIES: Create a free email newsletter or create a free PDF report. It's not difficult. The information is out there all over the Internet. Get an auto responder account. Create a simple squeeze page. Drive traffic to that squeeze page and start getting some subscribers into your auto responder account. Then promote back-end offers such as affiliate products to them.

This is the simple formula for making money from your home business. Stop thinking, and start doing!

HOW TO FINANCE YOUR BUSINESS

The major activities of a business enterprise is production and marketing which needs financing. There are entrepreneurs with great ideas but having the problem of access to fund to finance it. Everything resolves around money, therefore the issue of finance can not be neglected in the world of entrepreneurs.

Question remains, how can i source my business funds to finance my business ideas? There are two main sources of business finance, the choice depends on the entrepreneur's purpose of finance, type of needed (short-term finance, medium or long-term finance) and who will provide the finance. Finance can be sourced under two major sources: internal sources and external sources

INTERNAL FINANCING
This is a way of sourcing for a business finance from the funds of the entrepreneur himself or his already existing business. That is from your personal savings, relying on the past profit made by your business or from an inherited fund.

• Financing business through your savings: saving is a habit of setting aside some percentage of an individual income for future needs. This can be done by opening a savings account in a bank or through opening a capital contribution account in non-banking institutions like insurance company with a target of building the money to a certain level at a chosen time period before it will be invested.
• Financing business with the past business profit: this type of financing can also be called re-investment. The profit made in the business is invested back into the business.
• Financing with an inherited fund: people who use this type of financing are very few in number because not everyone is opportune to have their loved ones leave something behind for them. This type of funding is from a free source being that the individual may not work for it but feeding on another person's hard work passed to him/her.

EXTERNAL FINANCING
This is a type of finance received by going somewhere to borrow your business fund. These means can be:

• Borrowing from friends and relations: this type of business finance is mostly informal in nature whereby the entrepreneur sources his finance from his close pals. This means of raising fund is not effective due to its informal nature. The lenders in this category at times, withdraw from lending with fear of not being paid back in the future which can cause friction in the relationship.
  
• Borrowing through the banking institutions: this is another means of finance a business idea by sourcing for a fund through commercial bank. This form of loan is usually a short term whereby some percentage will be charged as interest. Interest is a cost paid by a borrower to the lender on the capital he borrowed. When contracting for any loan, the entrepreneur should endeavor to check for the terms and conditions of the credit even the stipulated interest should be considered (whether higher or lower) before applying for the loan. To avoid falling into a debt problem, an entrepreneur should ensure he work out a proper achievable business plans on how to utilize the fund (a budget) in order to be able to pay back the fund and the interest at the stipulated time. Again, you can make use of overdraft. Overdrafts are kind of lending by banks to their customers, which involves their customers withdrawing an amount which is in excess of the sum standing to the credit of their account with an interest to be paid later.
• Through customers or clients by issuing them a trade credit. This involves the act of selling goods on credit to credit worthy customers. An entrepreneur who has a running business and in need of a short-term finance can arrange for a credit by placing an order with one of his suppliers. If the supplier is satisfied with the conditions of the credit, the goods will be sent and payment will later be made. Here the seller may offer a form of discount to the buyer.
  
• Borrowing through non-banking institutions: there are other financial institutions apart from commercial banks who engage in credit lending services like insurance companies, mortgage houses, leasing companies and so on. You can also obtain a mortgage loan which make s use of housing structure as a collateral for sourcing a long term fund. The long term nature of this type of financing makes it easier for the borrower to pay back his loan in installment with less burden but he is at the risk of loosing his house if loan is not paid.
  
• Through other long-term sources which includes equity capital, loan and debentures stock and preference capital. This is mostly used by entrepreneurs in big enterprises.

HOW TO SOURCE FOR WORKABLE BUSINESS IDEAS

When an entrepreneur identifies a business opportunity which he want to exploit, he then need business ideas that will help him reach his targets or set of goals. Business ideas can be sourced under two main sources: internal source and external source. Workable ideas are good ideas that are feasible and can help to achieve the target at hand and also to achieve the major business goal.

• USE OF CREATIVE IMAGINATION: this falls under an internal source which needs the use of mind power by engaging in productive thinking which results to answers to the supposed question. These answers generated from the mind can be the idea for your business after reviewing them.
• DISCUSSIONS: one can generate a business idea by engaging in one-on-one or group discussions with members of his/her social network, business owner or the management, workers, family members, friends and close associates. These discussion can be formal or in informal in nature.
• CUSTOMER SURVEY: this is also one of the good means entrepreneurs generate workable ideas for their business by seeking the opinions of their customers, clients even to the general public. It can be done by issuing a survey form to their customers or even members of the public to generate statistical data that will serve as a base for decision making. When using this method, an entrepreneur should endeavor to give space in the form for other contributions or areas of interest that are not included in the form in case if there is any.
• THROUGH RESEARCH: this is an external source of business ideas. Information moves the world and is necessary for an entrepreneur to engage in research time to time to be able to update his knowledge and to gain insight and uncover more business ideas. Your research can be made online through search engines or e-zines or offline through the use of research institutions, magazines, newspapers and other publications.
• USE OF CONSULTING FIRMS: there are business firms with professionals in business fields whose job is to help other businesses grow or reach their goals. They are consulting firms who offer advice and business ideas to their clients. They make a lot of research across different sectors to be able to provide information needed when their services are requested. You can check on them for workable business ideas.
• REVIEWING COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS: an entrepreneur should not look down on any suggestions coming form his workers without first evaluating them. It is a good business practice to listen to the complaints of their customers or clients as this will help give them ideas for a better performance in their business.
  

HOW TO DISCOVER BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Are you interested in doing something to earn a living but don't know what to do? You are welcome to this great resource on how to discover business opportunities. I have a friend who actually have a hundred thousand bucks but so confused on what to do with the money. It amazes me to see people not knowing what to do when there are countless of opportunities out there waiting to be exploited. What generate business opportunities is our environment and its changes. This is why it is necessary for us to update ourselves with information as this reveals the changes in our environment and gives us the entrepreneurs the chance to make business exploits.

FACTORS THAT HELP YOU TO DETERMINE GOOD BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

1. Market vacuum: look around you environment properly and you will discover that there are people's need which are not met. This is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to capitalize on and make a living. Like in Nigeria, there are no companies manufacturing some capital goods like washing machine, tractors but people really need them. Some entrepreneurs went to import these goods from the West down to this country.
2. Existence of poor quality product: when there are poor services or products in an industry, it is an opportunity waiting to be tapped. Go ahead and provide a better quality product or service and you will enjoy what you do. Example can be drawn in the poor and slow services that were offered in the postal services which created an opportunity for fast delivery services from companies like DHL.
   
3. Overpriced product: when a product or service is overpriced in an industry, it creates a room for opportunities provided that you can offer the same quality of service at a cost effective lower price. Like in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria, high charges of MTN have given an opportunity for other telecommunication company to come in promising to give a better service at a lower price.
4. Monopoly: this is a market where a single producer produces/supplies a product or service for the entire market. There are some monopolies that are legally backed up by the law. In a situation whereby there are no laws protecting the monopoly; this is a good factor pointing at a good business opportunities.
5. More demand over supply: any market where the demand for a product or service is much higher than the supply of the same product is a business opportunity staring at you in the face.
6. New and improved technology: when there is a discovery on new or improved way of doing things, it can be an indicator to good business opportunities. Use of computer and internet is a change in technology making it easy to connect the world and so many has identified the opportunity of selling themselves to the entire world.
7. Alternative raw material: discovering of an alternative to an existing raw material is an opportunity for business men and women to tap from. People are now hammering on the use of solar energy to drive car instead of petrol. How about the solar-powered generator or have you not heard about that?