Once opportunity knocks on your door, you have to grab it right away and as long as the iron is hot, you have to strike it now. Such are adages that are quite applicable when you are planning to have a home based business. Homebased businesses offer lots of possibilities of earning money and the chance to become your own boss completes the deal. To some, this is the one time opportunity they have been waiting and the right thing to deal with it is to grab it immediately.Network communication is one opportunity that shouldn’t be missed if you are seriously considering a home business. People who have the intention to explore something new and something that can be learned easily perceive network communication as a very good home based business.For the record, network communication involves a lot of promotion activities. Promotion activities may include promoting a product or a service that requires data or content writing, article writing, filling out of forms, medical transcription, reading emails, joining subscriptions, and a lot of advertising strategies.However, it should be noted that such opportunities are a sea of opportunity and this is overwhelming. If you want to excel in doing and managing your home business, you have to carefully and professionally choose which among the many promotion activities will give you the huge income and the great convenience. By doing so you have to consider a number of things and some of which is your knowledge about the company you will help to promote and the time you can allot to do the marketing services.The economy has been recovering from the previous depression and recession and a lot of money making opportunities have risen to help entrepreneurs start anew. This opportunity is the exactly the representation of the adage, strike while the iron is hot because the bandwagon of starting a homebased business has been doing well so far. Talented and promising entrepreneurs see internet marketing as a powerful opportunity that should be explored.So, to start a new homebased business is one way of becoming successful in the future. Apparently it involves a lot of hard work, capital, and most of your time. But if you know how to cope with the pressure of starting a new internet home based business, then you are on your way to success.

The Top Mistakes made by Investors

In my dozen plus years of advising individuals and businesses I have found a number of common mistakes that have derailed even the best laid financial plans. I thought by sharing them I might be able to help others sidestep the pitfalls and the negative impact they can have on your portfolio and long-term financial plans.

1. Failing to establish a time horizon and investing accordingly -

If you have expenses that need to be funded in 3 years or less, you should not be investing the cash for them in the stock market or other risky investments. These monies should be carved out of your investment portfolio (the money earmarked for long-term investing) and invested appropriately in liquid assets such as money market funds or term-certain fixed income offerings. If the money is not going to be needed for 3 years or more, an investment plan should be established based upon specific a time horizon and risk tolerance for these funds.

2. Failing to thoroughly diversify your portfolio -

Many investors know about the concept of diversification and think that by owning different investments, they are diversified. Diversification of an investment portfolio makes good sense on an intuitive level. However, it wasn’t until Harry Markowitz published his model of portfolio selection that this concept became a formalized part of sound investment practice and formed the basis of today’s Modern Portfolio Theory. Beyond this basic concept of diversification, the key to Markowitz’s premise is the revelation that the risk of any investment can be reduced and/or performance increased by forming a portfolio of diverse and non-correlated assets. That is, it is important not just to seek a diversity of asset types, but also to seek assets that have low or near-zero correlations to one another. It’s not about owning different investments; it’s about owning different, non-correlated investments.

3. Letting potential tax implications rule your investment decisions -

Many investors delay selling an investment that has done well regardless of how good or bad the future looks for the holding. Their response is, “I will have to pay taxes if I sell.” By not selling, they set themselves up for not having to pay taxes at all – usually because the investment starts on a decline and their concern switches from “having to pay taxes” to one of “hoping for a turnaround.” Don’t be afraid to take some profits off the table. While taxes are an unpleasant result of investing, I prefer to look at them as a positive sign as it indicates you are making money and your investment plan is working.

4. Buying a stock based upon a “hot tip” -

Too many investors listen to a friend’s advice because he or she always seems to have the next “great” money making idea. They don’t take the time to assess the idea personally and jump in because it’s only a few thousand dollars they are investing. Unfortunately this is not investing – it’s gambling. If you want to gamble, go to Vegas and at least get free drinks, dinner, a show and a room for the risks you are taking. Any investment that is being considered for your portfolio should be thoroughly researched and have passed a comprehensive financial screening scrutiny.

5. Attempting to time the market -

Waiting an extra day, week, or month to try and buy in at the “right price” just doesn’t work. No one can predict the future. If they could they most likely wouldn’t be sharing this knowledge with you for free. Successful investors use time, patience and a disciplined approach to increase the likelihood of maximizing their investment returns – not trying to time the market. If you have done the research and the investment is sound and meets your criteria then buy it, regardless of timing.

6. Failing to regularly reevaluate your investments -

Over time all investment styles, strategies and types fall out of favor. So, like timing the market, it becomes virtually impossible to know what is going to be “hot” in the next bull market and what isn’t. For this reason it is always prudent to stay up-to-date on your investments to insure they are still the same investment that you originally purchased (segment drift and manager changes can be one reason they may have changed). If your investments consist solely of mutual funds then an annual review is a good place to start.

7. Basing investment decisions on emotion -

Maybe the stock market is going through a bad time because of a short-term geo-political or economic event. Stay calm and make an educated, well thought out decisions about what, if anything, to do. Assess whether the event will affect the economy long-term or if it’s just a short-term blip. The best move is often no move at all. If it is a short term incident, many times the smart, prudent investor will make additional investments because the current decline provides them with an excellent buying opportunity. The key to successful investing is to have a disciplined strategy and to stick with it.

8. Cashing out gains and dividends rather than reinvesting -

Once you’ve realized gains or had distributions and dividends paid out, insure they are reinvested back into your portfolio. If you pull out your capital gains, dividends and interest, your money won’t compound as quickly, thereby leaving you with a smaller chunk of change down the line. Letting your investments compound is one of the major tenets of successful investing.

9. Owning too much employer stock -

Many people get over-weighted in employer stock because of options and stock purchase plans made available in today’s competitive compensation packages. While these are great supplements to their annual salary they can put an employee in a position of having too much money invested in their employer’s stock. Additionally, it is quite common for people to invest in “what they know” and what do you know better than the company you work for? To compound the problem many people will add more employer stock to their 401k holdings and individual brokerage accounts. Not only does this create a diversification problem in their portfolio but it also subjects them to excessive single stock risk. A good rule of thumb to follow is to insure that no more than 5-10% of your entire investment portfolio is in any one single stock. If you find yourself in this situation the importance of creating a well thought out reduction strategy cannot be overstated.

10. Following the herd -

The most successful of all investors are moving in the opposite direction of what everyone else is doing. They buy when most are selling and sell when everyone else is buying. By following this simple plan you can preserve your capital and potentially sidestep the next bubble (can anyone remember real estate, internet stocks, and technology growth funds?).

11. Not investing at all -

Somehow in today’s society that Mocha Cappuccino Latte seems to take precedence over saving for the long-term. We are a society who wishes to satisfy the “here and now” rather than the securing our future. The important fact here is that those two are not mutually exclusive. In fact, BALANCE is the key in any long-term endeavor, but by always keeping an eye on the end goal you can make sure it is not out of mind while satiating the here and now.

12. Investing without a plan -

Investing without a plan and lacking the discipline to follow it is a sure way to lower your chances of success. The chances of obtaining any long term goal can be greatly enhanced by creating a strategy, following it and regularly reviewing it frequently enough so it reflects any changes that have taken place since implementation. Many investors start off with a small amount of money and start putting it to work without a plan. As time progresses they find they have a mish-mash of investments in their portfolio with no clear strategy or direction. It’s never too early to invest but it’s even better to invest early with a plan.

13. Taking too little risk -

Some people don’t want to take any risk and cannot stand the volatility involved with risky investments. While it may seem like you are keeping your money safe and secure by not taking risk, it is more than likely you are not because of inflation. If your time horizon is greater than 5 years it is recommended that you have no less than 25-30% in growth investments (i.e. stocks) in your portfolio to ward off the effects of inflation. The actual percentage to own is dependent upon many factors including but not limited to age, time horizon before money is needed, current financial situation, etc. A good general rule of thumb to use as a starting point for the percentage of equity you may include in your portfolio is “120 – your age.”

Yes, it is true that operating a home based business can be challenging yet rewarding in the same instance. Even though it can at times be utter chaos running your own business, there are some tools which you can use to make your life easier. For instance, if you operate a home based business in which you need to constantly ship packages to your customers, it makes sense to set yourself up with a digital scale and a method to print off shipping labels from your computer. Such a step can save several hours over the course of a month.To understand what I am talking about, let us look at two different scenarios. The first scenario is one which requires that you pile your packages into the car, drive to the post office or wherever you ship out of, stand in line, have your packages weighed, purchase labels, get back into your car, and drive back home. The second scenario is one which requires that you turn on your digital scale, weigh the packages that you plan to ship, print off the shipping labels from your computer, and have these packages picked up at your house by your shipping company. Which scenario do you think is more time efficient? Of course, the second scenario. Saving this much time per week is the equivalent to hiring a part-time employee. Except, you do not have the expense.The key to running a successful home based business is efficiency. Having everything that you need within your grasp in an important aspect of efficiency and optimal time management. Thus, you should always take the time to keep an inventory of the supplies which you use on a daily basis so that you do not have to constantly interrupt your work when you run out. A good idea is to purchase your supplies in bulk. Not only does purchasing supplies in bulk minimize trips to the store, it also enables you to cut cost. Some supply companies will even deliver your products straight to your door, saving you even more time.You should also take steps to identify what adds value to your home based business, and what does not. For instance, if you find that you are taking a great deal of time and effort to send a weekly newsletter to your customers, and very few customers are subscribing to this newsletter, it might be a good time to re-evaluate. Perhaps your customers do not want such frequent contact. Maybe it is a good idea to go with a monthly newsletter, rather than weekly. No only will this afford you more time, it may lead to more subscribers.Above all, make sure that you are offering stellar customer service and solid products to the customers of your home based business. This will lead to their ultimate satisfaction with your company. Keep in mind that your customers are the only reason why you remain in business. By taking the time to make your home based business more efficient, you can spend more time catering to the needs of your customers.