There has never been a better time to earn money by working at home. However, the increased accessibility of home-based businesses does not mean instant success. Individuals who wish to see real results with their home-based business need to be well versed in all aspects of their chosen business. Starting with knowing the product and understanding how to set up a business, entrepreneurs need to go to the next level and realize the value of goal setting.Know Your GoalsThe power of goal setting is tangible in every workplace, from the private sector to the governmental realm. Goals help define purpose and they provide a path to success. For a home-based business, goals should come in many forms, from the number of clients procured in a month to the total amount of money earned. When setting these goals, there are several key factors to remember in order to create goals that engender success.Create Realistic ExpectationsAll businesses should start by being realistic. Home-based business owners should consider the product being offered, the experience needed, and the time being devoted to the business when setting goals. A full-time home-based business should have higher expectations than one only being operated on the side. Individuals need to take into account how much time it will take to get set up and how difficult it will be to build a client base, then scale their expectations appropriately. Some aspiring individuals may set the highest goals possible as a means of incentive. However, unrealistic goals can create a sense of disappointment and futility. If the goals are unreachable, then it is easy to lose motivation to strive for them. Realistic goals can help prevent the feeling of failure that can lead to the demise of even the most innovative home-based businesses.Aim to EmpowerWhile being realistic with goals for a home-based business is important, it is also imperative not to set the goals too low. Goals should be designed for empowerment. This means that the goal must motivate the individual to keep working and pushing to new levels of success. If goals are too easy to reach, it is easy to get lazy and lax in one’s business habits, leading to stagnancy in the business model. It can be difficult to find just the right place to set goals, but it can be helpful to build goals up progressively, with goals that increase somewhat each month. This way, entrepreneurs are continually challenging themselves to reach new heights of success.Build Time for ReflectionOne of the ways to find the right balance with goals is to always allow appropriate time for reflection. Goals should not only be used as a motivation, but also as an indicator of growth and progress. A smart goal will always have a definitive timetable, such as a month or a year. For these goals to be truly worthwhile, individuals must always reflect on the goal at the end of the time period. Things to consider during reflection are whether or not the goal was met, if the goal was too easy or too hard, and what things contributed to or detracted from meeting the goal. By analyzing these factors, it is easy to tailor one’s business model and to make the necessary adjustments to grow in the future.

In order to increase the profits of your home based business, it will take both knowledge and skill as well as dedication. You need to analyze your business and determine how to increase your sales, review your costs, as well as review the business in its entirety.In order to increase your business’ success, you will need to focus on four main areas: expenses, advertising, creativity, and sales.ExpensesWhen you are considering your home based business profits, you need to consider outgoing expenses as well as the income that is made selling your services or products. If you are not yet making the profits that you desire, you should track your expenses and itemize them. Next, you should consider which expenses can be eliminated. If there are certain services that your company could cut costs on, consider this but make sure that you are still receiving quality products or services. If you determine that an expense is unnecessary, you should simply eliminate it.AdvertisingAfter you have determined who your customers are, you need to consider your method of advertising. Because many people find products and services online, consider freshening your website. You can also think about placing advertisements in the local paper or on flyers. Organizing a community event such as picnic may also help to create outreach to your neighborhood about your home based business. This will help you to greatly increase your profits.Let your Creativity FlowEncourage yourself to be creative and try different techniques. A great idea is to give customers an introductory month of free service or provide frequent customers with savings and discounts. In order to show that you believe in your product, consider accepting returns and money back guarantees on your services or products. Increasing your profits within your home based business is often a matter of trying different things and seeing what works.Increasing Sales and Targeting CustomersAnother essential step is to review both your sales and audience. Who are the people who are buying your services or products? What do people like most about your services or products? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you to target a wider audience and generate more sales for your home based business.The initial setup of a home based business requires both focus and effort. In the same vein, maintaining the home based business necessitates the same virtues. In order to succeed, there are necessary steps which need to be taken. A large part of the process consists primarily of trial and error. You need to be largely willing to be extroverted and do what it necessary to increase your profits by pushing your product or service and drawing a large customer base for your home based business.

One of the biggest reasons why people start a home based business, is because a successful home based business offers great financial freedom and time freedom, which many people wishes for.However, as high as 95% of people are not achieving the success they want in the home business. After all the research I have done on the failures of people in the industry, i have found out the Top 5 reasons why people fail.1. Choosing The Wrong Partners.First of all, they chose the wrong partners to build their business. They chose a wrong company to partner with, they chose a wrong team to work with, and last of all, they chose the wrong mentors and leaders too.They are not choosing a company that is stable and have a growing track record. Most often, they chose companies which have just started and have a high risk of failure. As statistics have shown, 80% of businesses fail in the first 5 years, and another 80% of business fail in another 5 years. In total, only 4% of businesses survive the 10-year period. Hence, choosing a company of at least 5 years to partner with is important in your home business.They also did not partner with a right team to build their business. A team is crucial for success in home business, because you can get more things done within shorter period of time. If you lack a team, or a team which doesn’t provide support for you, you will be doing business all by yourself, and get burn out easily.Partnering the wrong mentors will bring you down to failure too. You do not want to partner with leaders who are always moving from companies to companies too. You have to partner with mentors who are committed to your success, and not mentors who are using you as their money-making machine.2. False ExpectationsBecause of the huge income potential that the home business industry offers, many people thought that high income can be attained easily. But it’s wrong! They need to work hard to achieve the high financial income they want.When they don’t see money coming in the first few months, they claim that the business is not viable or not working for them, and hence they quit. However, little did they know that they have to put in effort, and the huge income they want to receive will come after at least 3-5 years in business!3. Lack of Marketing TrainingNew home business owners do not know how to market their business the right way. They do not know to promote, without being seen as a spammer or pest by prospects. They do not know how to generate constant amount of leads into their business, as a result, their business cannot grow.What’s important for success in home business, is to know how to market and promote their business effectively and attract quality prospects into the business. All businesses grow because of marketing, and this includes home businesses too.4. Wrong MindsetMany of the home business entrepreneurs build their business part-time, while working in their day job. However, many also bring their ‘employee-mindset’ with them into home business. As stated in reason number two, they have false expectations, and expect huge money to be made in short periods of time.Another wrong mindset they have, is they believe that they can do all things by themselves. They lack a learning attitude, which is to be humble and learn from mentors in their team. Their mentors are willing and committed to teach them, however, many of them always want to do ‘their own way’ and refuse to listen to the action steps laid out by their mentor. As a result, they are not implementing the proven methods to success, and hence, failure is inevitable. And this brings me to the final reason.5. Lack Of A Proven SystemYes. A proven working system is crucial to your home business success. You want to have a system of building your business and helping others build their business too! If you lack a system, you do not have a simple plan of doing things, and your business will be in a mess after a short period of time. You will find yourself working at unproductive things and not producing results.A system that is simple and easy to follow creates the foundation for a successful business. All successful businesses grow and multiplies because of a proven and working system, and there is no exception for a home business not to operate without a system.So there you go, 5 Top reasons why people fail in the home based business industry. Next, apply what you have learned to ensure that you can achieve success too!

As you venture out into the real estate market, one of the key lessons that hopefully you are grasping is that it takes capital to build wealth. One cannot hope to become a millionaire overnight. To get to a place of being “wealthy” takes time, diligence and a lot of careful building of your real estate business.

The model you are building for your real estate investing business includes the following;

1. Cash now… from real estate investments (wholesales, Trusts, etc.), from relationship marketing, primarily using the internet right now, but also using direct mail and other venues to generate cash now.

2. Cash flow… from real estate; creating streams of passive and residual income flowing into your business monthly, from additional income streams, not directly real estate, that you create to compliment your real estate investing business.

3. Cash Later… from selling your real estate.

4. Profits later… from selling your real estate after it has appreciated in value over time, from systems, up-sells, cross-sells, side-sells, affiliate commissions, licensing, selling off all or part of your business for profit, creating new businesses from your profits, etc.

5. Wealth Accumulation All Along the Way…from your real estate, your other income streams both online and offline, and from growing your net worth and cash accumulation through smart investment in businesses, real estate, collaboration, partnerships, relationships, people, time, etc.

6. Time and Lifestyle FREEDOM… from day one this is your goal, and even in this economy it can be achieved with real estate.

Income Generation and Wealth Accumulation

The comparison and understanding of these two contrasting and yet complimentary concepts is very important for you to be able to move your business forward responsibly.

Yes it’s possible to earn large profits in real estate which is why so many people want to do this. However, only the smart survive in this highly profitable market.

If you want to create wealth in real estate… you need to think like rich people think. You need to focus on building your income streams, passive and residual, and you will want to invest where your properties will go up in value, which means you will make a lot more profit when you are ready to sell. You will want to create a business that has value in and of itself and a dozen other highly important key elements, profit centers, and priority long term goals.

Here is the thing; you can create paychecks… very big paychecks… from real estate. However, to really build wealth in real estate involves not just on getting that next paycheck. Wealth generation involves creating passive, residual, and cash flowing income streams that bring money into your business so that you can re-invest it into yourself. That means locating properties with long term investment value, not just a quick sale.

When you look at a property don’t just think about right now, think about in terms of ten years from now and what it could be worth in a better market. You can also create a business that you can sell someday or pass on to your children.

Whatever you do however, don’t put yourself into a position where you are servant to the business. Let real estate work for you and you will reap the rewards without sacrificing your well-being. That’s the difference – you will be building wealth rather than just working for an income.

Your investment portfolio will typically include conventional investments such as stocks and bonds both equally important parts of a solid, long-term investment strategy. But, there are many other less-typical investments that can supplement your portfolio and provide you with opportunities to reduce some of the effects of market fluctuations. Consider alternative investments such as commodities, hedge funds, mutual funds with alternative strategies, and futures to round off your portfolio.

What are alternative investments?
Alternative investments are asset classes that generally don’t move together with traditional equity and fixed income markets. They usually follow their own cycles. As a result, alternative asset classes have a low correlation with standard asset classes; therefore they may help diversify your portfolio by reducing the overall volatility of the portfolio when traditional asset classes such as stocks and bonds are performing poorly.

Historically, alternative investments have been restricted to high-net worth individuals and institutional investors, but these days they are far more available to a wider audience. Alternative investments range from real estate to hedge funds to commodities and can complement a variety of investing strategies. However, they are designed to complement a well-founded portfolio rather than to serve as the focal point of the portfolio.

Most people are attracted to alternative investment because they may yield a higher return than traditional investments, but note that potentially higher returns also may carry higher risks with them. What’s important to note is that alternative investments may be more illiquid than their conventional counterparts – they cannot be sold readily like stocks and bonds – and some may need to be held for a longer time horizon. Additionally, there may be unique fees or tax consequences.

Alternative investment options for your portfolio
There are many investment products available today and it sometimes may be difficult to clearly identify which investments are conventional or alternative. But below are is a list of common alternative investments along with their potential benefits and risks.

Gold
Including a small portion of your portfolio toward precious metals such as gold or silver may offset the performance of other assets in the portfolio such as stocks and bonds, because precious metals typically don’t move in tandem with conventional investments.

Gold is typically viewed as a hedge against inflation and currency fluctuations. So when inflation effects the purchasing power of a currency – say the dollar weakens against the euro – gold prices tend to rise. As a result, investors place their money in gold during economic and market downturns.

Investing in gold can be accomplished in several ways, including futures funds, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, bars, and coins. Nevertheless, since precious metals make up a small sector, prices often change dramatically. This type of volatility can create opportunities for investors in the form of high returns but it can equally result in dramatic losses.

Hedge fund offerings
Hedge funds have historically been available only to high-net-worth individuals and institutions. Hedge funds are investment pools that manage money for institutions like banks, insurance companies, as well as individuals who meet the federal definition of a “qualified purchaser” in terms of net worth and income.

Hedge funds are typically organized as limited partnerships where the fund managers are the general partners and the investors are the limited partners. Hedge fund investments tend to have limited liquidity on a scheduled basis as a result these alternative investments are subject to special regulatory requirements different from mutual funds.

Funds of hedge funds invest in a variety of hedge funds with many different strategies and asset classes with the purpose of reducing overall fund risk through increased diversification. Fund of hedge funds are available to investors that meet the accredited net worth standards of at least $1 million. Fees of hedge funds are higher because of the type of portfolio management and increased trading costs.

Fund of hedge funds are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and as securities under the Securities Act of 1933. They may also come in the form of a private offering which will need to adhere to stricter accredited investor standards. Fund of hedge funds can be complicated investment vehicles which often use leverage, lack transparency, may be subject to restrictions, and may include other speculative practices.

Mutual funds with alternative strategies
Mutual funds are offered in many asset categories, including real estate and commodities. Some mutual funds can mimic hedge fund strategies and may be a good option if you’re interested in alternative investments but don’t meet the accredited investor standards.

In contrast to hedge funds and fund of hedge funds with their higher fees and possible restricted liquidity, these types of mutual funds are relatively low cost and are very liquid – they can easily be bought or sold in a public market. As a result they are accessible to a wider range of investors and therefore mutual funds with alternative strategies are prohibited by law in using high leveraging to boost yields as is common with many hedge funds.

Nevertheless, alternative mutual funds do use aspects of hedge fund investing such as employing both long- and short- investment tactics, trading complex derivative products, and short selling. If you are an investor that is looking to help offset market swings or specific sector swings and you understand the risks that may be involved investing in alternative investments, alternative mutual funds may be something to consider adding to your portfolio.

Managed futures funds
Managed futures funds are formed for the purpose of investing assets in the investment vehicles and trading strategies deemed appropriate by commodity trading advisors (CTAs). These specialized money managers use futures, forwards, options contracts and other derivate products traded in U.S. and global markets as their investment vehicles. CTAs are required to be licensed and are subject to the regulations of the National Futures Association and the Commodities Trading Futures Commission (CFTC).

Managed futures are speculative in nature, involving high risks, may carry higher fees, and have limited liquidity. Nevertheless, managed futures investments have been popular investments for high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors for the past several decades. Their appeal comes from their ability to provide investors with greater portfolio diversity by increasing exposure to global investment opportunities and other sectors such as commodities.

There are several categories of managed futures in terms of structure and investment objectives. They may be available to investors in the form of a private offering subject to higher accredited investor standards according Regulation D guidelines of the Securities Act of 1933.

Real estate investment trusts
A popular type of alternative investment is commercial real estate. Until recently commercial real estate has been mostly inaccessible to retail investors and was widely enjoyed by high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors for its potentially higher yields and diversification attributes. Since the inception of real estate investment trusts (REITs), investing in commercial real estate has become available to wider range of investors.

REITs pool money from investors and invest the funds in properties ranging from office buildings to apartment complexes to hospitals and warehouses. REITs are offered to investors in two forms: traded and non-traded. Both offer exposure to commercial real estate assets.

Publicly traded REITs can be easily bought and sold on a daily basis on active secondary market. However, they tend to be more volatile.

Non-traded REITs are illiquid investments appropriate for investors with a long-term investment time horizon of at least 5 to 10 years. Non-traded REITs are not aligned with stock and bond market movements so they add great diversification to a portfolio.

Other alternatives
Alternative investment can also include assets such as art, gems, rare collectibles, and antiques. In addition, venture-capital funds are considered alternative investments. These alternative investments can help provide investors with added diversification and can help balance out performance across various market swings.

Considering alternative investments
Alternative investments can potentially boost your portfolios returns while helping you reduce market exposure and overall portfolio volatility. However, because of a lack of a secondary market for some alternative investments and restricted liquidity for others, as well as the higher risks associated with them, alternative investments should be used as complements to traditional portfolios consisting of equities and fixed-income instruments.

Moreover, because alternative investments often require more professional management than conventional investments, it’s important to look to experienced money managers for help such as your Financial Advisor.

Alternative investments include gold, real estate, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, commodities along with others and are generally used to round off your portfolio’s performance because alternative investments are typically not correlated to traditional markets such as equities and fixed income.

Alternative investments are often illiquid, with longer investment time horizons and carry higher risks, and often require professional money managers.

Investors must meet a criteria outlined by the law, ranging from product to product, in order to take advantage of alternative investment opportunities.

Alternative investments should generally be used to complement existing portfolios and strategies consisting of mainly stocks and fixed-income products.