Small business resouce kit?

[em1880]

Does anyone have any experience with these home business resource kits that I've seen online. I have just started a small home based business and I wondering if anyone has tried and if so had success or failure with buying or subscribing to resources for helping your business. I know some give discounts on office supplies or help with marketing or website design. Any feedback?

[Harold Mansfield]

I don't have any experience with them personally,(meaning that I have never ordered one or inquired about them) but I would be leery of anything titled "Home Based Business", Make Money Online", or "Make Money from Home" that asks for money.
Odds are you can get the same resources for free, if they are really offering any, and the rest are just straight scams.

It's the hot buzz word right now online because so many people are looking for answers to increasing their income and the internet is still seen by many, who don't know any better, as easy money...and it is not.

I say this based on experience of how easy it is to set up a website based on the latest trends, and offer BS to people who don't know any better, and how many offers spring up when something is a hot topic.

Any specific questions about starting up a business, you can likely get answered right here from multiple sources for free.

[Patrysha]

Not all info products are created equal. And you can get a lot further a lot quicker with a few low cost marketing/seo/web design/copywriting/publicity guides than trying to dig through all of the information out there and get it all figured out on your own. It costs a few dollars but it can save tons of time...especially if you aren't Google proficient.

Spending $10-$100 every so often for a decent resource can save you hours of time and months of aggravation.

I spent $20 on an info-guide for daycare providers way back when I started out. Yeah, most of the information was stuff I'd already read in the books I'd borrowed from the library on various small business topics, but this was geared towards childcare providers and if I recall had a few templates that could be easily adapted. I spent a few dollars on a couple of bookkeeping and tax guides specific to childcare providers. There are legitimate sources of information out there.

I do know people who make a significant income online. None of them claim it was an overnight success and all of them have been through tough times of one sort or another over the years, but all are proof that the Internet is a goldmine if one is willing to put in the work.

No guide in the world can do the work for you...and no one but you can bring the patience and drive it takes to get to that level. But there is plenty of free and affordable help out there to see if you have what it takes to make it happen for you. Like any other business, it's not for everyone - but for those it is right for can expect results if they work at it :-)

[Harold Mansfield]

I would agree with Patrysha. Industry specific resources are a much better bet for getting some decent information. General "Make Money" or "Business" stuff is usually a waste of time and money and most times is a recruitment for you to sign up and pay for more stuff that never really pans out.

[em1880]

Thanks for the replies. I try to be very careful about different scams out there, my husband and I have differing views on things that we need for the business and things we don't, and of course this is something that he thinks will be helpful. He signed up for a subscription site for $15 a month and he got $45 off his first Office Depot order, so he actually made back the money and some so far. So for this month it will be worth it. I think we'll go on a month by month basis.

[Harold Mansfield]

Over the years I have had many subscriptions to things like that. I don't see any harm in them, especially for $10-$20 a month...I'll leave that as a tip at the bar. It's when we start talking about hundreds that I get leery and have to investigate.

These days it would have to offer some technical benefits or licenses that I could use for client work for me to consider anything for more than a few bucks here and there.

[em1880]

We are just starting out so we will see how it goes. I can't complain so far. They have a couple of other things we're interested in like helping check vendors credit history and helping us set up things like accepting credit cards. We'll be looking into them over the weekend. We did have a problem with a supplier, so it would be nice to be able to have some background information on them before we hand over our money.

[Harold Mansfield]

Sounds more like help and resources membership community than what I envisioned based on your original post. I was thinking that you were speaking of websites that offer to show you how to start a home based business for a fee. So you will have to take my comments with a grain of salt since it seems we were talking about 2 different things.

[em1880]

sorry if I was not clear in my original post. It's called a home business survival kit. It gives you access to resources if you already have a business. I do appreciate your comments and your insight. I'm new to owning a business so it's great that there are people out there willing to give unbiased advice and suggestions.

[Spider]

Well, I don't know about "unbiased." We all speak from differing levels of experience and will have different biases. My advice and suggestions will certainly be biased by my experience. That will likely be different from other peoples' experiences which will add a different bias to their advice and suggestions.

Bias isn't a bad thing when you are asking different people for their opinions.