Barbara Weltman: Home Business Start-Up Guide Author

Barbara Weltman is the founder of Big Ideas for Small Business, Inc., which publishes Idea of the Day® and the e-newsletter Big Ideas for Small Business®. She is an attorney, a trusted professional advocate for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and a prolific author of important books such as Home Business Magazine’s Home-Based Business Start-Up Guide, J.K. Lasser’s Small Business Taxes, J.K. Lasser’s Guide to Self-Employment, Smooth Failing, and the latest one: 500+ Big Ideas for Small Business. She is also a guest blogger for SBA.gov and other sites. She has been named one of the 100 Small Business Influencers in the nation and a winner of numerous awards for her blogs. She serves on the advisory board for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?

I am an attorney by trade and conducted my practice from an office I built onto my home. After I closed my practice and started my business, I continued working from home. I saw the opportunities and pitfalls of this work arrangement and wanted to share my experience and the numerous resources available to make working from home a successful arrangement. This was what inspired me to write Home Business Magazine’s Home-Based Business Start-Up Guide with Home Business Magazine’s publisher, Richard “Capt’n” Henderson.

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

It’s my hope that readers learn what key points they need to make working from home manageable for them. I want readers to take action and not just dream.

When will you consider your book a success?

For me, the success of my book is measured by the readers who take it to heart and start their own home-based businesses. When I hear from readers about their experiences, positive or negative, I know I’ve gotten through and made a difference.

Today, it’s easier than ever to start a business from home. The Internet enables you to perform just about all of the tasks you need to accomplish for starting and running a business. Don’t let a bad economy, such as a downturn triggered by a financial crisis, or other external factors keep you from moving forward. There are several good reasons why starting and running a business from home makes a lot of sense.

What advice do you have for new authors who want to write and self-publish their first book?

New authors need to be realistic about potential sales and their efforts to make things happen. No matter how good a book may be, it’s the marketing that makes it a success or not. They need to have a budget for marketing and implement it well.

One successful marketing technique has been to develop relationships with people in the media. Then, when they’re doing an article, podcast, or program, they turn to me as an “expert” and mention my book. This is “free” publicity, although it takes considerable time and effort to lay the groundwork.

If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?

My “note to younger self” would be to just go for it and not be as timid as I was when I started. I would not have chosen a different career because I love what I do, but I would have been braver.

My favorite business book is E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. It demonstrates how to be a business owner, working on your business and not just in it.

What is your favorite quote?

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin

Who should we interview next and why?

You should interview someone who has read Home Business Magazine’s Home-Based Business Start-Up Guide and started a company using the tools and advice in the book. It would be very interesting to learn how the book helped this person launch a home-based business, as well as any issues that the person faced that were not addressed in the book. There’s always something more to learn.