Network Marketing Business Plan

Creating a network marketing business plan is like mapping out a journey. There’s no right or wrong way to go. It’s your trip, so which route you take is up to you.

What I am sharing here is my personal business plan. This is the route that I have chosen to get me to the place I want to be. So far, things are progressing pretty much on schedule.

In the article below on business success, I covered some of the elements that I have noticed successful entrepreneurs have in common. You might want to read that article before continuing with this one.

Growing My Primary Business Opportunity

I get a lot of questions about my actual numbers when it comes to recruiting people into my primary business opportunity.

This isn’t a big surprise, since finding people to join our network marketing businesses is the main objective for most of us.

What is a little more difficult to get across, is that in my business plan, presenting my business opportunity is part of my Back End System.

Since joining a network marketing opportunity is a high time  commitment and somewhat high dollar commitment, it is the last thing I present to a new prospect.

Less than 1% of the people you meet will wind up joining your opportunity. Those who do, usually do so only after you have developed a relationship with them which establishes your ability to help them achieve their goals.

This doesn’t happen overnight. I am only now generating the kind of traffic needed to turn that 1% into team members.

Still, it makes business sense to me that if 1% is all I get, then better to get 1% out of tens of thousands of leads I can generate online than 1% of the hundreds I was able to generate using face to face offline methods.

Leading with Your Business Opportunity

Most network marketers begin a new business relationship with the presentation of their network marketing company.

This is the route they have chosen for their particular journey and it works well for some.

They join a network marketing company, purchase leads, and hit the phones.

If they are persistent and have reasonable sales skills, they should be able to enroll a decent number of new recruits.

My problem with this recruiting method – business opportunity first – is that it doesn’t allow for a relationship to build between the two of you.

You don’t know if someone will pursue their business with the same commitment and zeal that you do; and they have no idea if you will prove to be an effective leader and provide solutions to their individual needs.

I have already been through the frustration of building a team only to watch team members drop out one by one. This is because they weren’t really prepared to build a business.

And I wasn’t prepared to lead them because I hadn’t learned the skills myself.

So my first step was to learn about business building from the ground up and to get the marketing training I was lacking.

My New Business Plan – Sightseeing Along the Way to My MLM

As I studied marketing, I realized that the way I was going about building my business was backwards. I needed to place my business opportunity at the end of the sales process instead of at the beginning. I needed to map out exactly where I planned to lead a new prospect on our journey together.

Using the attraction business model, I have written a great many articles and created videos in which I share the lessons I have learned in my personal development.

In the past five months, I have had well over ten thousand people stop by my various sites. Note that this is quite a bit more than what I reported a couple of weeks ago.

The great thing about attracting people over the internet is that the number of people coming to your sites continues to grow. Thanks to recent activity on Twitter, for example, my list of visitors to my content grew by 700 people this past weekend alone.

So…my prospect’s first stop on the journey to my mlm is to articles which provide valuable information for network marketers in general, with no action required on their part whatsoever.

The Funded Proposal

The funded proposal is a means of generating income while you are building your network marketing business. By joining affiliate programs, you are able to monetize your efforts even though a prospect may not travel with you all the way to your business opportunity.

As someone moves through the content you create, they come across tools and resources which may be helpful as they build their own network marketing business.

On some sites, these tools are presented in the form of Google Adwords which the host site has included as a part of their service. If someone clicks on one of these advertisements, and buys, you make a small commission.

Other resources are links that you provide to other useful materials. When I come across software, books or training materials that I find to be helpful, I join their affiliate program. Almost everyone and everything has one.

By sharing the information on what the product does, how it does it and why you found it to be useful, you make a commission when someone makes a purchase.

Since I stand to gain by your purchases, I am very vigilant about only recommending those things with which I have direct experience or has come highly recommended by someone I trust.

When your readers find value in the products or services you bring to their attention, the relationship between you begins to grow.

By providing them with avenues to develop their skills, you are, in a very real sense, training your future team!

Information Products

One of the most important elements of the funded proposal is the information product.

Through a free or low cost information product in the form of an audio, video or e-book, you can further educate your prospects.

A good information product helps solve some problem your prospect is facing. It may teach a broad subject like the business model of attraction marketing as Ann Sieg does brilliantly in The Renegade Network Marketer. It may focus on recruiting techniques as presented by Mike Dillard in his Magnetic Sponsoring materials.

Mike Klingler offers his information product at Renegade University in the form of step by step training on using the internet to apply the principles found in the teachings of Ann Sieg and Mike Dillard.

Promoting someone else’s information product saves you the effort of having to create one yourself. You simply step in and promote a book, program or system that you believe will provide value to your prospects, and make your commission when they buy.

You can choose to create your own information product, as I am doing with my Romancing the Sale: Building Highly Profitable Customer Relationships That Last book.  I am currently awaiting my illustrations, and developing the bonus materials!

Your own product not only brings in a higher profit for you, you can create your own affiliate program so that your product is put in front of a huge number of people as fellow marketers decide to promote your product to their lists.

When someone buys your information product, they further their own skills and increase their awareness of you and the kind of leadership you represent.

The Information Product becomes a very important stop on our journey. There is still minimal commitment on the part of the customer. The fee is usually reasonable for this “front end” product, either a one-time only or in the form of a small monthly membership fee.

In the past five months, I have enrolled over 80 people in my low or no-cost programs, not including introductory coaching sessions.

My affiliate sales are beginning to kick in. Yesterday, while enjoying my Sunday with my family, I brought in $270 through affiliate sales. I am also receiving monthly commissions on other programs, commissions on my existing MLM team, and compensation for my writing and editing.

In the past two months, I went from no income to replacing my part time teacher’s salary of $1000 a month.

In another two months I expect that number to be significantly higher. Remember, all of this content continues to work for you with no additional effort on your part. Your visitors come back and new visitors arrive every day.

I can’t wait to see what happens upon release of my book!

The Back End of Your Network Marketing Business

Having provided your customers with a low cost front end product, the next stop is to your high end products and services.

These include more expensive information products, affiliate programs, private coaching, and TA DA – your business opportunity!

By the time customers arrive at your back end system, they have learned a lot about you and from you. They have also demonstrated to you that they are action takers and have a serious and realistic approach to building a business.

When your relationship has developed to this point, you are both in the position to make an informed and intelligent decision as to whether or not you would fit well together as team members.

Up to this point, your prospect has been in the driver’s seat. You provided the map and they decided how far they wanted to travel the route you laid out for them.

At any time they could get off the road and look for another destination.

While your prospect never gives up their control over how far they wish to pursue their personal journey, YOU have to take over the wheel when it comes to recruiting for your network marketing business.

Your MLM Business Opportunity

Some network marketers want to build a downline as quickly as possible with as many people as possible from the very beginning.

Since there is no surefire way of knowing how someone will fare in a particular business until they give it a try, they figure the more the better. If you are one of these people, and you are finding the success you want – YAY!

For me, I would rather recruit people who have already demonstrated the fundamental qualities of basic business understanding (meaning  that this is not an overnight process), the desire to improve their skillset and the drive to see things through.

From there, I can supply them with materials, support, training, or whatever else they may need. But as my downline grows, I will have less and less time to train each member on everything.

I need people who position themselves as leaders and will be responsible for providing the same quality training and leadership to their recruits as I provide for them.

The reality is that the more successful your network marketing business becomes, the less time you have in the day to connect with each team member personally.

This means you have to make difficult choices. First, you have to begin to delegate some tasks to your team. A great team working alongside each other can accomplish so much more than one person, no matter how brilliant and giving they may be.

Second, you will have to limit your one on one time to those on your team who consistently demonstrate the desire to learn.

I am not yet to the point when I have to make those decisions. I do desperately need administrative help at this point, but I am still able to deal personally with each of my customers.

My first real promotion of my business opportunity will be in Romancing the Sale.

Customers who choose to purchase the book are demonstrating a degree of trust in me and what I have to say. They are letting me know I have earned the chance to tell them more.

There is a section on keeping in touch with customers that lends itself to presenting my network marketing opportunity. The book allows me to do so without shoving anything down my customer’s throat.

Any Business Plan Requires a Leap of Faith

No matter how well researched your business plan may be, it will require a leap of faith at some point. The key is to make your leap as fail proof as possible.

The funded proposal acts as a safety net. It will sustain you if your business plan takes longer to take off than you estimated.

So far, each leg of my journey has worked out the way I’ve hoped and in pretty much the same time frame I had estimated. If anything, I’m a little ahead of where I expected to be at this point.

Thank you for allowing me to report on this exciting time in my life. I truly hope you will find the route that is best for you and we are able to share the sights we see along the way!

Business Success: Your Small Business and How to Maximise Business Success

What is the secret to business success?  When I first decided to work from home, business success was an idea, a hope...a dream.  With a long career in the academic world, what the heck did I know about business?

The journey that I share here at this blog with you has been the most fascinating of my life. It's hard to believe it was just over a year ago.  Along the way, I have met many other people who were starting their business just like me. 

Some of them have already had their businesses take off, others aren't there yet but making sure and steady progress and some are going nowhere.  What is the difference?

Some of the things I have come up with are going to sound like no-brainers, but I'm going to list them anyway.  Sometimes we miss the things that are the most obvious -- I know I've missed a few.  Just check out my first six months in business if you want the definitive business plan for disaster!

Okay, so how do you go about maximising your business success?

1. Do your research.  The people I've met who are getting results, did their homework first. 

They found their "niche" and learned about the people who would be interested in their product or service. They thoroughly checked out network marketing companies before choosing the one which best reflected their interests and talents. They developed a realistic idea of what it means to own a business and what kind of time, money and skills would be required.

2. Put in your time.

Starting a new business takes hours and hours of your time.  Yes, it is possible to work a four day week - but not at first!  If you are holding down a full time job, have a family and trying to start a business all at once, give yourself a break.  Realize that it's going to take a bit longer for you to get where you want to be.  That doesn't mean it won't happen. 

 If it takes 100 hours to write enough quality content to bring prospects to your business, how soon you get there will depend on how soon you complete the hundred hours.  I may get there faster since I am able to work full time at home. But the formula is the same for both of us.

I've had fellow business people ask me, "What are you doing to get Google rankings that I'm not?"  My first question is, "How much content do you have up?"  The answer is frequently between 10 to 20 pieces.  That's a great start, but it isn't enough to start the real excitement 50-100 pieces will bring. And that's still only the beginning.

3. Get coached.

There's a lot of great training available on the internet about marketing, building a customer base, customer relations, product development; you name it. Decide on a program or coach that addresses your current skill level and stick to it. It can be tempting to follow two or three mentors at once, but this is a mistake.

The programs may be equally good but the most likely outcome is that you will be overwhelmed with information and not make good use of any of it.  Put your blinders on for a while when all the free offers come your way.  Once you have found a good coach and/or training program, stick with that until you are ready to add more. Get all you can from Program One and then look for a second program which will take you from your new, more advanced level.

4. Get the training that fits your learning style.

You may learn best on your own and can get all you need by reading really good books on the subject.  That's how Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring and Black Belt Recruiting trained himself.  He read everything he could get his hands on about the network marketing business and then filled in the blanks by creating his own materials.

You may need visual hands on training.  This is my style.  When I first put up this blog, the format was different and I had the advantage of following the visual step by step tutorials offered by Mike Klingler's Renegade University to show me exactly how to do it.  This week, Squarespace has upgraded the system.  The new features are wonderful but I've spent all weekend figuring it out.  Mike is putting up a new tutorial for his students, but I didn't want to wait.  It sure made the point for me that I learn best with visuals.  It took me far longer to tweak the new system by reading the manual than it did to start from scratch when I had the tutorials!

You may need a business success coach who can give you one on one guidance.  In a large training system, you may not have access to someone who can look at each of your articles or consult with you on your business plan. Many people need a coach to hold them accountable and keep them focused on the next step.

Success comes from focused and diligent training, not bouncing around from program to program and neglecting to follow through.

5. Dream big but stay real.

Business success comes to those who have the vision and the ability to hang in there long enough to make it happen. You know all the sayings, "You can't get something for nothing," "Anything worth doing is worth doing right," "Success doesn't happen overnight." 

You are likely to put in a lot of work for a long time without seeing any tangible reward for your efforts.  When the rewards come, they 'll come in thimbles not bucket loads.  If you are applying the correct business principles and stick with it, you will succeed.  If you are prepared to wait for success, it will come faster than you think! 

Life and the Universe have a sense of humor.  If you expect success overnight, you'll probably wait years.  If you expect it to take a while to attract business, or to make your first sales, it'll probably happen before you thought it would.  Plan for a six to twelve month wait before you achieve significant results.

6. Take action.

All the planning, training, organizing and investing won't amount to a thing until you take ACTION.  Learned something new? Use it, share it, publish it.  Got a new lead? Write them, call them, send a bouquet of flowers -- anything except let the name stay on your computer and never do anything with it.

7. When a good opportunity presents itself -- take it.

The people I know who are having success in their business are opportunity seekers.  They take calculated risks. They don't throw their money away, but they are willing to invest in something that is sound, even if it is a sacrifice at the time.

The people who are not experiencing much success will usually have some reason they couldn't attend a class, fly to a seminar, write the content.

Only you can make this happen.  If the door opens -- walk through it!

8. Hang out with successful business owners.

This isn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  Very successful business people are not locked up in Ivory Towers like I imagined.  Instead, they are out and about, making themselves available to newbies like you and me.  Why?  Because they are constantly on the lookout for the next amazing business partner. 

Most profitable business people are incredibly generous - they aren't likely to achieve mega success by being selfish and obnoxious.  Not only do you benefit from their willingness to share their expertise, but the success oriented mindset is contagious. 

When I first started my business, I was hoping to make six figures a year.  In the last couple of months since I have had the honor of keeping company with some of my biggest inspirations, I realize that my mindset has changed.  Slowly, my financial goals have altered.  Yes, I want to have the financial freedom to take care of my family, our retirement, and enjoy a perk or two.  But I also want to be able to make a difference in causes that are important to me.  My financial thermostat is reset!

9. When you get an idea, take action

Have you ever come across some new invention and realized you had the same idea but never acted on it?  You probably had no idea how to come up with a prototype, patent it, package it,  or market it and so it remained an idea.  Now someone else is making oodles of money.

As I prepare the launch materials for my e-book, I have approached some marketing gurus to see if they would be willing to be interviewed as a part of the bonus material for people ordering the book.  Mind you, I have no equipment to do this recording, but I know I'll find a way.

So far I have asked Ann Sieg, Mike Klingler, Eben Pagan and Christian Mickelson.  I plan to ask Mike Dillard when I meet up with him in the next month.  Ann, Mike K and Christian all said "yes" immediately.  I haven't yet heard from Eben.  The point is, I was prepared to be told that there simply wasn't time in these busy peoples' lives to do an interview with me.  But I set up a proposal anyway. 

For each person, I outlined the book, the target market for the book and how doing an interview about this book would be of benefit to their business.  In each case,  I let them know I would be promoting their business in the book regardless of their availability for interview.  In other words, I let them know what was in it for them and their customers.

Successful entrepreneurs guard their customer list with their lives.  They do not promote junk.  They have worked too hard to attract these customers to them and develop a loyal following.  So if you are proposing a joint venture of any kind, you must present the value it will give before your idea will even be considered.

Who would have thought these people would have found value in something offered by someone as new to the industry as I am? I never would have known if I hadn't TRIED.

10. Take action, take action, take action, take action...

When you go back over this list, you'll find that every point really is to move forward by taking action with your business.  Otherwise, it will always remain a beautiful dream of what could be. 

If you do something about each new thing you learn, put each new strategy to work, followup with each customer; the dream will be your reality and, maybe more important, you'll be helping other people start those first steps toward their dreams.

It's the Little Lies That'll Ruin Your Business

Of course no one would be in business for very long if they cheated their customers, or didn't deliver the expected service.  But it is surprising how accepted certain marketing practices are.  Not long ago I was speaking with a former encyclopedia salesman.  He was telling me that in their training, they were told that the way to make the sale was to imply that anyone who didn't buy an encyclopedia set for their child was not being a good parent.  He told me that nine out of ten times, the ploy worked but that it didn't make him feel very good about himself.

Last summer I was at a training seminar for my mlm.  The speaker was sharing some of her techniques.  One of the problems when inviting people to a group meeting is that they don't look at it as a bona fide appointment.  Frequently they don't show up and rarely do they call to let you know they won't be attending.  She was addressing this problem by telling us that when she makes an appointment, she always tells the prospect that she'll have her "assistant" call to confirm.  Of course, this immediately makes her sound like she is a very busy executive. 

I remember my team and I all laughed about it and how brilliant she was.  It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that I started to really think about this.  It may seem like a small little lie on the surface, but the goal is to recruit prospects on to your team.  If you lead them to believe you are doing better than you actually are, you are giving them false expectations as to what they can look forward to when they sign up to build a business under you. 

One more example.  A couple of months ago, I received an offer to "co-author" a book.  It was kind of a combination of self-publishing and partnering with an established best seller.  Fifty or more people would contribute to the book.  Each would be listed as a "co-author" and would attend promotional events such as press conferences and book signings.  It sounded like a lot of fun, and I felt I had a pretty good story to write.  But I would have been far more comfortable being billed as a "contributor" not a "co-author."  After all, my portion of the book would probably amount to about three pages.

When I looked up previous books in the series, I read the readers' comments.  They raved about the book as being a "must read," an "inspiration", and a "life-changing experience."  Trouble is, I recognized the names of the commenters...they were the same people who had contributed to the book!  Aaargh!  That day, I pulled out of the project. 

My point is that even the most honest of us can get swept away by seemingly harmless truth-stretchings.  In advertisements and marketing campaigns it is somewhat accepted.  But this is not the experience I want people to have when they receive marketing training from me.  So take the time to stop and think before adopting some "tricks of the trade" to be sure that they are constructive and not misleading.  There is a lot of competition out there and your customers are free to take their business elsewhere if they feel duped.  And they will.

Six Qualities You Must Develop to be a True Entrepreneur

When you are thinking of starting a home business, you need to be very honest with yourself and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.  There are some qualities that are simply must-haves, like the willingness to work hard and consistently.  Other things can be learned, or even farmed out to someone else.  Here are six of the must-haves:

• Master Self discipline

When you are your own boss, there's no one to check in on you to be sure you get to work on time.  Some people find this to be a difficult adjustment.  The fact is, you will be putting in more hours than you did working for someone else. I get started at about 9:00 a.m. and am usually still at it by 10 or 11:00 p.m. 

• Master Organization

If you don't master organization from the beginning, you're sunk.  If you don't know how to set up a filing system, get someone to help you.  You'll waste hours looking for phone numbers, or receipts, etc. if you don't put them in a logical system that lets you find them months later.  If, as I strongly advise you to do, you develop multiple streams of income, you need to have a way to track how each of these affiliates are doing for you. 

• Master Delayed Gratification

Patience is the cornerstone of building a new business.  In spite of hours logged in, results take time.  Yet, taking the time to research your target market, the best way to reach them, learning good marketing skills, and implementing them sets up a foundation that lasts.  When I was setting up my first website, I had mounds of reading material to get through before I could get started.  Remember, I knew nothing!  My daughter still laughs at me because I kept saying, "I just want to put up my home page already!"  But I kept slogging through the materials and now, I am really proud of the site I created!  Then came the waiting game as I learned how to drive traffic to my site!  Yep, no point in being in a hurry.

• Think Outside the Box

"Entrepreneurs" frequently take risks.  They have initiative as they go about managing their business. They are the ones who, when presented with a new idea, think "why not?"  While it's important to look for things that have worked in the past, it is equally important to be able to shift gears and embrace change.  The world is constantly changing and so are the needs of your customers.  Mike Klingler  is an example of a true entrepreneur.  Ann Sieg's "The Renegade Network Marketer" is taking the network marketing community by storm.  Mike was as impressed as everyone else.  Still, he was frustrated at the time it was taking him to learn how to implement some of the principles.  Presto!  He invested a ton of money and founded The Renegade University. Using "The Renegade Network Marketer" as its course book, Renegade University provides students with step by step marketing strategies  training to build a network marketing or small  business.  It's one of those "why didn't I think of that" kind of things!  If Mike had waited around before putting his idea into action, somebody else probably would have thought of it.

• Have Realistic Expectations

When someone tells you theirs is the "Best Ever" widget, you know to take it with a grain of salt.  When someone says, "Make Thousands Your First Month," you may find your ears perk up, but hopefully common sense will prevail.  Nobody, but nobody escapes the hard work.  Even if you really do have the "best ever" product, there is still work involved in getting it out to the public.  As you make your business plan, set challenges for yourself, but don't be chasing the impossible dream.  As you meet each challenge, reach a little further for the next goal.  Your business will grow and so will you.

• Have Integrity

The single most important and unique thing your business has to offer is YOU!  Your main job is to sell yourself - who you are, what people can expect of you,  and what kind of a leader you are.  It can be easy, in your enthusiasm, to overstate what you can deliver.

 Some marketing techniques even encourage you to "establish credibility" by stretching the truth a little.  I came across a memo today that suggested when leaving a voice mail to say that you are calling from the "corporate office."  While technically, this may be true, you can see how it would mislead the customer.  Is that the kind of business leader you want to be? 

My father built a multi million dollar business and the thing I heard most often growing up was, "If Mr. March says he'll do it, it's as good as done."  My dad knew better than to promise something and then not deliver.  His customers respected him more because he told them up front, "I simply can't meet that deadline, but I'll definitely have your order in place, in working order by the first of next month."

When you genuinely have your customer's best interest as the priority, when you are looking to give them the best deal, the best information, timely service...the sale will come.

Being an entrepreneur is to belong to a special group of people.  You will be awed and inspired every day by these amazing folk and then suddenly, awaken to discover you are one of them!

5 Things to Do To Set Up Your New Business

In spite of starting my business as a complete novice, I did manage to do some things right!  Here is a checklist for the new business owner:

1.  Open a separate checking account.

For the first few months, any money you bring in will probably be reinvested into your business.  Keeping a business account separate from your regular checking can save you major headaches at tax time.  Some banks run specials and you can open a business account with free checks at little to no cost.

2. Have a business credit card or debit card used only for business expenses.  Again, major stress reliever at tax time!

3. Go to your local office supply and get a mileage chart.  Any time you are out on business, write down the starting and ending mileage.  If you are smart, you can schedule personal errands in between - for example, when traveling from a business appointment back home, you can stop in and get groceries, if  it doesn't take you out of the way!

4. Set up a budget.

Please put your network marketing business on a budget.  It is far too easy to get carried away and spend more than you need to at the very beginning.

You'll need some startup cash, but it can go quickly so be smart.  A beginning budget may be broken down into categories like this:

• Product Inventory - whether it's a hard product or an informational product, you will probably need to make some initial investment.   Don't go overboard until you know that you and the particular mlm business are a good fit.
•  
• Promotions/Advertising - there are a lot of ways to get free traffic on the internet, and you can upgrade to the ones that cost as your business grows.  However, you will still need business cards, business stationery, thank you for your business greeting cards, etc.  Don't forget to include the cost of postage. You may also give away free samples, or doorprizes for certain events which you need to deduct from your promotional budget. Plan on $50-$100 a month to start.
• Training - Your mlm may offer training.  Ours was up to three times a week at $7.00 a pop.  Then there are the seminars, and leadership training meetings which can be $75.00 and up.  I prefer to spend my training budget on programs I have hand picked to suit my needs.  For example, I bought "The Renegade Network Marketer" book by Ann Sieg for $67.00.  I then became an affiliate which cost me nothing.  In return, I have access to all kinds of training and materials which I am free to peruse on my own.  There are also team calls or webinars which provide further instruction.  This ongoing training costs me less than it would have to attend three and a half weeks of my mlm training! Budget for any learning materials, books,  or resources you may come across.

• Web presence:  You can start out slow and cheap by using a no-cost service such as Squidoo.com.  At Squidoo, you can put up a little paragraph about something interesting in your area and include a link to your sales or "landing" page. A blog can be put up for a nominal fee as well.  You'll probably want to purchase a domain name or two. When you start to feel like you know what you are doing, you can put up a full blown site. Your company may have its own site, which has limited value.  More on that in the section on websites.
• Office supplies: maintenance on your computer, paper, ink cartridges, file folders, pens, pencils...keep track of all these purchases, and again, be sure to keep it separate from your household expenditures.
• Long distance or call minutes: you will likely be spending a good deal of time on the phone.  Be sure your phone plan has unlimited minutes.  You might consider getting a separate phone line for your business.  Most of my calls are outgoing, rather than incoming since I do so many consultations.  I have a service that lets me make phone calls from my computer, saving both my cell phone and the bill.
• Entertainment budget:  If you meet with clients over lunch or coffee, you need to budget in this expense.  Even buying someone a Starbucks coffee can add up if you do it several times a week!
• Get a good tax person who specializes in home business.  At least in the first year there will be deductions you never thought of so keep records of everything!  Include products that went for personal use, were given away, or which you sold without recouping the sales tax.   A great and easy to understand book I recently purchased is It's How Much You Keep That Counts! Not how much you Make. Authorized by Congress, the book spells out all kinds of deductions for your home business even your CPA may not know about! 
• Insurance and Legal Matters:  If you keep a large volume of product in your home, you may want to insure it.  Your home owner insurance will not necessarily cover any losses.  You also want to protect yourself from legal hassles.  Check with a lawyer about internet law compliance materials to avoid inadvertently getting in trouble when you post anything on the web! 
• Gasoline, parking fees, toll road expenses:  I had a meeting with a client at the Plaza of the Americas in downtown Dallas.  When the meeting was over, I had to pay over $14.00 in parking fees!  Yikes!

5.  Organize!

You will wind up with volumes of papers, notes, receipts, phone numbers, and so on and you'll waste precious time if you don't start out with a good filing system.  Get yourself an easy to use contact manager. Even the files on your computer will be much more manageable if you take the time to group them once in a while.  I have notes, emails, and send out campaigns grouped under categories like:

Step 1: set up initial appointment

This includes the prospect's contact info, an introductory email, notes on what I need to know about them to help come up with business solutions.

Step 2: initial consult and follow-up

This includes notes on their business needs, an appointment time for the full consultation (1 hour), email confirming date and time of consult, a worksheet to send to the client so they can take notes, consultation walk through notes, and follow up email.

Step 3: after the consultation

This includes any follow-up needed depending on whether they required further help, checking to see if they have questions, updating them on any new information relevant to their business.

You can see if all these documents were simply listed in the file, I would have to hunt and peck through each one to find what I needed.  And let's not even imagine what it would be like if the actual paperwork wasn't filed immediately!  Time is money, after all, and I don't want to be paying myself to look for something I should have put in the right place to start!

You will probably come up with additional categories that suit your business needs, but at least this will get you thinking in terms of the money going out.  Granted, it's much more fun to think about the money that's going to come in, but good bookkeeping at the start will save you from ugly surprises later!

Still wondering if now is the time to start a new business.  Check out Lane Romero-Reiss' article, Top Five Reasons to Consider a Home Business.  It's a great read with some valuable tips.