The TARP song was brought to my attention by Subprime Blogger. This is great. Giving away money for free. Now, if only I could get my hands on some free money.

Happy Friday!

Among the many measures included in yesterday's economic stimulus bill is a provision for tax cuts for small business. Unfortunately, only $20 billion is for businesses, and not all of it will go to small business. The economic stimulus bill is a great deal of spending — spending that is not likely to be particularly effective.

Really, the government should be taken a bottom-up approach to this whole economic stimulus. Instead of constantly employing "trickle down" principles, there should be a focus on helping the folks at the bottom. Trickle down hasn't been working for nearly 30 years. It's time to help small business and individuals first.

If you are starting a home business, chances are that you will need some source of funding. While there are some business ideas that you can start for practically nothing (I'm a writer — that doesn't cost much to start), other home business ideas — or other small business ideas — cost a bit more. If you plan to open a daycare, some sort of school, have a boutique, create and sell inventory or open some other types of business, you will need a business plan and some start up funding.

But, right now, times are a bit tough. The economy hasn't been doing so well, and funding for small and home businesses is scarce. Even so, there are still places you can turn. Dave at My Two Dollars has some ideas of where you can go to look for home business start up funding:

The money is out there, but you have to go get it — and you need to have a viable business plan in order to secure your home business funding.

It's tax season, so I'm not surprised that I'm getting questions about home business tax deductions. I got this question from a reader:

The short answer is no. But we're talking about taxes, so of course there is more to it. First of all, you are not allowed to take a deduction on the first line into your home. If you get a second line for your home business, that would be tax deductible. If you use your second line for something other than business, you will have to figure out what percentage of your phone use is for business, and only take the percentage as a home business deduction.

You can also take a home business tax deduction on long distance phone calls you make for your business. Before I started using Skype for international calls, I regularly deducted the money paid for calling overseas. Incidentally, you can deduct the money you spend for business use on Skype.

Find out more about business deductions from IRS Publication 334.

Disclaimer: I am not a tax professional. Before taking any home business deduction, check with an accountant or other tax professional.

In many cases, those with a home business find that personal finance software doesn't quite do the trick when trying to keep track of Schedule C expenses and income. Additionally, there are cases that regular business software applications don't really do it for some of the smaller home business operations.

One of the more interesting applications that seems to be helpful for those who want Schedule C help is GoBootstrap. Two of the features that seem especially appealing include:

The entire concept of GoBootstrap seems to be one that manages to make things easier for those home business owners, sole proprietors and others who need a little help organizing things come tax time when it comes to the Schedule C. Other features include income and expense tracking by category, the ability to flag business expenses you aren't sure are tax deductible, learn how quarterly tax payments are estimated and check your profits easily.

How would you like to be sitting in a board room and then see a pile of money watching you?

Happy Friday!

Last month, I wrote a post about the job opportunity provided by being a virtual assistant. But what if your home business has grown to the point where you need some help? You may not need full-time — or even true part-time — help, but someone to take some of the stress might be helpful. A virtual assistant is someone who can help you organize your home business, and help you perform certain tasks that you may not have time for. The virtual assistant, as you might guess, is someone whom you contact mostly over the Internet, or over the phone. You coordinate long-distance.

Hiring a virtual assistant

If you decide that a virtual assistant could help you with your home business, consider these tips for hiring one, from Laurie Mapp on Freelance Parent:

A good virtual assistant can free you from some of the time-consuming and tedious tasks related to your home business, leaving you free to focus on growing your business.

Last week, I wrote an article about different home business ideas that cost practically nothing to start. Today, I came across an interesting article on My Wife Quit Her Job about how it is possible to start a home business selling merchandise for less than $630. That's more than "practically nothing", but it is still quite a bit less than many businesses start for these days.

Home business made possible through the Internet.

At any rate, if an online store is what you are looking for, here is what you need:

If you shop around, you can get most of this stuff for pretty cheap. However, be warned: Sometimes you get what you pay for. I suggest that you find a Web host that charges some sort of a (small) monthly fee, and offers you plenty of disk space and bandwidth.

Right now, a great chat is going on at Totally Her. There has been some great business advice already given, and more to come throughout the day. There's been great information on taxes, business formation,
SEO and more. I would take a few minutes to check out what's available from Business Advice Day, and then go ask a question.

I just watched the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, and I am feeling optimistic — about my home business and the year to come. And I hope it shows through in my chat shift later today.

Tomorrow, Barack Obama will be sworn is as President of the United States. There is a great deal of hope attached to the soon-to-be president, and it remains to be seen whether these hopes are realized.

For many involved with small and home business operations, I think that there is a great deal of finger-crossing related to promises of a new economic stimulus aimed at helping those of us closer to the economic bottom, rather than focusing on big companies at the top.

And another thing to look forward tomorrow is Business Advice Day from Totally Her. I'll be participating. Even if you don't end up with much help for your home business from the government, I, along with other businesswomen, can help you increase your chances of success — even in this economy.