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[H476]Home Based Medical Coding

by John Hacking, Joh

The answer to this question is a definite YES! I have lots of business associates in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand who are working in a home based business and making thousands of dollars each month. In fact the woman who introduced me to my home based business is only 25 years of age and she made over $500,000 in her first 12 months of her business.

I am now duplicating her results, but please read on and you will learn about what I have achived and experienced in 3 very different situations and how in the end I succeeded in taking control of my future.

My Traditional Business Experience
I used to own and manage a very lucrative and high profile restaurant and bar in Brisbane, Queensland for a period of over 12 years. I started it from scratch and like most traditional businesses it was really expensive to set up and the running costs were enormous.

Although I made a lot of money with this business, I finally decided to offload it when I came to realise that the long hours and constant stress of managing over 30 employees, dealing with various government requirements, endless paper work and hundreds of customers per week was absolutely destroying my life.

You can become rich with a standard business but you will need to be extremely committed as you won't be able to walk out and close the door anytime you want. There will be lots of work to do and deadlines to meet, customers to please and more than likely, staff to hire and mentor unless you want to do all the work yourself. The hours are generally very long and in most cases the business can end up being your life. Another point to consider is that you'll be on your own to work things out and solve any problems as they arise.

My Job Experience
After selling the business, I decided that a job would be a better alternative to being in business so I set about finding one and little did I know what I was in for! I spent 8 hours a day scouring the employment classifieds, networking, perfecting my resume and attending interviews for jobs I didn't even want. I felt undervalued and demoralised and almost gave up hope before I finally landed a job with a firm as an Events Manager.

All good you might well think, but unfortunately this was not the case as now I was into something that would cost me 12 hours of my time, 5 days a week as I got dressed up for work, traveled to and from work and actually did the work. I was working under considerable stress and was totally stressed out by having to answer to a boss and co-ordinate every single element of each event from travel and accommodation arrangements, key note speakers, entertainment and right down to sorting out what type of lettuce should go on the dinner plates of the attendees. What a nightmare! But the thing that annoyed me the most was that I was doing all of this to make my boss richer while I had to settle for a small pay packet at the end of each week. JOB = Just over broke.

My Home Business Experience
As you might have guessed, I didn't stay in my job as an Event Manager for long. I had spent seven months of my life trying to find the right career and after only 1 month I resigned.

I had no idea what to try next but I was determined to find something that would tick ALL the boxes for me and knew that I first needed to get very clear about what I really wanted.

I did not want to:
Own and manage a stressful, traditional type of business
Outlay a lot of money to get started in a new business
Answer to a boss and have to beg for time off work

I did want to
Earn a lot of money
Work from home
Take control of my future

With the above in mind, I spent the next couple of months researching my options until I was eventually attracted to an advertisement (placed by a 25 year old lady) about a home based business opportunity. I must admit that I was pretty hesitant to begin with but I decided I had nothing to lose by finding out more so I answered the ad and within 1 week I was up and running with my very own home based business.

On my best day so far, I earned five thousand dollars but what I really love about my home business most is that I actually took back control of my own life. I now work the hours I choose, from the comfort of home or anywhere I like really with my laptop and phone. I don't have to juggle and manage staff anymore and gone is all the stress. I fit my work around my life, generally about 25 hours per week and I absolutely love what I do.

It's not for everyone however and if you are considering getting started in a home business you should ask yourself the following important questions:

1. Is the business aligned with your income and lifestyle goals?
2. Do you have some money and time to invest into the business?
3. Can you work diligently as your own boss and without supervision?
4. Will there be anyone to help or guide you if you get stuck along the way?

Yes! You can make money with home based businesses. Lots of money!

We all know how much we love our businesses and what a joy it is to be able to finally say, I own my own business and then to actually start making money doing it. It's the best! However, sometimes it's just hard to do. We've all been there -- The biggest project of your business finally comes your way, and that's when the entire family comes down with the flu, including you. You land your dream client, one that you've been after for months, if not years, and then your inlaws call and say they are making a surprise visit, they will be there tomorrow.

So what's a successful entrepreneur to do? I think one of the most important things to do is just realize, sometimes it's going to be hard. And that's okay. Often I believe we feel that because we finally own our own business, and we work so hard for it, that we must be positive and happy ALL the time. We don't. Hopefully the majority of the time you will be, however, when things come up, it's AOK to say, wow, this is tough and find support. Have an online or offline buddy that you can go to and talk. Someone who will say, hey it's going to be better; someone who knows you and knows just the right thing to say to make it better.

It's also important to plan ahead. No, you can't tell when the kids will get sick. However, you can plan and have a back-up subcontractor so you can go straight to plan B. The time to plan for this is before it happens, way before you need it.

Here are a few tips I hope you find beneficial:

1) Find someone now who can help you with your business. Send them work now so they become familiar with your needs. Let them know that you will be using them on a sporadic basis. You'll probably find that once you see how much help they provide you use them a lot more than you thought, but at least you know you have the support you need.

2) Computers - Hands up - who backed up their system last week? Ouch!! Think about this, how would you feel if you went to turn on the computer and it was blank, dead, gone. That can and will happen. You need to back-up regularly and you need to check those back-ups. One thing I recently discovered is I backed up regularly to another computer. However, I couldn't retrieve the documents.

3) Internet down - Do you have a friend in the neighborhood who also has a computer that you can use. How about the local library. Most of the time you can wait it out, however, for many of us if we do legal or medical transcription, it's crucial to be able to get it there. I once had an attorney preparing for the trial of the century (at least he thought so). The case rested on me (at least that's what he told me), and right when it was time to send him all the pleadings, our phone went dead. (For all of you wondering, we did pay the bill, it was a technical problem). I immediately rushed over to my neighbors and was able to send the documents. My client was none the wiser.

4) Summertime - MOMS, tell the truth, it's hard. In the summer with the kids home from school it's harder to run a home-based business. They are bored. You are busy. And just because the school bell rang its last toll, the work still comes in. Here too you need to plan ahead. Two words, Summer Camp! If you can't do summer camp, then definitely get creative. Stock up on crafts at the Dollar Store. Get Paint by Number Books and things that will take time, and be fun. We have excellent ones at.virtualwordpublishing.com. Also, allow your children to get creative. Get 3 ring notebooks and allow them to write their own book adventures or design their own magazines. Scissors, a few old magazines, paste and a little imagination will go a long ways.

5) In laws - It's gonna happen. If you want to get busy in your business, have company come in town. Guaranteed, that's the time that you will be your busiest. I've been in business for 23 years now, and it seems that every time company comes into town, I get hit with a major rush. And it doesn't get easier with age. But one thing I do is plan ahead. Because I live in Florida and get lots of company, I can't take time off every time. However, what I can do is rotate and take time off with different clients. That way I'm not working for all my clients during that time. If you don't have a separate office, get a computer in your room. When visible, they feel you are available. When you work 9-5 you are unavailable until 5:30. However, when you happen to be in the same house, it's often easy for them to think you can socialize.

These tips should help you survive and thrive in your business even when times are tough.

Article Source : Pg. 21

About Author

Both John Hacking & Diana Ennen are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

John Hacking has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acne Treatment, Advertising Guide and Network Marketing. Christine Hamilton is currently making money in with . For more information about what she is actually doing, click. John Hacking's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.

Diana Ennen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Book Reviews, Home Businesses and Family. Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant - The Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Workbook.