Archive for the ‘Work From Home (WAH)’ Category

Photo via Pexels

Making Ends Meet as a Stay-at-Home Mom: Tips for Earning and Saving

As a stay-at-home mom, it can be tough to make ends meet. While staying home with your kids means saving thousands of dollars in childcare costs every year, it also means significantly reducing your household income. To make ends meet, you’ll either need to find ways to earn money from home or make some serious budget cuts. The good news is that with good planning and some hard work, you can maintain a high quality of life while being home with the kids! Here are some tips from The Virtual Consulting Firm to help you get started.

Launch an Ecommerce Business

One of the best ways to make money as a stay-at-home mom is to launch an ecommerce business. You could sell handmade products, have your own products professionally manufactured, or drop-ship items straight from the supplier. As OptinMonster suggests, you can also sell digital products such as courses, ebooks, printables, and online tools.

Before launching your business, be sure to choose a business structure and register with your state. Forming an LLC is usually a good idea for small business owners. An LLC will protect your personal assets and help lower your tax bill. To form an LLC without hiring a lawyer, you can use an online formation service. Just be sure to review your state’s LLC rules first!

Return to School Online

Returning to school online, specifically pursuing a business degree, can significantly boost your earning potential and open up a world of career opportunities. Online bachelor’s degree business programs offer flexibility and convenience, allowing you to balance your studies with work or family commitments. These programs cover essential business principles and practices that can be directly applied in the real world, enhancing your professional skills and knowledge. With a business degree, you may qualify for higher-level positions, negotiate better salaries, or even venture into entrepreneurship. So, if you’re considering advancing your education, online business programs could be an investment worth considering for your future.

Learn a Trade

Learning a trade can be a powerful strategy to enhance your income and job stability. For instance, pursuing a trade like welding offers numerous benefits. Trades often allow you to work while you learn through apprenticeships, thus providing an income even as you expand your skills. Furthermore, trade schools generally cost less and take less time than traditional four-year degrees, making them a financially savvy choice for many individuals. Welding, in particular, is a high-demand field with strong earning potential. For those interested in this path, resources like Welding Logic offer valuable information and insights to help you navigate the trade successfully

Try Freelancing

Freelancing is another great way to earn money from home. Think about how you can convert your existing skills into marketable services. For example, if you—like many moms—are great at organizing and managing a hectic schedule, consider freelancing as a virtual assistant. You could also work as a freelance writer, graphic designer, social media manager, transcriber, editor, or marketer. Pick something that you’re good at and you’ll have your first clients in no time.

Evaluate Your Household Spending and Build a Budget

It could take weeks to months to start earning a living income with your side hustles, so you may have to reign in your household budget for a bit. Sit down and evaluate your monthly spending and look for items you can cut. InspiredBudget.com lists several non-essential items you should be able to cut from your budget if you’re strapped for cash. For example, try cutting out subscriptions, memberships, cable, takeout, expensive coffee, and bottled water. Small, repeated costs can quickly add up!

Declutter and Sell Unwanted Items

If you need money now, try selling some unwanted items. Spend some time decluttering your home and sorting through possessions you no longer use. Once you’ve accumulated a pile of things to sell, post your items on platforms where they have the best chance of selling and for the highest possible price. For example, eBay is great for name-brand items that are in high demand, Poshmark for designer apparel, DeCluttr for tech, and Facebook Marketplace for larger items like furniture and decor.

As a mom, you shouldn’t have to choose between making ends meet and staying home to raise your kids. Consider starting an ecommerce business, freelancing, returning to school, or learning a trade to bring in some income without working outside the home. Just remember to adjust your budget to account for changes to your household income!

Let us help you market, manage, and grow your business! Contact The Virtual Consulting Firm today!

This article was written by a guest writer, George Miller of securabilities.com

Become an Entrepreneur By Launching Your Side Hustle in 6 Steps

You’re curious about entrepreneurship, and you have a business idea in mind – but you also realize that you can’t leave your full-time job just yet. After all, you need a stable source of income and benefits for your family. But with this advice from The Virtual Consulting Firm, you can start a side hustle, test out your idea’s economic potential, and create a brand new income stream for your household. Here’s what you should include in your business plan, how to create a preliminary budget, and why you should form an LLC.

Set Up an LLC

Even if you haven’t mapped out every detail of your vision, you can register your company as an LLC before you start making sales. By researching how to start an LLC, you’ll keep your personal financial assets safe from litigation and qualify for certain tax perks. Additionally, you’ll want to set up a business bank account and open a credit card for your expenses.

Develop a Plan

If you’re launching a side hustle, you still need to create a business plan. Block off a few hours to drill down into the nitty-gritty details of your business idea. In your plan, Novo recommends including an executive summary and general company description, as well as an analysis of your market and major competitors. You can also write out your marketing and sales plan, along with descriptions of your offerings.

Budget Carefully

As you put together your business plan, you also need to think about your budget. Don’t treat this lightly – keeping your finances under control and your spending in check is of the utmost importance if you want to turn your business into a full-time income source down the line. Qonto states that your business budget should cover your estimated revenue, fixed and variable costs, one-time costs, cash flow projections, and expected profit.

Balance Your Schedule

As you get your side hustle running, you don’t want to stretch yourself too thin. If you’re juggling a side hustle with a 9-to-5 job, DollarSprout recommends setting clear boundaries early on. Define how many hours you’ll work per week, turn down work that would push you beyond those limits, and communicate your schedule to your loved ones.

Cost-Effective Marketing

You need to market your side hustle in order to attract your first customers or clients. How can you advertise with a limited budget? Turn to digital marketing channels! Set up a company website with a blog where you can share updates about your business, post product demo videos, and display your contact information.

You should also set up business profiles across several popular social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If your target audience is on the younger side, it’s a good idea to start using TikTok for your business, too! It’s free to utilize all of these platforms, which makes social media marketing very cost-effective.

Hire Contractors

Do you need a little help managing your side hustle? You don’t have to burn yourself out trying to do everything on your own, but you don’t necessarily have to hire employees right away, either. Instead, consider hiring independent contractors and freelancers for tasks like writing blog posts, updating your social media profiles, or bookkeeping!

Starting a side hustle is a great way to learn the ropes of business ownership without the financial struggles that come with full-time entrepreneurship. You can test the waters, tweak your business model, and keep saving money and supporting your family! With these tips, you’ll be ready to file for LLC status, hire contractors for help, and manage your schedule with these new responsibilities.

The Virtual Consulting Firm is unique in our ability to offer you the services of the best consultants, software and web developers, information technology (IT) and business professionals. If you have any questions, please email info@TheVCF.com.

Photo via Pexels

This article was written by a guest writer, Christopher Haymon of Adulting Digest

Starting a Business With Your Special Someone

When you’re in love, you want to do everything together. Why not embrace your small business dreams as a couple, as well? There are some definite benefits and drawbacks, but with a bit of awareness, you can run a successful business with your significant other.

Planning on becoming a successful virtual consultant? The Virtual Consulting Firm can help you market, manage, and grow your business!

Take Your First Steps

One of the best things you can do for your fledgling business is to write a business plan which specifically lays out your plans and goals for the business. The document has sections to describe your business motto and culture, detail products and services, specify the business structure, and project funding and earnings information.

Once the business plan is completed, you both should have a clear idea of what you’re doing, though you should feel free to revisit this living document any time you need to.

Purchase a Larger House for Your Home Business

As your business grows, you may find that you need more room to accommodate inventory, supplies, or customers. If this is the case, you may want to consider buying a larger home for your business. While this may seem like a daunting expense, it can actually save you money in the long run. First of all, you won’t have to pay for commercial rental space. Additionally, you may be able to take advantage of lower property taxes and insurance rates by running your business out of your home.

When you’re ready to purchase a home, research home prices in your area and then connect with a knowledgeable real estate professional who can help you find the right home for your business.

Separate Romance and Business

When you spend all day with your sweetie, lines become blurred between business partner and loved one. Making a few changes and considerations from the very beginning may help you avoid this potential pitfall.

• Set clear roles. Each of you should have a specific part of the business you’re in charge of. Think of your individual strengths, and begin there. This prevents you from stepping on each other’s toes for every decision.
• Set time boundaries. Especially at the beginning, launching a new business takes a lot of time and effort. Be sure you’re setting specific time boundaries on when you’ll work, and then stick to them. While you can work at different times, you both should be putting similar amounts of time into working on the business unless you’ve discussed otherwise.
• Don’t bring work home, and vice versa. If you have an argument one evening, you can’t let that come to work with you the next day. By the same token, if you two have a disagreement about something in the business, shelve it at the end of the work day. Don’t bring that home to your private life.

Keep the Fires Burning

At some point, you just need to hang up your work hat and spend some time with the person you love. One great idea is to schedule a regular date night. Try something new every month, but make sure you’re not simply spending your entire dinner talking about inventory or finances.

While it may sound counterintuitive, it’s also helpful to spend some time without your partner. Go out with friends, watch a movie, or just run errands on your own. This helps keep you from being in each other’s face all the time, and gives you more to talk about at the end of your day than work, work, work.

Maintain Balance and Achieve Business Success

Write a detailed business plan, purchase a new home if you need more space for a home business, separate your relationship from your business, and find ways to stay romantic. Keeping these simple tips in mind helps you balance home and work with your special someone.

Image via Pexels

This article was written by a guest writer, Vanessa Holwell.

Vanessa Holwell and her husband, Rick, created HiringSquad.net after losing their jobs during the financial crisis in 2008. The site is designed to be a forum for people to share advice on how to get hired, provide job search resources, and give you the tools you need to get the job you want.

Photo Credit: Visually Us via Pexels

Upgrade Your Home Workspace on a Budget With These Essential Tips

During the height of the pandemic, many people spent a lot of time working from home and discovered that there’s room for change where their furnishings and decor are concerned. Fortunately, if you want to refresh your home workspace but don’t want to spend a ton of money, there are lots of options to choose from. Adding greenery, overhauling upholstery, and eliminating clutter are just a few things you can do to give your home office a facelift. Courtesy of The Virtual Consulting Firm, here are a few ways you can freshen up your workspace on a budget.

Clean Up

It can be difficult to truly see the condition your office furniture is in when you use it every day, so throw open the windows and let some natural light in while you look over your favorite chair. Upholstery stains aren’t always easy to clean at home, but if you’re not ready to give up on the piece just yet, you can take it to a pro. Look online for a local reupholstery company, but before hiring, ask them for customer referrals to get an idea of what you can expect. Just beware of pros who use all-in-one cleaning tools as not all stains and fabrics are equal. Also, be mindful of furniture warranties that may cover the cost of cleaning (or may end up voided in the process).

You can also invest in a stick vacuum cleaner that you can keep in a corner or small closet. That way, if a spill occurs or a two- or four-legged child brings in mud, you can get it cleaned up quickly and easily.

Get Rid of Clutter

Cleaning doesn’t just apply to your furniture. When you stay busy with work and home responsibilities, it’s easy to let things pile up on your desk. But clutter can have an adverse effect on your mood and leave you feeling distracted. Declutter your entire workspace by setting up a filing system that works for you and by adding organizational tools that will allow you to keep things neat, even if you have a small space. Renters might benefit from utilizing over-the-door organizers or hanging shelves that will make storage a breeze.

Lighten Up Your Space

Decluttering can lighten your mood, but you can also add a few things to your home office to make it a more comfortable space while also reducing stress. Greenery, natural or soft lighting, and soothing wall colors are just a few examples of things that will make your workload a little easier to bear. If you don’t like the idea of painting the walls to brighten your space, consider using custom wallpaper. This is a type of wallpaper that you can customize, allowing you to play around with designs. You can also use peel-and-stick options to create quick, replaceable accent walls.

You can also think about how to make your space more physically comfortable or health-conscious, such as adding a standing desk to prevent sitting for long periods of time or a footrest that will keep your spine aligned when you are sitting.

Ensure Productivity

Working from home can be a challenge, no matter how well you’ve designed your office space. There will always be distractions of some kind, especially if you have family members or pets at home while you’re working. The good news is, there are some easy ways to increase your productivity, such as investing in a new laptop.

You can also find a smart assistant that can help out with your calendar or a time tracker that can help you stay on task. You can also look for online resources that make your work easier — such as file-sharing services, communication apps, and email managers — so you can shave a few minutes off your workday.

Design for Functional Comfort

Carefully choose a workspace that maximizes your productivity instead of choosing to work at the dining table or kitchen counter. Making a space that is clearly for work will help you to compartmentalize more and avoid the blurring that can happen between work and personal life in a work from home environment.

The temperature of your workspace can also make a huge difference in your productivity. If you are too hot, you can become sleepy. If you are too cold, you will find it hard to focus. So take a moment to schedule an HVAC tune-up to ensure things are working properly and to prevent a possible breakdown when you most need it. But finding the ideal HVAC repair company is no small task. Look online for review sites and prioritize one that allows you to customize your search. Choose a few promising looking options and call around to inquire about pricing and service availability. Take note of their customer service, too, because these employees will likely be in and out of your home for a few hours. You want to make sure you’ll be comfortable with them there.

Creating the perfect home office doesn’t have to be expensive, and in fact, when you make certain upgrades, you can actually increase the appraisal value of your home. In addition to boosting your home’s value, making the changes outlined above can affect everything from your productivity to your mood. Make a list of the most important aspects of a home office for your needs and look at your current setup with a critical eye. Sometimes all it takes is a few small alterations to make a big difference.

When you find yourself stuck and in need of advice with your IT or business questions, contact The Virtual Consulting Firm. We can help you through tough situations to get you up and running smoothly and more efficiently than before.

This article was written by a guest writer, Adam Evans. 

Adam Evans has worked in a variety of educational roles, from substitution to full-time teaching to administration positions. Currently a full-time private tutor, he likes to spend his free time exploring museums and natural wonders of the West Coast with his wife and their sons.

Would you like to be a Virtual Consultant?, but you don’t know how to get started as a Virtual Consultant?, then this Video is For You!

Would you like to be able to work from virtually anywhere?

Would you like to be able to work whenever you want?

Would you like to be able to do what you want?

Would you like to be able to work for yourself?

Then this Video is For You!

In this video we will walk you step by step through how to get started as a Virtual Consultant.

🔴 Please also Join us in the Virtual Consulting Community by Subscribing to the Virtual Consulting YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFSf6INwnjzWf-nk8sZc4Ww and Please Click the Bell Icon so that You are Notified and Never Miss an Episode, All for FREE.

🔽 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO 🔽

✅ The Virtual Consulting Firm’s web site | http://www.TheVCF.com

✅ The Virtual Consulting Firm on Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/TheVCF

✅ The Virtual Consulting Firm on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/252661

✅ Website hosting by HostGator | https://referral.hostgator.com/s/smslapis124

Thank You again for taking the time to watch our Virtual Consulting video(s)! and Have a Great Day!

Image via Unsplash

Five Steps to Becoming a Digital Nomad

While the pandemic has introduced many challenges, it has also inspired innovation. Around the world, businesses started working remotely in response to lockdown. Even though the economy has started to stabilize, many businesses continue to encourage remote work.

The future of remote work appears to be a permanent adjustment, and this has a direct impact on the business landscape. Another development has been the rise in the number of digital nomads. If you’re a budding entrepreneur with the desire to start your own business and work remotely, then now is the time. In order to enjoy the many benefits of the lifestyle, proper preparation is needed. Here are five basic steps to start working as a digital nomad, brought to you by The Virtual Consulting Firm.

Identify Your Working Role

Many businesses allow their employees to work remotely. Normally, this means working at home or at coffee shops, but within the same city. In some instances, employees are able to travel to further-flung areas. Another way to support yourself as a digital nomad is to start your own freelance business. Forming a limited liability company (LLC) offers several benefits for freelancers. Some benefits include the following:

• Tax advantages such as pass-through deduction
• Limit personal liability
• Less paperwork and admin
• Flexible structure for profit sharing and management

Each state demands its own regulations and legal requirements. Hiring the help of a formation service such as ZenBusiness ensures that all requirements are met, without having to pay hefty lawyer fees.

Make the Necessary Preparations

Working remotely demands a shift in how business is conducted. There are certain steps needed to ensure that you have everything that you require for a productive working environment — whether you’re working at home or 500 miles away.

Some preparations to consider include:

• Digital nomad gear such as laptops, chargers, and power banks
• All necessary documentation for travel
• Lifestyle adjustments and how to adapt
• Availability of a productive workplace

Improve Skills for Remote Work

Working remotely removes the opportunity for water cooler conversations and in-person contact. When preparing to be a digital nomad, it’s important to take stock of your existing capabilities and which skills need to be refined. Certain skills are needed to find success while working remotely. Some areas to focus on include computer literacy, using technological tools, communication efforts, and self-discipline.

Reduce Unnecessary Costs and Items

Saving costs is an important step in setting yourself up for remote work. In many ways, working as a digital nomad demands a minimalist lifestyle.

There are several ways to reduce unnecessary costs and declutter your lifestyle. The following tips can help you save costs and improve profit, as well as help to move from one location to another without much effort.

• Sell non-essential items
• Rent belongings and assets for extra income while on the road
• Streamline your wardrobe and gear

Adapt Your Budget for Travel

While you may not be paying for office space or commute, you will incur travel costs. Working as a digital nomad demands that your budget is adjusted and updated. Certain costs to consider include airfare, reducing costs on accommodation, and paying for visas.

When registering your business as an LLC, you have the added benefit of putting those costs through the business account.

Working remotely as a digital nomad offers increased flexibility, inspiration, and productivity. A little bit of effort can go a long way in streamlining the process and enjoying the benefits.

This article was written by a guest writer, Lance Cody-Valdez, Free-lance-now.com

Lance Cody-Valdez decided it was time to invest in himself. He quit his job the following day and used his meager savings to stay afloat as he built a career as a freelance writer and content marketer. He created free-lance-now.com to help others use freelancing to escape the 9 to 5 daily grind.

Make Money Working From Home Now as a Freelancer!

Join each of the following for FREE and Start Making Money Working From Home Today as a Freelancer!:

(more…)

Make Money online from home just playing games!

Join each of the following for FREE and Start Making Money from home just by playing games! :

(more…)

Start Making Money online Now for FREE with Any and/or All of the Products and/or Services from The Virtual Consulting Firm Today!

by …

Joining The Virtual Consulting Firm’s Affiliate Program for FREE

Now! at:

http://www.thevcf.com/affiliates.phtml

and You will Receive several FREE Gifts just for joining!

Would you like to start Making Money working from home Now?

You Can! … and You can Chose how you would like to start Making Money working from home all for FREE! …

(more…)

Wouldn’t You like to Make Money Tweeting on Twitter?

Image via CrunchBase

Now You can! …

… and for FREE / at No Cost to you!

(more…)