eBay® PowerSeller Business Practices FOR DUMMIES®

Chapter 45. Running a Smooth Office

And you thought that running an eBay business was all about buying, selling, and shipping — plus the occasional bookkeeping. That should be enough — but there's even more. Taxes (as mentioned previously) and government regulations also make running a small business a time-consuming task.

You're gonna need help. Trust me: If you want your business to grow, you're going to have to pay for some outside help.

The downfall of many expanding small businesses is that the hire more and more staff, with the vision of expansion. Bigger business = more revenue. This is not always the case. In my own experience (as well as that of many others), you can hire more people, bring in more sales, and still not make any more profit than you did when you were operating out of your garage with one employee. This is a common scenario. Being tight with spending money and keeping on top of your business are the best ways to gauge your success.

At some point, you have to decide whether you want to expand. You may not be prepared to go to the next step up the ladder, and that's okay. Not everyone wants to be responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in monthly expenses. I was there. My home-based marketing business expanded, and I was offered a client list that would have brought me into big money. I honestly didn't have the stomach for all that stress — and declined. It was a good decision.

Finding Help for Your Business

Seems like an easy task, finding people to work ...