Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business [Paperback]

Peter I. Hupalo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

"Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business" shows entrepreneurs what they need to know to start a home-based business. Topics covered include: * Business Models And The Home Business * Distribution/Fulfillment of Your Product Or Service * Marketing And Sales * Personal Success Characteristics * Overcoming The Fear Of Starting A Business * Naming Your Business * Zoning And Insurance * Intellectual Capital: Copyrights, Trademarks, And Patents * Limited Liability Companies And S Corporations * Business Expenses And Accounting For Your Home Business * Home-Based Business Taxes (Including Sample Schedule C, Schedule SE, and Estimated Tax Payments) * Seven Home-Based Business Ideas * Fifteen Basic Steps In Starting A Home-Based Business * State Resources For Starting Your Business

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Hupalo is the author of Thinking Like An Entrepreneur and How To Start And Run Your Own Corporation: S-Corporations For Small Business Owners. He operates the website ThinkingLike.com for entrepreneurs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: HCM Publishing (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967162483
• ISBN-13: 978-0967162485
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #835,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knows What he is Talking About, July 24, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business (Paperback)

I've worked at my own home based business and disagree with the title. If you wear your underwear at work, that's the time when UPS is going to make a delivery. Of course I don't look nearly as good as the girl on the front cover. I've also got to say that I've never gotten rich, but I don't have a boss.

Basically this guy knows what he is talking about, so I'm only going to comment on those areas where I think I have something to add.

Chapter 3 is on naming your business. He gives some good advice, but I think he has the chapter backwards. For me, the most important thing is to have a good web domain name. Joe's Plumbing doesn't need a domain name, but most companies now do. He lists three companies to check on domain names. Network Solutions was the original Government set up monopoly. At that time everyone had to use them. [...] for exactly the same thing, and their customer service is great. (I have no connection with GoDaddy except being a customer of theirs.)

Chapter 4 is on locating the business with regard to zoning. There are a lot of restrictions on operating a home business and he mentions most of them. They come down to don't cause a mess -- a lot of customers parked at your neighbors, a big flashing neon sign, big delivery trucks coming by. These things annoy neighbors. The kinds of things he talks about in Chapter 9 don't need these things, and zoning won't be a problems unless a neighbor complains.

Most people say to form a corporation, Mr. Hupalo doesn't. I strongly agree with him, forming a corporation is expensive and probably not worth while. There is some protection under the law if you do business as a corporation, but lawyers are very experienced in getting around this shield. If you do want a corporation, you lawyer will do it for you for a few hundred dollars. For this few hundred dollars he will have his secretary type up the standardized papers he used for the last hundred corporations he did. Or you can get these same papers out of several books and file them yourself for only the filing fee.

One last comment, chances are your business will fail, most do. But with the failure you'll learn something. Work for a while to get back on your feet and your second business will work better. If this doesn't work, repeat the process -- it's worth it.

Basically this fellow knows what he is writing about.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sober Advice for Would-Be Entrepreneurs, March 15, 2006

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business (Paperback)

If you are thinking about starting a home-based business, spend some time pondering this book.

Peter Hupalo has done all would-be entrepreneurs a favor by presenting a sober picture of the joys and tribulations of going-it-on-your-own. While I am not so sure about the underwear part, Hupalo offers a clear, well-written guide to starting your home-based business.

I have been home-based for more than 20 years. In my experience, you will need something covering your underwear if you plan to succeed. In my home state, Connecticut, the vast majority of business formations have failed within two years of their filing. To me success is a matter of prospecting, networking, execution and performance. That translates into face-to-face meeting. You will need some cloths.

Once you get beyond that idea, the book is great. The author covers critical topics such as:
* Business Models
* Personal Success Characteristics
* Naming your business
* Zoning
* Insurance
* Intellectual Property
* Limiting your Liability
* Business Expenses
* Taxation
* Financial Management

In my opinion, the best chapter provides state-by-state resources for starting your business. It provides a detailed guide to local and state business regulations, licensing, state taxation, and name registration. This chapter alone justifies the book's price and any time you spend reading it.

If you have the proper make-up, working for yourself is great. But, as Hupalo correctly points out, there is an opportunity cost. If you understand it and accept the risks associated with that cost, you are well on your way to starting your business. This book will help you clarify those issues.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A no-nonsense guide to the nuts and bolts of starting a home based business, December 9, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting Rich In Your Underwear: How To Start And Run A Profitable Home-Based Business (Paperback)

Written by the operator of the ThinkingLike.com website for entrepreneurs, Getting Rich in Your Underwear: How To Start and Run a Profitable Home-Based Business is a no-nonsense guide to the nuts and bolts of starting a home based business. Chapters cover basic home business models, the characteristics that pave one's way for personal success, zoning and insurance issues, why intellectual property is critically important, matters of copyright/trademark/patent, expenses and taxes to be aware of, fifteen basic steps to getting started, state resources for help in getting off the ground, and much more. Written in a no-nonsense, down-to-earth style, Getting Rich in Your Underwear also warns prospective entrepreneurs of all-too-common scams - such as the Internet scam of someone claiming trademark ownership of a word or expression and asking an entrepreneur to pay a royalty to use or license the expression (this isn't how trademarks work and is referred to as 'naked licensing', which can be grounds for the cancellation of a trademark!) Though highly readable, Getting Rich In Your Underwear does not shy away from details or mathematics, and offers sample calculations and forms to get the reader acquainted with necessary accounting matters. An absolute "must-have" for anyone seriously interested in running a business from home.