A WAHumorous World

...doesn't necessarily win.

Consider someone starting a [tag]home business[/tag]. Hopefully they have some plan, but usually not much. They think they need everything and so they go and buy everything. Hundreds or thousands of bucks later, they proclaim it all a scam and walk away.

Got a familiar ring to it for most of us...

We stuff our disk space or closet space to the bulging point with stuff that looked good or sounded cool or would do everything for us. But did you need it??

Almost nobody is still left in a home business after the first year because they're overwhelmed junk collectors. They've got what they might need, could need and maybe even should need, but darn little they really need.

I'll discuss the basics of online business another time. Here's the big secret formula for getting what you need to start any kind of home business: Examine, Research and Ask.

You could make an acronym of that, but please don't tell me.

Examine: What will you use regularly? What devices, equipment or software are necessary for day-to-day operations? What must you have to handle your business as it is NOW?? Later is great, but you're not there yet.

Research: I call this the four letter word with four extra letters. It tends to be something only a hard-core geekasaurus could love.

But, ya gotta because ya gotta know all you can or else your money's going in the can. Check out the company - customer service, tech support, spare parts availability - everything they can do for you. It sure beats finding out later after your money is spent that their customer service department is located in a country where no one speaks your language.

Next, the products or services - quality, dependability, functions, options - know everything their stuff can do for you too. If you can't find your answer, ask them directly. That'll also show how receptive they are to their customers.

Satisfied with all your research? Good!

Now Ask: Go to the places where real live users and owners of the stuff you're considering gather. It might be a coffee shop, a business association, online forums or goodness knows where else. Ask open ended questions (no yes or no answers possible) in all the places of all the people you can stand. Listen to them...you might be one of them soon.

Looking good is for fashion models and sounding good is for recording artists. Take the time to ensure that your purchase-to-be is good for you.