I wanted to let everyone know that the EntrepreneurDad Discussion Forums have been closed.

It was a difficult decision to reach given the great discussions we've all had there. However, as my friend Mitch put it, "life happens" and I simply haven't had the time to keep after them as I once had. Other aspects of my work at home business have skyrocketed over the past few months and I finally reached the decision that I simply couldn't do it all. As things evolve, I may revisit the decision and get things going again.

The main EntrepreneurDad site isn't going anywhere and I look forward to seeing everyone here. I also welcome you to visit my friends Erin and Audrey over at the AtHome Resources Forums for some great discussions. If you see me over there, be sure to say "Hi"!

Congratulations!

New Study Details Homebased Business Revenue, Income By Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. - America’s homebased sole proprietors generate $102 billion in annual revenue, according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The study details revenues, expenses, and income for both homebased and non-homebased sole proprietors by industrial sector.

“Sole proprietorships are a vital part of our economy,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “Many are homebased micro businesses; collectively they generate a significant amount of economic activity. For the average sole proprietor, their business provides benefits of entrepreneurship that go beyond just income and revenue.”

By Justin Powell

It goes without saying, deciding whether to be a work at home dad is a big step. Personal and family preferences must be evaluated against career and financial circumstances to determine whether working from home is even a viable option. So, is being a work at home dad right for you?

Foremost, becoming a work at home dad (WAHD) must be a personal decision that weighs what's best for your children, for you individually and for your family as a whole. Many dads that have made the jump have done so because they want to take an active role in their children's upbringing and to spend more time with their family. For these dads, work is often a secondary consideration compared to having family time.

By Justin Powell

Family obligations may impact your business schedule on a moment's notice. Your child may get sick and need to go to the doctor or it's a sunny summer day and you want to take your children to the park for the afternoon. Managing a business with a constantly shifting schedule can make for a delicate balancing act and you may often find yourself wishing you had a personal assistant to help you manage it all. Enter the smartphone.

A smartphone is a sophisticated mobile device that combines a cell phone with the functions of a PDA. This integration results in a device whose usefulness is greater than the sum of its parts. For instance, you can look a client's contact information up in the smartphone's address book and immediately place a phone call to them to set up a meeting. While you're on the phone, you can enter the meeting into your calendar. Once you've completed the phone call, you can send the client a quick e-mail to confirm the appointment and while you are in your e-mail you can scan to see if any inquiries arrived from your web site. All of this can be accomplished using a single device - while you're on the go.

By Justin Powell

For a retail operation, one of the biggest expenses is usually product inventory. However, having the wrong products in inventory can have a negative impact on your finances. If a certain product doesn't sell well, you may be forced to clear out the remaining inventory at a loss. This is further compounded by the fact that WAHDs often don't have room to maintain an extensive product inventory in their homes.

For WAHDs, drop-shipping can be a great way to sell products without the need of maintaining your own inventory. While you won't make the same margins as you would if you did maintain inventory, drop shipping basically eliminates your need to make an up front investment for your product offerings. It also eliminates the risk that you will be stuck with inventory you can't sell - since you're not maintaining the product inventory!

By Justin Powell

What if I said there existed a single digit number that can have a huge influence on the traffic your site received? I bet that you'd want to know all about this number -- its name, what it's used for, how it's calculated, and what the number for your site was. I can answer the first two questions right off the bat: the number is called Google PageRank and it is used to determine a page's 'significance'. In short, the higher your site's PageRank, the higher you will appear in search results.

The concept behind PageRank is pretty simple. If Web Page A links to Web Page B, it is essentially casting a vote for Page B. The more votes there are for Page B, the higher its PageRank will be. And if Page A happens to also have a high PageRank, its link will have a greater effect on Page B's results. Google's founders wrote a research paper while enrolled at Stanford University that explains how PageRank works, however it is widely believed that Google has changed the specific methodology that is used on the search engine.