Home Biz Mark Newel and Richard Perez A home business is an ideal way of keeping beans on your remote homestead table. However, a home business is more of a lifestyle choice than a meal ticket. It means being able to spend more time in your beautiful home, with your family. It allows you to use fewer resources and live a lower impact life. A home business eliminates the daily commute. In some some places, such as here at Agate Flat, a commute is not even a consideration. Not only is it long and tedious, but in the winter and spring it is near impossible. Commuting is also a dangerous place for you and your family to spend a lot of time. And who hasn't wanted to be their own boss. A home business will do these things for you. For those who want a self-sufficient lifestyle, a home business provides a solid economic base. There are many opportunities out there. We have come up with some suggestions for getting you started. Ingredients for a tasty Home Business The first place to start is with a product. Pick a product or service that you use. We have all had flashes of inspiration, ideas that we thought would be great. Dig through them and see what has real possibilities. Start with something that you know and find a way to do it better. Your ideal product is something that you believe in and gets you excited! (and keeps you there for more than a few months.) Find that hole that needs filling! Pick your product, not any product Start with one good, new, reliable product. It can lead to others but get one thing down well. Use your product. If you don't use it how can you convince others to? In general, you can sell goods or services. For goods you can be an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), a distributor, a dealer or any combination of the above. Why are there all these distributors and dealers? If you're a lightbulb manufacturer, you probably don't have the time to sell each individual bulb. Instead you offer large quantities of bulbs at a lower cost to distributors who will sell the bulbs in smaller quantities to dealers. Often the dealer and distributor roles are condensed into one. There are lots of opportunities for dealer/distributorsÄmanufacturers need them. Bill Batagin of Feather River Stove Works (See H.P.#33) chose to make and sell super efficient, catalytic wood stoves. He saw a stove in an old house he was moving into and thought he could do better. It intrigued him and it was a challenge. That's all it took, that and a quality product, and a successful business was born. Though isn't always easy, he has fun making to grow. He now makes his stoves using solar photovoltaic power. There are no distributors or dealer involved. He likes to sell his own product and is the beginning and the end in the chain to the customer. Dottie Simmons of Simmons Handcrafts, who now has a beautiful catalog full of products, started making soaps because of her skin sensitivities and was unable to find locally a soap that she could use. Other examples of small home business products are refurbished vacuums by Sanderson's Rebuilt Vacuums, fresh oysters from Nahcotta Oyster Farms, hydroelectric generators constructed by Harris Hydroelectric, fresh herbs, pestos and other foods from Rising Sun Herbs and a hot photo magazine, SHOTS, which of traditional and non- traditional work put together in a tipi. The list goes on and the variety range is endless. The common denominator with these people is that they started out with a single product. It 's not easy to classify each of these businesses as OEM's, dealers, distributors or what not. Most of these businesses don't fit into the classical business models either. Actually, most businesses don't, especially in the beginning. The idea that there is only one way to start a business is absurd. They started as an interest, a hobby, a curiosity and grew from there. The service industry You can also sell a service. There is no fine line were goods and services meet but there are two general areas. Often services are sold with goods. An installing dealer of photovoltaic equipment installs as a service to his customers. There are many services that you can provide that don't involve goods. They are products in themselves. Graphic design, market research, accounting, writing and consulting are all types of services that you can provide. Many of these services require another skill to produce a product. For example, a technical writer needs to not only understand her or his subject, but also needs to be able to write. Remember that with any service, you are selling yourself. Quality, professional, on-time service will pay you back over and over. Service is your advantage over larger companies that sell products for less. The computers potential role in home service business is immense. A computer makes many home business tasks possible. If you are a writer, a consultant, or graphics artist, a computer is essential. Accounting and customer databases can be a nightmare without a computer. High volume sales or a mail order type business is very hard to manage without a computer. A more professional look, the ease of writing letters, and the help in making advertisements are all fringe benefits of having a computer. With your computer you have access to a network of other computer users. This gives you an even more powerful tool for independence and home business. Using a telephone you telecommute to work by logging on a computer network. The network becomes the office where you pick up mail, contact potential customers or look for needed services. For example if you are a writer or a graphics artist, there are networks where editors can be contacted. Here, you can market yourself, make contracts and leave the finished product. Be forewarned, however, there is more to a business than a good idea and a product. You will need more to manage your business, especially as it grows. Bob-O of Electron Connection not only designs and installs the renewable energy systems that he sells but he also does all of his accounting, advertising, production of brochures, and answering of customer questions. (He maintains his truck to boot.) If you find this daunting, don't despair. These are things that you can learn Here at Home Power we provide information. To do this we not only have to know our subject, but there are other things that we need to know as well. Without a good understanding of computers, specifically the Macintosh environment, we could not make the magazine that you have in your hands. We also need a basic understanding of publishing, photography, writing, and graphic design. A lot goes in to a single issue of Home Power. Serious Questions Before we go any further, HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS THAT YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF. Can you afford to or are you willing to put in 80 hour work weeks? Is your husband or wife or significant other supportive or willing to be involved in this project? If not, your relationship is in for some potentially rocky times. Can you afford to lose money for at least the first two years? Are you willing to mix your business with your home life? If your answer to any of these is no, then save your self some heartache and ulcers. Consider again what you want to do. If you have always wanted your own business, then do it in your home. This magazine is an example what can be done at home. There is something very organic about the way work and home life intertwine. We love the way it works for us and want to encourage more home businesses. Next time we'll talk about putting together your business plan. If any of you with a home business have any comments or advice, please write in. Access Authors:Mark Newell, Richard Perez, c/o Home Power, POB 520, Ashland, OR 97520 ù 916-475-3179 Information: For more information on telecommuting contact Sequoia Technical Services. They offer free consulting to California residents but will answer your questions if you are out of California. 1-800-366-8370 In H.P #17 on page 51 Don Lancaster's book "The Incredible Secret Money Machine" is highly recommended. He has also written "Small Time Operator" another great book full of usful information. Those who want more information but don't have the time to go to business school or the money to make mistakes should hunt this book down. It's out of print, but some are available from Synergenics for $11.50 postpaid. Box 809- HP, Thatcher, Arizona 85552. ù 602-428-4073 Home Businesses: Bob-O Schulzt, Electron Connection, 19101 Camp Creek Rd. Hornbrook, CA 96044 ù 916-475-3401 Bill Batagin, Feather River Stove Works, Bill Batagin, 555 Genesee Rd., Taylorsville, CA 95983 ù 916-384-7849 Don Harris, Harris Hydroelectric, 632 Swanton Rd., Davenport, CA 95017 ù 408-425-7652 Larry Warnberg, Nahotta Oyster Farms, 270th & Sandridge Rd., On the Old Rail Line, POB 43, Nahcotta, WA 98637 ù 206-663- 4930 Their oysters are fantastic and they do UPS delivery. Rising Sun Farm Bill and Katcha Sanderson, Sanderson's Rebuilt Vacuums 20295 Panoche Rd., Paicines, CA 95043 ù 408-628-3362 Daniel Price, SHOTS, POB 109, Joseph, OR 97846 Dennis and Dottie Simmons,Simmons Handcrafts, 42295 Hwy. 36, Bridgeville, CA 95526 ù 1-800-428-0412