Home Business

The home business has undergone a radical shift since the days of the cottage industry in which entrepreneurs engaged in manufacturing out of houses, employing workers on a part-time basis. Today's home business is likely to be high-tech, with computers, high-speed internet, and cell phones as the main tools for reaching out to the target market. And the concept of "part-time" is no longer applicable these days: with the internet connecting the entire world 24/7, the home business is usually operational at all hours of the day.

Many successful businesses today started out as home businesses. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, for example, built their first Apple computers in 1976 out of a garage workshop. And Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook out of his dorm room in 2004. Today Apple and Facebook are two of the biggest businesses in the world, and while they are no longer home-based, their roots tell us just how important it is to start small.

Many people, of course, will want to keep their home business small and manageable. Not all of us have the desire to rule the world, and we are content with living simply and earning modest incomes from the labor of our hands. Fortunately, this is a very real prospect today with all the advances in technology. One who has a good product or service can readily have a global presence through a website, a blog, or by the use of the aforementioned Facebook or any other social networking site.

How a Home Inspection Could Save You Money

When you're buying a home, whether that home is brand-new and has never been lived in, or the home is half a century old, one of the most important things you should do is have a home inspection done by a reputable home inspection company. You may think that a home that looks to be in good condition could do without an inspection, but this home could still have problems that aren't visible to the untrained eye. These hidden problems, when undiscovered, could rack up thousands of dollars in unplanned repairs and additional costs. This is where you can save big by having your potential new home inspected.

So, how can a home inspection save you money? For starters, there may be deficiencies in the home that aren't immediately apparent, but could end up costing you quite a bit of money to repair down the line. For instance, skipping over a home inspection could cost you later if you realize that you need to replace a few windows. At between $200 and $600 per window, this is not an inexpensive project. If the furnace in the home is on its last legs and its condition isn't revealed by a home inspection, it could cost you a few thousand dollars to replace the furnace outright.

An inspection can also save you money by putting you in a better position to negotiate during the home buying process. If you discover a number of issues with the home, but you still like it enough to undertake the necessary repairs, you might have some leverage to talk down the original asking price to compensate for your repairs and time investment.