Is it possible to start a home-based business on line for free? Well, that all depends…What kind of business?
The first thing that determines the cost of starting a home-based business is what kind of business you go into. If you are going into a multi-level marketing (MLM) company, then there will be an enrollment or start-up cost, probably an annual fee, and there may even be product inventory requirements or, at the very least, minimum monthly purchases in order to qualify for commissions.On the other hand, if you have decided to go into affiliate marketing — selling other’s products either physical or digital — the costs, if any, are minimal. It doesn’t cost anything become an affiliate.How are you going to get leads?
No matter what type of business you go into, without leads or traffic, you’ll get nowhere fast.The costs involved are dependent upon how you advertise. Are you going to use free methods? A free blog, article and forum marketing?Are you going to purchase leads that you will then call or email regarding your business opportunity or products?Are you going to purchase a website and maybe use some pay per click (PPC) advertising to drive traffic to your website?How are you going to communicate with leads?
Did you know that studies show most people don’t purchase something as a result of the first contact? Most people wait until they feel comfortable with the seller before they buy. They need to have a relationship with them. The published average out there is that someone will usually buy after the seventh contact. So, it’s very important to collect information on your prospects so that you can continue to communicate with them and develop a relationship with them. Otherwise, they will likely buy the product or service from someone else.Are you going to communicate solely through your website and/or blog?Are you going to use an auto-responder to keep in touch with your leads? There are both free and paid versions available.Are you going to do any direct mail (postcard or letter) marketing?Starting a home-based business can be an expensive venture. There are a lot of options out there, and there are a lot of people who will try to sell you on those options because that is their business, that’s how they make money. My recommendation is to start out for free or on a shoe string, and then reinvest your earnings into products that will allow you to automate and simplify the process. Don’t go for all of the bells and whistles at the beginning, or you may find yourself deep in debt and discouragement, and working so much overtime (or a second job) to pay your bills that you have no time to devote to your business.Don’t know where to start, click on the links below. I’ll help you get started with little to no money. I respond to every sincere comment and email I receive.

There are a lot of ideas for home based businesses. But the key to success is to follow your own core values as your best guide to success. Let this article serve as your guide to being successful with working at home.Working at home is one of the most convenient ways to earning money. Everyone would love to work from home. But what business ideas can earn you a living and make you afford to stay at home?There are many business ideas that one can apply to start earning money from one’s house. But this should not stop from a mere idea. One should strive to get it to work from the ground up.If you are looking for the next business idea, there is a huge chance that you do not know where and how to begin. If you doing it alone, you might need someone to assure you that this plan will work for you. Hence, doing it alone for the first time is very difficult for someone who is exploring the option to start a home based business.There are so many ideas in the internet. In fact, you will never run out of ideas that can be profitable. But before you venture on one business idea, make sure it is suited for you. Why not start with yourself if the idea is good for you?Assess Your Core ValuesYou have to treat a home based work as a business because you have no boss to supervise. Like any business, the main purpose of the business owner is to create and keep the customer. You do not only get into the business to gain profits. This is one goal that will ultimately lead you to failure.To enjoy the business and keep customers, one should look at his or her core values. Try to see if the business is best suited for you. If you have ingrained talents that will help the business, then it will be to your advantage. If a business requires you to mingle with people and you do not like doing these things, then you would probably try to move on with the next business idea.The SolutionAs a solution, build your business from what you truly want to do: your passion. In this industry of home based business, there are countless ideas and you will surely find something that is in line with your own passion. Try to explore what you love to do. Ideas can be freelance consultancy, affiliate marketing, blogging, article marketing, and even technical services.In ending, build your business from a simple idea that you are passionate about. Home based businesses can be really boring if you do not enjoy your stuff. Thus, start with your passion and you will surely succeed with the right action plans.

A home-based business is an interesting venture in which you can apply your own creativity. However, this does not mean it will prosper in creativity alone. If you want your home-based business to grow, you need to determine a superior product, assess its lucrative possibility, determine an effective strategy, and have proper time management. Likewise, if you are able to achieve these three essential factors, you will come up with the best home-based business in Australia.Superior ProductBeing a prospective business owner means familiarizing yourself with what the consumers want. You are after a successful home-based business opportunity; therefore, your company must be able to withstand the tight market competition. And to do this, you need to know what the consumers want by putting yourself in their shoes.Usually, consumers want affordable, yet first-rate products and services. If you can provide them with these types of products and services, then dominating the market will be easy. In addition, you need to make sure that your products and services are accessible, effective and safe. Of course, this is easier said than done. Thorough and careful market research is necessary.Lucrative Possibility and Effective StrategySupposing you have already studied the market and discerned which products can withstand competition, now you need to assess the lucrative possibility of your business. Can you steadily sell your products and services and earn profits for a long time? If the answer is yes, then engaging with your chosen business has a lucrative possibility.Engaging in an Internet home-based business has only one objective, and that is to profit. If you think you will not benefit from a business, then why bother investing all your hard-earned money into it. Business is a risk. For that reason, you need to think prospectively.Similarly, this is also the reason why successful businesses such as those involving network marketing require strategy, extensive experience and connection. For example, having a rich connection with various people can induce more members to a network marketing company.Recommendation is absolutely the best form of promotion. Instead of paying for online and offline advertisements, banners and flyers, the word-of-mouth promotion is simply more persuasive. Of course, people trust more recommendations because this means that a particular product or service has been effective and enjoyable.Time Management and ConvenienceTime management is required for any job, and a home-based business is no exception. Since most people who engage in home-based businesses may have other commitments, they can only do so much with time. So definitely, time is the key to a successful business. You need to learn how to divide your time with your other appointments. Otherwise, you will just end up without any supplemental income.However, you must remember that best home-based businesses must be administered without any hassle. Since you are at home, you need to be convenient with your own pace. There must be no need to rush. You must still have the freedom to do other duties.In conclusion, a home-based business will succeed if you allot a specified time on it. But of course, it does not mean that it should take away all your free time.

A Bit of Valuable Theory First: Vince Lombardi Would Approve!!

Cause and Effect Relationships

We are familiar with “cause and effect” relationships. A particular “cause” or action will result in a predictable “effect”, reaction or response.

“Laws of Physics” tell us that if you throw a tennis ball at a wall, you can accurately predict the direction that it will bounce off the wall.
That is an example of a “cause and effect” relationship within earth’s gravitational fields.

Further, if you change the “angle of incidence” (the angle at which a thrown ball hits the wall) then, you can accurately predict the direction that the ball will take as it bounces off of the wall.

The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, and predictability exists.

“Laws of Human Response” tell us that if I use hurtful words or actions toward you, then I can anticipate that I will probably receive a predictable response in retribution from you.
If I don’t wish to receive that type of negative response, then I should be careful not to use hurtful words and actions toward you. We call that human nature.

While Laws of Human Response may be less predictable than the Laws of Physics (people can develop good acting skills), a good real estate negotiator learns to control his or her emotions in order to guide the negotiations to a desired result.

“Laws of Financial Markets” tell us about the “cause and effect relationships” between “Supply and Demand”.
If demand for a scare commodity increases, but the supply or availability of that commodity decreases, you can anticipate an increase in it market price.

Qualifying Demand Factors:

1.Demand is influenced by purchasing capacity. When dealing with “demand”, only those with purchasing capacity should be considered. Point: If I would love to own one, but can not afford to buy one, my vote does not count as part of “effective demand”.

2.Demand is influenced by availability of financing. If I could afford to buy one with a loan with an interest rate at 5%, but interest rates just increased to 6%, then my “desire to own” remains strong, but only at a lower price that would allow me to finance its purchase within my capacity to service debt. Restated: My “demand” no longer counts at the previous price.

3.Demand for real estate is influenced by the attractiveness of the stock and bond markets. A large part of demand for real estate that caused the “Real Estate Boom of 2004 through 2007″ was due to the wholesale rejection of the stock market and the bond market.

Point: Many people lost 40% or more of their retirement account that was invested in the stock market. Many flocked to real estate for fear of continued losses in those other markets. A “feeding frenzy” pushed prices up rapidly. Too many dollars were blindly chasing too few attractive properties.

Qualifying Supply Factors:

1. Supply Responds Slowly. It takes a while for supply for real estate to respond to an increase in demand. You can’t just leave the printing press going over the weekend at the US Mint to create more money. That is an option that is only available to the federal government.

Point One: Observation: To create a new apartment complex, it takes a year or so to acquire the right property, get plans approved as a building permit, build the complex, then rent it out until it’s full. It does not happen over night. This can cause a substantial increase in market price for an existing good looking apartment complex.

Point Two: My prediction: When the market finally stabilizes for apartment complexes, we will see a horrendous increase in “cost” of generating that new complex. Systems development charges, cost of building materials, and financing costs will boost the “finished price” of that property.

Suggestion: Consider buying existing “pre-owned” apartment complexes right now. You will look like a hero later!

2.Political Considerations Influence Financing. The federal government has the capacity to regulate interest rates. The easier it is to finance the acquisition of an income property, the more appeal it will have.

Question: Why isn’t this a “supply-side” factor?

Answer: It is. The easier it becomes to buy a property, the more available property becomes to buy.

However, it is also a demand-side issue in that it is now possible to obtain a new mortgage with ten year fixed interest rate.

Observation: Ten year fixed rate financing allows the investor to neutralize the “cost of capital” issue during a recession.

Suggestion: Take advantage of available new financing.

3.Tax Law Changes Influence Appeal. Recently the federal government provided real estate investors with the opportunity to increase their tax shelter from real estate. Cost Segregation depreciation allows such an opportunity.

Understanding Changes in the Real Estate Financial Markets

These “Laws” or financial cause and effect relationships have recently become substantially altered, and thus have become far less predictable.

Change One: Artificial Supply-Side Pricing. Real estate prices are being adversely impacted by a large number of “forced sales” caused by defaulting borrowers being forced to sell under pressure to sell, and foreclosure sales by lenders in need of a quick sale.
Situation: A borrower is unable to make the mortgage payment, and has attempted to sell the property.
He discovers that it will not sell for enough to pay off the existing loan. He then notifies the lender of the situation.
The lender must then decide which course of action to take.
If the borrower has not been declared to be in default, the lender frequently ignores the borrower’s plea for relief.
If the borrower has been declared to be in default, then the lender will either:1. agree to accept less than the full loan balance in satisfying the loan (a “short sale”); or,2. take steps to foreclose on the property, then resell it quickly to recoup the amount of the loan.
Result: Discounted sale prices resulting from “short sales” and “foreclosure sales” impact all property values and force prices down. You will have difficulty attracting a buyer who would pay more for yours than they could pay to acquire a very similar property offered through a short sale or foreclosure priced property. Even if you are successful in seemingly avoiding the impact of “forced sale” discounts, the appraiser who the buyer’s lender will use to value the property for loan purposes will include those low priced forced sale. The buyer will not be allowed to borrow as much, and your sale may be in jeopardy of closing.
Observation: Until the lenders sell off all of their REO and the number of short sales is substantially reduced, the value of real estate will continue to be adversely impacted.
“Real Estate Foreclosures 101″

What is a “Short Sale”? A “short sale” occurs when the lender agrees to accept less than the full loan balance as repayment of the existing debt.

Why Would The Lender Agree To Accept Less? Once a borrower defaults on a loan, the lender must form a course of action that would result in the least loss to the lender.

Would the short sale be less costly than a foreclosure resale of the property on the open market? If so, agree to the short sale and be done with it.

Observation Concerning Short Sales: As a buyer offering on what will be a “short sale”, there is never a quick decision to allow the deal by the lender.

The lender’s decision making process causes the potential transaction to travel through several departments of the lending entity before a decision to accept the short sale is reached.

It has been known to take months for the lender to finally agree to a short sale. By that time, the buyer lost interest in the property, and has walked away by the time that the lender approves the short sale.

Lenders are slow to agree to lose money, even if money is being lost with each passing day.

What Happens to the Lender When the Lender Forecloses? The lender’s financial statement will be immediately and substantially altered. The previously performing loan (an asset held as a “Loan Receivable”) is converted to a less liquid asset known as “Real Estate Owned” or “REO”.

Lender’s Financial Consequence of the Foreclosure: The lender will experience several negative consequences as a result of the foreclosure.

The lender is often the only bidder to show up at the foreclosure sale.
At the foreclosure sale, the lender makes a bid equal to the balance of the debt. If no other bidders bid higher, then the lender receives title to the property.
If the lender receives title to the property, then the dollar amount of the previously performing loan is subtracted from “Loans Receivable” and the value of the property acquired through foreclosure is added to a category known as “Real Estate Owned” or “REO”.
The lender is well equipped to make loans, but much less equipped to hold real estate in lieu of a Loan Receivable.

In order for the lender to get out of real estate ownership and back into the lending business, the lender must resell the foreclosed property on the open market.
Probable Result: If the prior borrower could not escape foreclosure by selling the property, then the lender probably can’t do any better. This is where the lender’s bigger problems begin.
1. “Mark to Market” While the previous “Loan Receivable” and the “Real Estate Owned” are both “assets” owned by the lender, the bank auditors will soon require the lender to periodically mark down or reduce the reported value of the REO to reflect what it would sell for in a quick cash sale. Any action that reduces the value of the bank’s assets will directly reduce the lender’s “Shareholder’s Equity” (the bank’s net worth).
2. “REO Reserves”. In addition, the auditor will require the bank to create a “Reserve for REO” or a cash fund set aside to cover the performance of the REO asset.

This reduces the amount of available funds that could be used to create new loans and generate more revenue for the bank.

Summary: Both of the above actions will reduce the bank’s ability to generate more revenue and increase Shareholders Equity.

Lender’s Decision Point: Consequently, the lender may conclude that it is less expensive to avoid a foreclosure and to accept less than the full repayment of the loan balance by taking a short sale, and being done with it.

Foreclosure Sales: What Happens

Nature of Sale: An All Cash Auction: The trust deed foreclosure sale is an all cash auction conducted by the trustee at a published date and time at a specified public place. Typically, the only all cash buyer to show up at the foreclosure sale is the lender who brought about the foreclosure. The lender bids in the amount of the loan, and receives title to the property.

As the lender starts to convert more of its performing asset base (performing “mortgages receivable” on the asset side of the balance sheet) to “REO” or real estate owned, the bank auditors will force the bank to set aside available cash (that could have been used to make another loan), and hold it as a reserve to cover the REO portion of the bank portfolio.
A double hit has just occurred:
1. The bank’s Operating Statement no longer has a performing mortgage loan, and now has instead a piece of real estate “REO”(Hint: banks are good at making loans and collecting monthly payments, but are not very good at holding real estate that must be managed and tenanted to prevent damage and further loss of value to the property); and,
2. The bank has to use a portion of their available cash to set up a cash reserve to cover the REO.
Too much of that action, and bank auditors will write down the value of the REO property and increase the size of the REO reserve…both actions will reduce the “Stockholder’s Equity” (net worth of the bank). If it gets too thin, the Federal Reserve could close the bank.
Example Two: The bank-owned foreclosed properties are soon sold at substantially reduced prices compared to other “non-foreclosure” properties in the same neighborhood.
The reduced sale price creates lower neighborhood values. Those most recent low sale prices form the “comparable sales” data base that the appraiser will use when appraising your “for sale” property for a buyer’s lender.
Your appraised value is reduced, and the entire process will continue to spiral so long as there is a bank-owned REO that is there to compete for the limited number of buyers for your property.
SOLUTION: Only when the last REO is finally sold will the artificial reduced prices cease to exist. Buyers may love this environment, but everyone else is perplexed by artificially lowered prices.
FINALLY… Part Three

THE QUESTION: WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?

THE ANSWER: If you can complete the following steps, then I may be able to help you sort out a course of action that you should take.

Part One: Where Am I Now?

Define your current position in terms of money

1.Complete a detailed “Financial Statement” of your current position.

a.The Asset Side:

i.What assets do you own?

ii.What is the current value of each of those assets? (ignore debts owed on each asset, since they will appear on the Liability Side of the financial statement)

Note: Organize the Asset Side of the financial statement in the sequence of “most liquid or cash-like assets” at the top of the list, and “lease liquid or hard to liquidate assets” at the bottom of the list.

Now total the value of assets listed on the Asset Side.

b.The Liability Side:

i.To whom do you owe money?

ii.How much do you owe each creditor?

Note: Organize the Liability Side of the financial statement is sequence of “shortest term debt” like short credit lines at the top and “longest term debts” like mortgages at the bottom.

c.Your Net Worth – The difference between what you own and what you owe is your Net Worth.

2.Complete a current “Income Statement”

a.List all incomes that you receive

Note: Separate various incomes by category: Vocational Incomes, Investment Incomes, other incomes

b.List all expenses that you incur

Note: Separate various expenses by category: Vocational expenses, Investment Expenses, and Living Expenses

c.The difference between Total Incomes per Year and Total Expenses per Year is the Surplus Available For Investment

Part Two: Where Do I Need to Be? (a retirement goal)

Project your living expenses to your desired date of Financial Independence

1.What will be your Survival Number?

This is the minimum monthly income required to cover all living expenses. ALWAYS KNOW YOUR SURVIVAL NUMBER!!!

2.How much of that Survival Number will be covered with “other Retirement Funds”? (e.g.: Social Security, pension fund distributions, etc.)

3.How much of a Short Fall appears to exist?

a.This is the amount that your real estate portfolio much cover on a dependable monthly basis.

Part Three: How Long Will I Be Willing to Work to Get There?

1.How long am I willing to work to amass my retirement portfolio?

2.Does it appear that my vocational employment will continue that long?

3.What happens if it doesn’t?

I’ve always been a huge advocate of avoiding Riba (Interest), either earning or paying. There are definite financial, social and religious reasons for this and we, as Muslims, are aware of them.

There has always been a concern among the Muslim community in Canada of where they should put their extra money in terms of Savings or Investments, earn money from that or at least hedge against the Inflation and other factors. Based on my knowledge and experience (Allah knows best), I was able to dart down the following investment opportunities available in the Canadian market.

Investing in Commodities e.g. Gold and Silver

Gold and Silver have historically been the best source of securing your wealth over a long period of time. From my research of historical Gold prices, they have tripled in last 20 years. Silver is not far behind. Rather, silver has outperformed gold if we take different time ranges. So let’s say you are not someone who has huge sums of money and can make big investments, investing in gold or silver is definitely an option for you. This is purely a halal investment and if you are looking to invest for a longer period of time, let’s say saving money for your child’s education, investing a couple of hundred dollars a month should not be difficult. This way you are preserving your wealth and, in the meantime, saving money for your child’s education. You can buy gold from banks or can even purchase from an accredited gold dealer in Canada.

There are other commodities you can invest in but for a domestic investor it would be hard to store those commodities over a long period of time.

Investing in company Stocks i.e. shares

Basic reasoning as to why stocks are halal investments is as investors you will be rewarded with profits of the company and will also to have bear losses, if any. There are different types of stocks you can invest in based on your investment horizon i.e. time period you want to invest for and the amount of risk you can handle. Moreover, it also matters what kind of income stream you have in mind i.e. do you want regular dividend payments or you are more interested in Capital Gains (IPO’s i.e. companies that are recently launching their stocks into the stock market, are best for Capital Gains).

Examples of stocks you can invest in as Muslims are:
1. Retail companies
2. Oil and Gas companies
3. Trading companies etc.

There is a list of type of companies we, as Muslims, should not invest in i.e. these won’t be considered as Halal investments. Companies that primarily deal in:
1. Financial institutions i.e. banks, loaning companies
2. Alcohol
3. Pork and pork related products
4. Tobacco
5. Weapons and ammunition
6. Entertainment

The list provided above is just an example and is not extensive.

As a normal person who does not have much knowledge about how to invest in stocks in Canadian Stock markets, best thing is to reach out to someone who knows. They may be your relationship managers at the bank, a muslim scholar who has finance knowledge as well and knows financial markets or contact brokerage companies.You will need to make sure you have explained to them in detail the criteria for your investments i.e. type of companies you are looking into.

Some banks such as RBC Royal Bank give you an online account that you can use trade stocks online. For this you need to have reasonable knowledge of how stocks work and how to analyse an investment opportunity.

Land and property

If you have enough spare cash that you have saved over a period of time and looking to invest in halal options, property and land present another option for you. People do engage into buying houses through mortgage and increase their asset base, but that is definitely not a halal option. So, if you are someone who likes to avoid interest, you should not go into buying houses through mortgage.

Now there are 2 scenarios:
1. You have enough money to buy a house. In this case you should be on the look for best investment opportunities in terms of property and land. I’ve seen people usually invest more into buying houses than buying land in Canada. This is not a bad option and is more secure. But investing in Land around the areas that have potential in terms of future growth and have developmental projects in the pipeline is something that can generate higher returns for you.

2. You don’t have enough money to buy a house in Canada. In this scenario, since almost all of us are immigrants here, there is always an opportunity available in your country of origin. You can invest in smaller properties there and once you have collected enough money, you can bring it back here (if your goals is to own property in Canada).
Investing in new companies

A large number of Muslim business men/women want to start their new projects, they have good ideas but do not have the money to invest. You can find these people in your community or social networks and discuss about their ideas. If you have the financial knowledge, try and analyse their ideas, both in terms of practicality and future revenues. If you don’t have the knowledge, have them create a business plan and then present that business plan to an investment advisor.

You can also create a pool of money with your friends, acquaintances and start a business that you normally can’t afford. Investing in new projects i.e. businesses, is riskier than investing into an already running business but if weighed and measured properly and work hard on, can generate much better returns.

In the end, my knowledge is limited and above mentioned options are just suggestions, but I am hopeful they can give you an idea about investing halal and saving yourself from the curse of Riba (Interest). I’d be more than pleased to help with any of the above.