
Winter, 1998
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December, 1998
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"This Entrepreneur Has A Perfect Remedy"
September, 1998
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"I work at home"
July, 1998 |

Five Towns Business Report
"Mom shifts from rat race to home base"
June, 1997 |
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Newsday's Long Island Business Report
"She Has Home Remedy For Nassau's
Busiest"
October, 1997
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Excerpt
from All You
August, 2010

By
Nina Malkin
'I
turned a home problem into
a home business'
Debra
Cohen, 42, Hewlett, N.Y.
homeownersreferral.com
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Working
at an aviation magazine was thrilling, but it required
a lot of travel, and once my first daughter, Emily, was
born in 1996, my heart was no longer in it. My husband,
Charles, and I had just bought a house, and since he is
a teacher, we had to tighten our belts for me to be a
stay-at- home mom.
At
first, taking care of Emily all day was wonderful. But
I began to feel increasingly isolated and unproductive,
as well as stressed about our finances. Being the bill
payer, I was painfully aware of how hard it was to make
ends meet, even with Charles coaching to bring in extra
cash. As much as I wanted to stay home, I started to panic
that we would lose our house.
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I was feeling especially low the day I discovered squirrels
in our attic. Not knowing anyone in our new neighborhood
to ask for advice, I pulled out the Yellow Pages. The
first exterminator I called claimed to get rid of the
rodents, but they were back in a couple of weeks. Another
guy tried to sell me an expensive service contract. After
sinking $600 into several contractors, I finally stumbled
on a reputable guy who did the job once and for all. Relieved,
I told him, "I wish I could tell everyone about your
work!" Then I thought, why can't I? It occurred to
me that there had to be other people like me who could
use a direct line to quality local contractors. Becoming
the "middle woman" between the homeowners and
reliable home improvement professionals might be a way
to make money and feel productive as a stay-at-home mom,
too.
What
helped Debra
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BEING
FLEXIBLE:
"At first, I thought about starting an employment
agency for contractors, but I learned I'd be at
risk for liability issues, so I created a referral
business instead. Later, I thought of selling franchises,
but it turned out to be more cost-effective to sell
a business template"
LEARNING
ON THE JOB:
"I wanted to bring in extra money before my
business took off, but instead of jumping on any
part-time, I found one at a furniture store. I could
rub elbows with decorators, and through them I met
contractors for my business."
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OUTSOURCING:
"If you don't have a ton of money to hire people,
consider other stay-at-home-moms, neighbors and older
folks. I went to Score, the Service Corps of Retired Executives
(score.org), and found a great person to do work for me."
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Excerpt from Entrepreneur,
May 2009
Get
Help Starting Your Home Based Business
If you want
to get started quickly and cheaply, a franchise or training
program might be the choice for you.
By
Margie Zable Fisher | May 18, 2009
Starting
a home business sounds like a terrific idea, until you realize
all that's involved in getting it up and running. So getting
some assistance really helps--especially if it doesn't cost
a lot of money.
Three
successful business owners explain how they found the right
opportunity, through a franchise or training program, and made
it work for them.
Name
of business: Homeowner Referral
Network (HRN)
Year founded: 1997
Total number in existence: 300+
Description:
The Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) is a contractor referral
service that can be operated from home on a part-time or full-time
basis. HRNs pre-screen and refer local home-improvement professionals,
ranging from painters, plumbers and electricians to floor refinishers,
carpenters and general contractors. Each HRN operates independently
and earns a pre-negotiated commission from contractors in the
network for any work secured.
History:
After the birth of her first daughter in 1996, Debra M. Cohen
left a career in corporate America to be a stay-at-home mom.
She was soon faced with the all-too-familiar challenge of finding
a way to remain productive while staying at home to raise her
family. At the same time, she and her husband had just purchased
their first house and--like most homeowners--were struggling
to find reliable home-improvement contractors. When they finally
found a responsible contractor, Cohen felt compelled to share
his name with other homeowners, friends and family. It wasn't
long before she decided to launch Home Remedies of NY Inc. to
help other homeowners in her community.
After
her first year in business, she had more jobs than she could
handle, and she realized that there was a universal need for
the services she offered. Rather than try to expand too quickly,
she decided to document the HRN business so that others could
duplicate her model and launch similar businesses in their communities.
Over the next several months, she systemized her business and
wrote The Complete Guide To Owning and Operating A Successful
Homeowner Referral Network. Then she created additional
parts of her training program.
Total
cost to start: $1,995 to $6,495, depending on the package
you choose. Items include the HRN business manual, one-on-one
consultations, HRN Management Software, an HRN web package,
subscription to the HRNewsletter, business forms, HRN Graphics
CD, customized promotional items and leads.
Owner
observations: "I read about HRN in Working Mother
magazine in 2004 and saved the article so I could contact (HRN
founder) Debra," says Jill Barber of Richmond, Va. "I
had recently taken a voluntary severance package from my corporate
job with FedEx and was looking to get back into housing in some
form after having our baby. My degree is in interior design
from James Madison University, and I've always loved the housing/construction
market. I was already keeping a list of good/bad contractors
for my neighborhood, and this seemed like a natural extension."
What
led Barber to decide to work with Cohen? "Of course I checked
with the Better Business Bureau of New York and made sure that
the business was legitimate," Barber says. "Then I
realized that Debra did all the legwork and got the industry
started, and we get to reap benefits of her experience. Because
we're not a franchise, you can get started with Debra's help
and tweak the business as you see fit. Debra was so helpful
and responsive, and still is. I couldn't ask for a better mentor.
I would--and have--recommended it to many others. In fact, three
people I have recommended it to have signed on."
Barber
chose the Metro Richmond Virginia territory and took on her
first client in January 2005. Her business has been growing
each year, and this year Barber's sales are expected to exceed
$50,000. She expects to reach more than $100,000 in annual sales
within the next five years.
Read
the complete article here:
www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedideas/article201590.html
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Quotes from Good
Housekeeping, August 2008
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Quotes from WHY
Magazine - Online Campanion for the Work-At-Homer
workhomeyou.com
Success Story, Summer 2008
Who
You Gonna Call?
Debra Cohen makes a name for herself by pairing good contractors
with needy homeowners
By Priscilla Y. Huff
If you are a homeowner and your toilet overflows,
or your house is invaded by insects, or you need a reliable
remodeling contractor, you may wonder, Who am I gonna
call? to fix these problems? Fortunately, Debra Cohen,
owner of Home Remedies of NY, Inc., can come to your rescue.
Cohens Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) is an organized
network of pre-screened contractors representing almost every
field of home improvement, maintenance and design.
After leaving her position as the vice-president of a Spanish-language
aviation magazine to stay home with her children, Cohen began
to miss the stimulation of a careernot to mention the
income that helped support her family. My husband and
I had just purchased our first home and quickly realized how
difficult (and expensive) it was to find reliable home improvement
contractors, she says.
Whenever Cohen found a skilled and dependable
professional, she kept the contractors name for future
reference. It occurred to me that homeowners in my community
could benefit from a service that would pre-screen contractors,
and in turn, responsible contractors could benefit from a service
that would help promote their businesses. says Cohen.
Today, Cohens HRN represents more than 50
pre-screened, home improvement contractors ranging from painters,
plumbers and carpenters to general contractors, architects and
decorative painters. Contractors in the network pay a pre-negotiated
commission on any work secured, which means that the referral
service is free to homeowners . . .
View
Full HTML Article On The Web
View Magazine
in Flash
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Quotes from New York
Times
Small Business, September 27, 2007
Headquarters at Home and Proud to Be There
by MARCI ALBOHER Published: September 27, 2007
Debra M. Cohen, 40, by contrast, says she designed
her business, a contractor referral service for homeowners,
around the idea that she might be on the phone for business
and her children might be making a ruckus in the background.
Her company, Home Remedies of New York, has become so successful,
she says, that she now offers consulting services to others
who want to copy her business model in their communities. Ms.
Cohen says she has home referral operators running her programs
in nearly every state and Canada.
When exploring ideas for a business, she ran every
idea through the can it be done from home with kids underfoot
test, she said.
Working from home may allow for certain informalities,
but it does not necessarily signal the size of an entrepreneurs
vision. Ms. Cohens business passed the million-dollar
revenue mark four years after its founding. Bradley Rhine, 46,
who works out of his home in San Jose, Calif., is a chief executive
of Cogentes, a virtual consulting firm specializing in the information
technology industry. Cogentes plans to hire 100 to 200 employees
over the next several years.
View
full article on the web
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Decorating buff Debra M. Cohen combined her passion for
renovating with a desire for reliable contractors and
launched a booming home remedies business.
Ten years ago, Cohen, 39, moved into a new home in dire
need of repairs. Not being the do-it-yourself type, she
started looking for contractors -- and encountered a string
of disappointments. "Contractors would not show up,"
Cohen says. And when many of them did, the work was unacceptable.
Being a 24/7 HGTV viewer, Cohen saw in "Designers' Challenge"
and "Design on a Dime" what good contractors, plumbers
and painters can do but knew from experience that they
are hard to find.
She finally found a dependable contractor after screening
out a lot of bad ones along the way. "I realized we weren"t
the only ones with this problem," she says, so she
decided to share her information. She launched Home Remedies
of NY in 1997 from her home.
This stay-at-home mom created a contractor-referral service
that saves homeowners the task of locating and screening
reliable workers. Cohen"s network consists of more than
50 prescreened contractors, architects and decorative
painters -- all of whom have more than 15 years of experience.
Home Remedies of NY checks if contractors are insured
and licensed, and serves as a liaison between the homeowner
and contractor through the course of the job. Services
are provided free to the homeowner, and contractors represented
by Home Remedies pay a commission only for the work they
secure through the service.
Starting the business was not easy, and her husband took
out a $5,000 loan on his retirement plan to help her that
first year. By the end of the year, she had earned $30,000.
Last year -- her 10th in business -- her annual revenue
was $250,000.
"My husband always tells me I was the best investment
he ever made," Cohen says.
Cohen has since franchised across the United States,
and more than 300 Homeowner Referral Networks (HRN) operate
nationwide. She sells start-up business packages to people
who want to open their own HRN for between $2,000 and
$6,000.
--By Cristina Ramirez
On the net : www.homeownersreferral.com
About the Subject
WHO: Debra M. Cohen, of Hewlett, New York
WHAT: Went from stay-at-home mom to Home Remedies of NY
INSPIRATION: Watching "Designers' Challenge" & "Design
on a Dime"
...Home Remedies of NY serves as a liaison between the
homeowner and contractor through the course of the job...
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Quotes
from article in Newsday.com - March 2007
SMALL BUSINESS: Taking care of business - and
kids
JAMIE HERZLICH
May 28, 2007
"Whenever I'm stressed out about something out of my control,
I go to work," says Debra Cohen, president of Home Remedies
of NY Inc. (homeownersreferral.com), a Hewlett-based referral
service that connects homeowners with contractors.
Cohen, who has daughters 7 and 11 years old, started her home-based
business in 1997 after leaving a job as vice president of a
Spanish-language aviation magazine.
Home Remedies was formed out of "personal necessity,"
explains Cohen, who was having trouble finding reliable contractors
after she and her husband bought a home. Guessing other homeowners
might be facing the same problem, she took out a $5,000 loan
against her husband's teachers retirement fund to launch the
business. Her hunch was right, and she was able to pay it back
within six months. The company now boasts sales in excess of
$100,000, she says.
Being a mom and entrepreneur is truly a "juggling act,"
notes Cohen, 39. She says it helps if you have some type of
support system, be it a spouse, a parent or even another mom
you can trade off with.
Quotes
from article in Entrepreuner.com - March 2006
StartUps : StartUp Features
The Weekend Entrepreneur
These weekend warriors launched successful businesses in their
spare time. Find out how you can put your free hours to work,
too.
Entrepreneur magazine - March 2006
By Michelle Anton and Jennifer Basye Sander
Online exclusive: If you're planning to start a weekend business
but don't have tons of money in the bank, check out the low-cost
startup ideas at www.entrepreneur.com/lowcostbusinesses.
So you want to start a business, but don't think you have
the time? Think again. All you need to get started on the path
toward your dream business are inspiration and determination...
and maybe a few extra hours a week. Meet three entrepreneurs
who used their off hours to launch and grow successful businesses--and
get some tips on the dos and don'ts of starting a weekend business
of your own.
Filling a Need
After buying their first home, Debra Cohen and her husband faced
the unenviable chore of finding reliable home improvement contractors.
Fed up with blindly picking names from the Yellow Pages and
waiting for contractors who didn't show up, it occurred to Cohen
that if she and her husband were having trouble finding contractors,
other homeowners in their community must be facing a similar
predicament. This bleak reality sparked the creation of a unique
service that has since expanded into a profitable cottage industry
across the U.S. and internationally.
After extensive conversations with lawyers, business consultants,
contractors and insurance agents, Cohen, 38, started Hewlett,
New York-based Home
Remedies of NY Inc. from her home in February 1997. This
stay-at-home mom used a $5,000 loan, a computer and a refurbished
fax machine to launch her part-time business. Right away, the
response from homeowners was tremendous, and after three months
in business, she repaid her loan. Her gross earnings in the
first year were almost $30,000.
Today, Home Remedies is a contractor referral service that
matches home-owners with reliable home-repair workers. The appeal
to customers is that the company takes on the time-consuming
task of locating and screening qualified contractors, checking
to make sure they're adequately insured and licensed, and serving
as a liaison between the contractor and the homeowner throughout
the course of a job. Home Remedies provides a win-win situation
for both parties: Services are provided free of charge to the
homeowner, and contractors represented by Home Remedies only
pay a commission for any work they secure.
At first, Cohen worked approximately 15 hours to 20 hours
per week; she now works about 30 hours per week. Last year,
sales for Home Remedies exceeded $100,000. Cohen earns additional
income by selling manuals and packages on how to get started
in the referral business. (Her manual, The Complete Guide to
Owning and Operating a Successful Homeowner Referral Network,
is available at www.homereferralbiz.com.)
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Quotes
from article in Remodeling Magazine - February 2006
Refer Madness
Trolling for business online has never been so temptingor
so overwhelming.
Source: REMODELING Magazine
Publication date: 2006-02-01
By Leah Thayer
Could it be any easier for homeowners to find home improvement
contractors? Only if the online referral industry maintains
its current torrid growth rate. Having emerged in the 1990s
and then largely imploded in the dot-com bust, this industry
is back and bigger than ever. Hundreds of services exist today,
from national behemoths that match contractors and
consumers automatically to one-person companies that know every
client by name.
To homeowners, online referral services promise an antidote
to the dangers of hiring unknown, unreliable, and possibly unlawful
contractors. Most are free to consumers.
To contractors, they promise to deliver leads, customers, and
growth. Sometimes they do: Several remodelers we interviewed
credit the services with their success and longevity. Sometimes
they don't: We also heard terms ranging from inept
to criminal to describe a few services, and crappy
to dead quite literally to describe
the leads they deliver.
For better or worse, the online referral industry is here to
stay, and it's evolving in ways that could benefit homeowners
and remodelers alike. Here's a snapshot of four variations on
the online referral model and of several remodelers that have
used them successfully. To summarize their advice:
- Be selective. Find one or two services that work well
for you, and stick with them, says one remodeler. If
you get greedy and go with more, you're just asking for a
disaster.
- Know what you're getting into, and how to get out of it
if you're unsatisfied with the results.
- Manage your accounts aggressively. It's not a passive
situation for the contractor, says one industry insider.
You have to work it to turn those leads into clients.
3. Neighborhood Networks
Nothing's as good as word of mouth, says Noah Blumberg,
president of Ark Contracting, Chevy Chase, Md. For his money,
the best way to get in front of qualified homeowners is a local
homeowner referral network (HRN) run by people who
know their market, their contractors, and their homeowners.
The company Blumberg uses has landed him projects as big as
$250,000. They've been mostly good-size jobs, he
notes, but also the people have been really good, just
nice people who are easy to work with.
HRNs are to the national services what microbrews are to Budweiser:
locally owned, carefully cultivated, sometimes quirky, and relatively
expensive. Serving areas as small as a neighborhood to as large
as a few states, they typically have no upfront fees and charge
contractors only for jobs they actually produce, using a commission
model. More than 400 operate in the U.S. and elsewhere, says
Debra Cohen, who created the model, sells the business plans,
and runs her own HRN on New York's Long Island.
What's the advantage of the HRN model? It's a personal
relationship, Cohen says. As with the national referral
services, contractors must meet basic screening criteria. Unlike
the big companies, HRN owners typically interview contractors
in person, getting to know their quirks and strengths,
and the same thing for homeowners, Cohen explains. Both
parties benefit, for instance, if the homeowner is forewarned
that the remodeler looks a little rough around the edges. Similarly
helpful is telling the remodeler that the homeowner has certain
concerns or characteristics.
Most importantly, Cohen asserts, the leads are qualified. You're
not going to just get someone who's surfing the Internet and
says, Hmm, six months from now I might want to remodel
my kitchen.'
www.homereferralbiz.com
516.374.8504
Pros
Locally operated. Prescreened, personally qualified local
leads. No job, no fee. HRN staff facilitate communication with
homeowners before, during, and after job.
Cons
Fewer leads than automated services deliver. Commissions are
generally higher than flat lead fees. Network owners we spoke
to charge between 2% and 15% of project price, depending on
their market and the project size.
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Quotes from article
in For Me - February 2006
It's
easy to dream about starting your own company when you're
stuck in a gloomy office with your boss breathing down your
neck: You could make your own hours and never have to wear
another stuffy suit. While most people just talk about heading
out on their own, these women found that their impulse to
create a startup was too strong to ignore.
Debra Cohen, 38, Hewlett, NY
Company: Home Remedies
Debra's company is a Homeowner Referral Network
(a term she's trademarked) that helps clients find trusted
contractors to work on their homes. She's served more than
500 clients, and wrote a book that she sells to people who
want to start a Homeowner Referral Network in their area.
Today there are 400 of them.
The Spark. Ten years ago, Debra left
her publishing job, moved into a house in a new town and was
expecting her first child. "I didn't know who to call
or trust to work on the house," she remembers. "I
realized that if I was facing this challenge, other people
must be too."
How She Pulled it Off. Debra took a $5,000
loan against her husband's teacher retirement fund, and paid
it back in six months.
The Best Part. "There have been
times when I've matched people with services they couldn't
find on their own," Debra says. "One woman wanted
to get her wood paneling refinished, but she couldn't find
the right person. I had someone, and she was so pleased with
his work that she sent me flowers."
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Quotes
from article in Small Business Computing - July 2005
Don't Hire, Outsource
By Gerry Blackwell
July 5, 2005
Like
many successful entrepreneurs, Debra Cohen, founder and proprietor
of Home Remedies of New York Inc., a home improvement contract
referral business, had to discover her own secrets to success.
Unlike most, Cohen now shares her secrets with others
for a price. Her lucrative second business is The
Home Referral Network (HRN), a company that sells a business
manual, software, forms and services to people who want to start
identical home-referral businesses in their own communities.
One of the secrets Cohen learned early or perhaps knew
instinctively and now passes on to her HRN owners
is how to deal with the computer stuff. Computers, it turns
out, are vital even for such a high-touch, low-tech business
as hers. "Before I started the business, I wouldn't say
I was computer illiterate," she says, "but my knowledge
was very limited. I had never been on the Internet, for instance.
Now I'm developing my own Web software. I've come a long way."
>>
View complete article online
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Quotes
from article in First, April 2005
Real-life
"I turned a crisis into a steady source of income!"
Bad news, ma'am. I think I spotted a carpenter ant in your
basement," the exterminator said. "But don't worry--I
can spray the whole house for $900."
Did he just say $900? Debra Cohen didn't know which
was worse: that her new home might be infested or that this
exterminator (the one who had stood her up for two prior appointments)
might be swindling her family when they were struggling to pay
the mortgage. Sensing he wasn't trustworthy, she crossed him
off her list and resumed her search for a reliable exterminator.
This wasn't the first time Debra felt overwhelmed by the task
of locating home-repair workers. A busy mom in a new town, she
had no one to ask for referrals, so she was forced to pick names
out of the yellow pages.
Finally, Debra found a reliable specialist to check into those
"phantom" ants--not to mention remove the squirrels
from her attic. She assumed he wouldn't be available for weeks,
so she was surprised when he said, "I can do the job tomorrow.
I'm a great exterminator but a lousy self-promoter." That's
when her entrepreneurial mind started turning.
"I spared other homeowners my past stress!"
Debra began screening local pros, checking their references,
licenses and Better Business Bureau ratings. "I asked much
more than the typical homeowner would ask when they were stressing
out about an overflowing toilet!" She invited the best
to join her Homeowner Referral Network. (They'd pay her a commission
for every referral.) Three days after sending out her first
advertising mailers, Debra was swamped with calls from people
who wanted to be connected (for free!) with top-notch workers
to refinish floors, paint murals, hang fixtures.... Her home-based
business was a hit! In the first year, Debra repaid her $5,000
small-business loan and grossed nearly $30,000--without missing
a beat with her kids! She has even sold her business concept
to nearly 400 other entrepreneurial folks. "A few years
ago I worried that we'd have to sell our house, but now we're
remodeling every room!"
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Quotes
from article in Remodeling, April 2005
News+Notes
Local Leaders
HRNs differ from national referral services in several ways,
says Cohen. Where bigger services make money by charging contractors
listing and/or lead fees, contractors pay HRNs only for jobs
they actually complete, based on a prenegotiated percentage
of the job cost. The national services "could get one lead
and send it to 20 contractors and still get their lead fee,"
she says, regardless of whether the contractor gets or even
wants the job.
HRNs are also "a very local, personal, concierge-type
service," Cohen explains. "If I'm in New York, why
would I call a service based in Ohio to tell me about local
contractors?" Looking good on paper -- or not being polished
in person, for that matter -- has little bearing on the actual
remodeling experience, she says. "I can tell a homeowner,
'This guy is upstanding. He has hair down to his arm and one
eye that wanders and he drives a beat-up truck, but there's
no need to worry when he knocks on your door."
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Quotes
from article in Working Mother, April 2004
Self-Starter
Launching a Home Business
First, Debra Cohen needed her own house-repair pro. Now she'll
find one for you.
By Jennifer Gill
You could say Debra Cohen owes her business to a pregnant squirrel.
Several years ago, Cohen and her husband, Charlie, were at their
wits' end with a feisty squirrel living in the attic of their
75-year-old Tudor in Hewlett, NY. Twice the couple had brought
in pest pros, only to have the critter show up again (mama squirrels,
it turns out, like to nest in the same spot year after year).
Cohen refused to let the squirrel win. She called in a third
pest-control guy, and this time found a rodent master. Not only
did he get rid of the squirrel, he explained that removing the
attic fan would seal the room and fix the problem for good.
Cohen was thrilled-finally, no more uninvited guests!-but also
peeved that the other "specialists" hadn't made the
same suggestion. Finding reliable people to work on your home
shouldn't be a game of hit-or-miss, she thought. As the squirrel
guy packed his things, Cohen floated an idea by him. "If
I found you work," she proposed, "would you pay me
a commission?" His reply" Absolutely. Who would pass
up a good job?
The conversation stuck with Cohen, and in 1997 she started
Home Remedies of New York, a referral service that matches dependable
home-improvement pros with people who need their help. And who
doesn't? Everyone has a handyman horror story: the plumber who
goes MIA halfway through the job; the careless painter who drips
primer all over your antique rug. Within six months, Cohen's
home-bases referral business was turning a profit, and today
she earns $90,000 a year lining up jobs for her 100-strong army
of specialists, everyone from electricians to chimney sweeps.
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Quotes
from article in Priority, March - April 2003
Smart
Growth
ISSUE: Your company is growing too fast. How do you
keep from getting swallowed by this million-pound monster?
UPSHOT: Start with the basics (outsourcing), then get
radical: consider Business in a Box.
Debra Cohen knows how hard it is to find a good home contractor.
So when she finds one, she tells people. In 1996, when the stay-at-home
mom and her husband were remodeling their home, she had an epiphany:
She could work out of her house by brokering the services of
contractors in return for a commission. The following year,
Cohen launched the Homeowner Referral Network (www.homereferralbiz.com).
The company was an immediate success--thanks, in part, to articles
bout Cohen's business in New York Newsday and other publications.
"The phone didn't stop ringing," she says. The calls
came not only from potential customers but also from people
who wanted to learn how to run similar businesses. Six months
after launch, the business had grown so much that Cohen knew
she couldn't handle it on her own.
In order to focus on her clients, she outsourced jobs such
as printing, mailing and accounting. Cohen hired a Web designer
to launch a site (and created a Web Affiliate Program establishing
links with other Web sites). She then explored her options.
"I received calls from people who wanted to partner with
me, so I first thought about franchising and hired a franchise
consultant," she says. "But that turned out to be
a big mistake. My business is small, and there isn't a lot of
overhead. If I got into franchising, I would have to hire staff."
Cohen hired another consultant, and they came up with the Business
in a Box. Rather than franchise or expand her business, Cohen
would teach other people to set up their own home-referral companies.
"Everything I've done is textbook, and yet people kept
asking me how I did it," she says. After a positive response
to some market research about the idea, Cohen took the plunge.
With a friend from Wharton business school, Cohen wrote The
Complete Guide to Owning and Operating a Successful Homeowner
Referral Network, which outlines every aspect of the business.
Based on the model of a franchise manual, the book "created
a system for my business that anyone else could handle,"
she says. Cohen sells the manual as part of various packages,
which include consulting time with her, access to leads from
her company's Web site, and more.
Now Cohen spends 50 percent of her time on her spinoff business.
As a home-business coach, she's had more than 250 clients. "To
see them succeed has been the most gratifying part of it all,"
she says.
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Quotes
from article in Woman's Day, February 2003
EVEN IN OUR 24/7 WORLD, THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS in
the day to get it done. These savvy women built successful businesses
by providing services for busy people on the go. Whether it's
saving time or money or providing information, all these businesses
fill a specific need. Feeling inspired? Yours may be the next
big idea.
HELP ON THE HOME FRONT
Meet Debra Cohen
Business: Home Remedies of New York, Inc.
Type of service: Homeowner referral network
How long in the business: 6 Years
Biggest obstacle: "Being a woman in a man's field."
Best marketing tip: "If you need a service, investigate.
Others may need it, too. I knew my ideal customer was someone
like me."
Website: www.homereferralbiz.com
Debra Cohen left a publishing career in New York to become
a full-time mom in 1996. "I was in line to take over an
aviation magazine, but when I had my daughter, all bets were
off," she recalls. Deciding to stake quality of life over
money, she quit. Within a few months, however, bills were piling
up. "We'd just bought a home based on two salaries, now
we were doing it on one. We were barely squeaking by."
Debra, then 29, was also having trouble finding reliable contractors,
plumbers and painters to work on her new house in Hewlett, New
York. She started asking others in her neighborhood if they
were having the same problems. When many answered yes, she got
an idea.
She began investigating the need for a referral service for
contractors. Then she took out a loan against her husband's
retirement savings (he brags it's the best investment he ever
made) and created Home Remedies. "I'd always had the idea
for a personnel agency for homeowners, but I opted for a referral
service. There was definitely a need for it."
An armchair decorator and home-improvement buff, Debra found
her niche. "Find out what you are good at and enjoy, and
capitalize on that," she advises. "It's a carious
thrill for me working on other people's houses."
Quotes
from article in Home Business Journal, October 2002
HOMEOWNER'S HELPER
If you are a homeowner and your toilet overflows, or your house
is invaded by insects or you need a reliable remodeling contractor,
who are you goin' to call to fix your problems?
Fortunately, Debra Cohen of Home Remedies of New York, Inc.,
can come to your rescue. Cohen's company is what she calls a
Homeowner Referral Network or an HRN- an organized network or
pre-screened home improvement contractors in every field from
painting, plumbing and handy work, to furniture refinishing,
decorative painting, and general contracting.
Cohen started Home Remedies after leaving her position as the
vice-president of a Spanish-language aviation magazine to be
a full-time mother to her newborn daughter. Not long after,
she began to miss the stimulation of a career- not to mention
the income that helped support her family.
At the same time Cohen was evaluating her career options, she
and her husband, new homeowners, were also facing the challenge
of how to find reputable contractors. Cohen recalls, "I
spent many afternoons waiting for plumbers who never showed
and listening to pest control experts trying to sell me services
that I clearly didn't need. When I finally did stumble upon
a talented professional who I felt I could trust, I kept his/her
name close at hand for future reference.
"It occurred to me that homeowners in my community could
benefit from a service which would help them to promote their
businesses. Best of all, I could run the business from my home
and still be a full-time mom."
Referral services like Cohen's are saving busy homeowners time
and energy while offering them an added sense of confidence
in who they decide to hire to work in their home.
"Whatever home business you chose," she advises,
"be sure that it employs your best abilities and allows
you to perform the day-to-day tasks that you enjoy. When you
enjoy your work, the financial rewards are an added bonus!"

April 2002 Mompreneur of the Month
by Ellen
Parlapiano and Pat Cobe
Each month the
Mompreneurs? profile a member of our community who is living
the work-from-home dream! Read more of these success
stories and find out how you can do it too!
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Meet the Mompreneur of the
Month: Debra M. Cohen, age 34; Hewlett, New York;
mother of two girls, ages 5 1/2 and 2
My Business: Home Remedies
of NY, Inc., a Homeowner Referral
Network that matches homeowners with reliable, prescreened
home-repair workers. Referral services are provided free
of charge to the homeowner; contractors represented in
the network pay a commission to Home Remedies for any
work secured. I also sell business kits to other entrepreneurs
interested in launching a Homeowner Referral Network in
their neighborhoods.
Click
Here to read the rest of the iVillage article.
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Quotes
from article, "Top 20 Boom Businesses To Get Into Now"
Small Business Opportunities, January 2002
An increasing number of homeowners want their
homes to be their castles but they don't have the time or the
inclination to take care of all that needs to be done-and on
a house that means plenty of items on the "to do"
checklist. In fact, last year homeowners spent a whopping $42
billion on minor home repairs.
Handymen take care of a wide range of activities from cleaning
the gutters to building closets and putting up new moldings,
recaulking a tub or moving a door. Debra Cohen was riding high
as the VP of a Spanish-language aviation magazine-large salary,
Manhattan office and international travel-Cohen though she had
it all. But after the birth of her first daughter, Cohen quickly
realized that living a Corporate lifestyle was taking too much
time away from her new family. So she quit and was soon faced
with the all-too-familiar challenge of finding a way to remain
productive while staying at home to raise her children.
An entrepreneur at heart, Debra found a solution right in her
own home. Cohen and her husband had just purchased their first
house and-like most homeowners-were struggling to find reliable
home improvement contractors. When they finally found a responsible
contractor on whom they could depend, Cohen felt compelled to
share his name with other homeowners in need of his services.
Quotes
from article in Perspective, September 2001

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Regardless of your reasons for wanting to run a business
from home, it's as important to analyze yourself as it
is to analyze the market you plan to serve. Below is a
list of the five most important questions to ask yourself
honestly before launching a home-based business.
1. What are my strengths?
2. What are my weaknesses?
3. What am I willing to invest of my own time and
energy?
4. What am I willing to invest financially?
5. What do I hope to gain?
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| "You'll find that the most successful businesses
are driven by people who love what they do and focus
on the day to day work of their business rather than
the ultimate financial rewards." |
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Quotes
from article, "Business Closeup
- Debra Cohen"
Working Woman, October 2000
Sometimes the best ideas are just sitting there, waiting
for you to notice them. As Debra Cohen, who started a
small business only to discover a more lucrative sideline
in selling her idea to other entrepreneurs.
Three years ago, Cohen left her job in publishing to
start Home Remedies of NY, a referral service that hooks
homeowners up with reliable contractors. From her home
in Hewlett, New York, Cohen checks credentials and references
and builds relationships with contractors. "I know
their children's names," she says. She grosses around
$60,000 a year brokering more than 250 jobs annually.
Users get the referrals for free and contractors pay Cohen
a 6 to 30% commission.
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Quotes
from article, "Start Your Own Home Tech Business"
Gateway Magazine, Summer 1999
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Debra Cohen, 32, started Home Remedies in August 1996.
From her home in Hewlett, New York, Cohen provides
homeowners with the names of local home-improvement
contractors, including carpenters, electricians, landscapers,
painters and plumbers.
Homeowners get her referrals for free. Each of the
50 professionals in her database pays an average commission
of 15 percent on all new business secured through her
service.
Cohen, a former vice-president of a global aviation
magazine, checks the references of all new contractors
before adding them to her database and makes sure they
are licensed, insured and bonded.
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Quotes
from article, "Small Business Success Story:
Home Improvement Referral Network, Inc."
Opportunity World Magazine, May 2000
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Six months ago Beth Aleksa, frustrated by working two jobs
and having to send her children to daycare each day, read an
article in a business magazine which changed her life.
The article was about Debra M. Cohen, President and founder
of Home Remedies of NY, Inc...
The article went on to say that Ms. Cohen has documented her
HRN business system in a comprehensive manual - The Complete
Guide To Owning And Operating A Successful Homeowner Referral
Network(c) - which she markets nationwide as part of an HRN
Business Package to others interested in launching a business
like hers.
In September of 1999 Beth and Allen decided to purchase an
HRN Business Package. Their goal was to get their HRN up and
running quickly so that Allen would be able to leave his job
by June of the following year.
With all of the information provided in the HRN Business Package,
Allen and Beth were able to launch Home Improvement Referral
Network, Inc. in less than three weeks. In fact, their business
took off so fast Allen gave notice that he was leaving his job
after just four months to help Beth run their HRN on a full
time basis. Home Improvement Referral network, Inc. handles
home improvement jobs as simple as hanging a picture to large
general contracting projects. Their clients are both residential
and commercial because as Beth puts it, "...when we open
our mouths about our business, we get jobs!" In their first
year of operation, Beth and Allen expect to earn more than $150,000.
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Quotes
from article, " I work at home"
Parents Magazine, July 1998
Business
description:
I offer a referral network for homeowners in my county through
which they can find plumbers, painters, etc.
Hours:
I work about 15 to 25 hours a week. (Spring is my busiest
season.)
Charges
for services:
The service is free; each professional listed pays
a commission on all new business secured through the service.
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Quotes from article,
"The Top Ten Biz For 1999"
Small Business Opportunities,January 1999
The
business is called "Homeowner Referral Network" founded by Debra
Cohen (pictured)of Home Remedies TM of NY, Inc. and through
their programs, you can start this business in your own region.
The Homeowner Referral Network is an organized referral service
for homeowners comprised of highly skilled, dependable independent
home improvement contractors Contractors represented in the
network range from painters,plumbers and electricians to floor
refinishers, carpenters and handymen.
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Quotes from
article, "Home Team"
Business Start-Ups, November 1998
Everyone could use some help, especially when it comes to home
repairs. With dual-income families the norm these days, few
people have time to do more than pick a name from the phone
book when searching for, say, a plumber or a painter. But who
wants to entrust their home--and possibly thousands of dollars--to
someone whose references they don't have time to verify?
Such concerns made the home repair referral service a profitable
cottage industry for Debra M. Cohen, founder of Home Remedies
TM of NY Inc. in Hewlett,New York. Started in February 1997,
the business has proved so successful that Cohen is now offering
her expertise and proven methods as a business opportunity,
the Homeowner Referral Network Business Package, for an investment
of $2,995.
Purchasers receive Cohen's book, A Complete Guide to Owning
And Operating a Successful Home Referral Network ©; a starter
set of all the forms necessary to run the business for the first
three months; and eight hours of telephone consultations
"Between the learning curve and consultations with lawyers,
insurance agents (and others), it cost me $5,000 to start this
business," says Cohen."If you're coming into the business cold,
my program can save you time and money."
For more information, call (516) 374-8504 or visit www.homeownersreferral.com
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Quotes from article,
"Home Business Magazine"
December 1998
Just what is a referral network? With working parents and a
myriad of home problems to handle, getting a referral and having
someone coordinate dependable service are blessings. Debra is
the quintessential example of how to do it. As she said, "I
don't just provide referrals. I provide the beginning, middle
and end service."
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Quotes from
article, "Start Your Own Business"
Winter 1998
You can start your own with help from Home Remedy of NY, Inc.
The package includes everything you'll need to establish this
business in your area. Debra M. Cohen, president and founder,
has run her own homeowner referral network and has worked out
all the bugs so you won't have to. It's $2995,and available
by calling the company at 516-374-8504. One of the best business
opportunities to start now!
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Quotes from
article, "Companies Helping the Very Busy"
The New York Times, Long Island
Acting as a liaison between the contractor and homeowner, Ms.
Cohen's service benefits both sides. The contractors in her
network are provided with steady work,for which they pay a commission,
and the homeowners get reputable tradesmen and the service of
Ms. Cohen, who handles the details from estimate to finished
project.
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Quotes
from article,"She Has Home Remedy For Nassau's Busiest"
Newsday Business
Report, October 1997
Since beginning her business in February, Cohen said her client
list has grown to about 50 customers mainly through word of
mouth and monthly mailings to about 300 residences in Southern
Nassau County each month, her target market. Those clients are
mostly busy, and come from two-income households. "What
they are buying is the legwork, which they don't have time or
energy to carry out. I'm seeking referrals, seeking contractors...Homeowners
work all day, then they have kids to feed at night."
Finding respectable contractors, all of whom Cohen said are
licensed, insured and bonded, requires a concerted networking
effort...and once she finds prospective contractors, Cohen screens
them. "References are checked. I have a checklist of five
criteria they must meet before I consider using them. Not only
are they skilled in their field, they have to have a nice manner
with the customer. That's almost as important as what they do."
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Quotes
from article, "Mom shifts from rat race to home base"
Nassau Herald, Five Towns Business Report, June 1997
Debra Cohen of Hewlett lived a glamorous life
for a very long time. For more than eight years, she was at
the top of the publishing industry in New York City, where she
ran an aviation magazine distributed in Latin America, and had
a hand in managing global properties. Worldwide travel was also
part of the package.
But that was before she became a mother. Recently
Ms. Cohen gave up her fast track career and traded in all the
travel perks for the calm milieu of her own business, based
at home.
Since that day, Ms. Cohen has been living out
her fantasy as the owner of Home Remedies TM. A virtual Rolodex
of home care specialists, from painters to plumbers to party
planners, Home Remedies TM provides a comprehensive resource
list for any home-related need. Need a better banister or a
tutor for your teenager? Call her. She will recommend someone
and will be your fairy "jobmother" until the task
is completed.
Does she have big-city executive envy? "I
am happy at home," says Ms. Cohen, "and my child is
happy because she sees her mom and dad every day." Most
significantly, she is no longer "paying someone to do what
she wanted to do" - that is, raising her child. "Working
women (may feel) that I sold out," says Ms. Cohen,"
but the beauty of the women's movement is that we have choices."
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Quotes
from article, "This Entrepreneur Has A Perfect Remedy"
Small Business Opportunities, September 1998
Debra Cohen is a stay-at-home mom turned entrepreneur.
She left an eight-year career as VP of a global aviation magazine
for a less glamorous pursuit--motherhood. Over the next six
months she developed a business plan and, in February 1997,
launched Home Remedies TM, a comprehensive homeowner referral
network. In it's first six months of operation, Home Remedies
TM is profitable and boasts a client list of over 100 satisfied
homeowners.
Debra locates all of the respectable contractors in the network
and conducts research to ensure that they are licensed, insured
and bonded.
Debra also markets a business package to individuals looking
for a viable home business. It includes a manual entitled
The Complete Guide To Owning And Operating A Successful Homeowner
Referral Network©, along with a starter set of forms
necessary to run the business.
For more info on how to hire Home Remedies TM or if you would
like to purchase Debra Cohen's Complete Guide, contact
her at 516-374-8504. Email address is: HomRemdies@aol.com
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"Shelly and I are really focusing on our HRN business as of
late...We are really focusing on our internal processes and documenting
the flow of what needs to be done - just building off of the great
foundation you have provided us! Work is really picking up and we
want to make sure that if we need to hire someone, that we have
our ducks in a row! We are looking forward to a great year next
year - full steam ahead! Thanks again & take care"
~ Brian
"First of all thank you so much for all your help and sharing
this opportunity. I love this business!"
~ Elda
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