Working with your significant other from a shared home office, when done right, can be a great way to enhance your relationship and share a personal and professional space together.

According to recent research, more and more people are working from home both full and part-time. A 2018 report from FlexJobs found that 3.9 million Americans now work from home at least half the time.

That trend is expected to continue to rise in the future. The same report found that hiring managers are forecasting that more than one-third of employees will work remotely in the next 10 years. Recent Census data also shows that more and more Americans are working from home each year. Read more

Handyman businesses are in high demand. Homeowners have less and less time to take care of home improvement work themselves, so more and more, they’re hiring professionals to do it for them. If you’re thinking about entering the market, this is the time.

The proof is in the numbers. As the economy rebounds, experts are forecasting significant growth in the already highly-profitable home services and maintenance sector. The global cleaning services market is projected to grow by 6.2% between 2016 and 2022. Within this market, floor care services, in particular, have seen the most revenue gains thanks to greater demand.

What this means: If you’re a handyman (or are thinking about becoming one), it’s a great time to enter the market with a business or franchise. In this article, we’ll look at the best of two ways to do it: buying a franchise or starting a business from scratch. Read more

Want to trade in your nine-to-five job and work for yourself? You’re not alone. Self-employment is on the rise in America, right alongside the number of people earning six-figure incomes doing so, according to a recent report.

In 2017, the total number of self-employed Americans increased to 40.8 million. That’s up 2.8% from 2016, according to the report by MBO Partners. The number of full-time independent workers earning $100,000 or more rose to 3.2 million, up 4.9% since 2016.

In addition to earning more money, self-employed individuals are also reporting that they’re more happy and healthy without corporate shackles. 77% of self-employed survey respondents say they are happier working on their own than in a traditional job and 64% said independent work is better for their health.

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The handyman and home services industry is one of the most resilient areas for new business owners. Unlike many other markets, customer spending has already returned to pre-recession levels. Today, the industry is exploding thanks in part to online and mobile booking services that make it easier to find home service providers than ever before.

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There are different kinds of people who purchase franchises. Some like working on all the behind the scenes tasks that come with running a business (financials, marketing, planning, inventory, etc.) while some prefer to hire someone to take care of it so they can spend more time selling or working face to face with customers. Others fall somewhere in between.

When it comes to marketing your franchise, you may instantly identify with someone who wants to handle all the marketing aspects on their own, or identify as someone who wants to outsource those types of activities. But the in-between folks may not have a clear idea of what counts as marketing or what needs to be done to get their business out into the world and draw in more customers.

In this post, we’ll cover how to identify whether you’re a good fit for DIY marketing along with some tools and tactics that are must haves to reach your technology-driven customers. Read more