Amidst recent economic turbulence, there is at least one thing that has made American citizens grin a little in the last month or two, and that is the falling price of gas. Though the reasons for the sudden decline in gasoline prices around the country are probably plentiful and complicated, the change has certainly been felt and appreciated by the American people. In July, gas prices hit their all-time high, rising well above $4/gal and approaching the unheard-of $5 mark, but now, only three short months later, prices have fallen dramatically, averaging less than $3/gal across the country and, in some places, dropping to less than $2.50, a price that few believed we would ever see again.
Of course, the fact that gas prices are once more falling to reasonable levels cannot fully assuage the national tension built by rising food prices, a shrinking stock market, increasing unemployment, and all else that comes with a recession. People are still very concerned with saving dollars and cents wherever possible, even in business, and there are few better ways to save money in business than by running your own home based business. Those who work from home save on overhead costs, staff expenses, the cost of fuel and other commute needs, and even simply the time it would take to travel to and from the office. There are many business opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to work more efficiently and cheaply from home, and here are just a few examples.
BookKeeping Express Anyone in small business knows how hard it can be to work on growing and driving your business ahead when you’re also responsible for attending to day-to-day operations, and one of the most time-consuming aspects of daily operations is bookkeeping, a tedious task that must always be done. BookKeeping Express is possibly the only franchise business that offers to take care of that menial chore for its clients. With 20 years of experience in the industry, this franchise is well equipped to recruit and train franchisees in the art of acquiring clients and attending to their bookkeeping needs from either an office or home business. With a BookKeeping Express franchise, you can work daily from a home office to keep your clients’ business financially afloat while they work to expand their operations.
Human Resource Rx Another aspect of daily operations that small and mid-sized businesses have a hard time affording and maintaining is human resources. Because the average smaller-sized business is simply unable to afford a fulltime HR staff to deal with the legal demands associated with having a staff of employees, Human Resource Rx franchisees offer the part-time services of trained HR personnel. And while the staff helps clients, the franchisee works to continue marketing to a wider and wider client base.
College Hunks Hauling Junk There are few more interesting business models than one that pays you to make college guys pick up other people’s trash. College Hunks Hauling Junk franchises receive daily client requests to pick up old furniture, appliances, electronics, and anything else that will fit in a company truck. While big, strong, college guys do the manual labor, franchisees work at home, primarily managing the pickup routes, marketing the business, and maintaining relationships with bigger, repeat clients.
Street Smart This is the franchise opportunity for entrepreneurs who are interested in learning how to best invest in the housing market, acquiring, remodeling, and reselling single- and multi-family homes. There is no part of the process that is not included in initial and ongoing training, and each franchisee now receives firsthand teaching directly from Lou Brown, the founder of this business and method. Though entrepreneurs receive a business model and training, though, their business is entirely their own.
Palm Beach Specialty Coffee Though few recognize just how powerful a business tool it is, coffee has become the second most widespread commodity in the United States, bringing in over $18bil in annual sales. Though it seems like a well-saturated corner of the food industry, Palm Beach Specialty Coffee offers small business entrepreneurs the opportunity to get in on this powerful product with their own home based business, selling high quality, automated espresso and brewed coffee machines to offices and food establishments across the nation. As soon as the first machine is sold, the cash begins to flow for a franchisee immediately, regardless of whether he works fulltime or part, making it an unusually lucrative business.
L & W Investigations Using tactics, equipment, and resources provided by the franchisor, L & W Investigations franchisees are made ready to perform detailed investigations of insurance fraud claims, on behalf of both large corporations and legal firms. There is a national marketing campaign already in place for this budding business, and marketing systems for local advertising are available to franchisees as they join the business, which has already established 30 firms across the country and has made Entrepreneur Magazine’s top 92 franchises list.
Lapels Dry Cleaning Generally a kind of business with a storefront, dry cleaning is rarely thought of as a home based business, but with Lapels Dry Cleaning, that kind of dry cleaning small business is possible. In a protected territory, the franchisee is given a turnkey business that is built in relationship to a local dry cleaner. With little more than a van, a business plan, and a local marketing strategy, the franchisee finds private clients who want their dry cleaning picked up from their homes, taken to a local store, serviced, and returned, then he does that for them.
Saving money and time by operating a business out of your own home is something that everyone can appreciate, because it is so appealing to be able to get up in the morning and walk to the next room to begin work. And having the overhead of your business essentially wrapped up in your monthly home rent and the little bit of gas it might cost to visit a client is a huge benefit. Take a look at home based business opportunities before making your next career move, because saving any amount of money, even on gas, is an advantage today.