Top 10 tips for starting a home business

Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest

If you are like many people today and want to join the ranks of entrepreneurs there are a few things that must be taken into consideration before you start a Home Business.

The first and most important tip is Dont Quit Your Day Job Yet! Starting any business will begin as a loss. Most new businesses will run in red ink for at least two to five years. There are advance expenses that have to be recouped before you begin to make a profit.

Second, investigate any business venture you are interested in thoroughly. There are so many get-rich-quick schemes floating across the airways, TV, Internet, and print advertising that you cannot jump blindly into any venture without first investigating. If you do not, you might as well walk out to your trash can and open your wallet and toss the money youre carrying right into the garbage. The effect is the same. A large part of the investigation is not only into the parent company but with others that also operate similar businesses. Ask how long before they began to make a profit and what kind of taxes they pay and what type of volume their business has and most of all would they recommend this business to anyone. Make as an informed decision as before committing to anything.

There is no guarantee that you will succeed with your home-based business, regretfully, but you have a better chance if you follow these tips.

Third: Decide on what type of business it will be. Will it be a service business where you physically go out to your customer base and perform a service, i.e.: house cleaning, lawn care, house painting, window washing, etc? Or are you going to produce and/or sell a product based out of a home office or via the Internet, catalog sales, or phone sales?

Fourth: Know exactly what your initial financial outlay will be and the residual monthly costs for advertising, storage space (if necessary for products), website hosting and insertion into search engines, license fees (some cities as well as states require a home business to be licensed), sales tax requirements, additional phone costs, and how much time will you need to devote to your new enterprise.

Fifth: Prepare a complete financial plan (budget) and stick to it like glue. This is where most small home-based businesses go belly up. The first item on your plan will have to be a separate checking account or dedicated account for the business. All monies relating to your business MUST be kept separate and distinct from your personal household account. Once you mix (the legal term is co-mingle) your funds youre already in trouble, because you will eventually dip into the portion of money that is for the business for personal use and not have funds available to pay your business bills.

Sixth: Set-up a dedicated work area in your home to operate your business from, a home office where you can do paperwork and handle phone calls, etc. If you will need to store inventory or tools and equipment for your business you will wan to set up a storage area in the garage, carport, or storage shed.

Seventh: Advertising is a must for any business to survive and thrive. There are many forms of advertising that you can start with: an ad in the local newspaper, an ad in the local advertiser (free weekly or monthly publication that is delivered to all homes in the area), generating and distributing flyers, search engines directing potential customers toward your website, persuading the media to write an article about you (present yourself in such a way that the local media people will consider you a good Human Interest Story). Other than inventory, the largest outlay of funds should be for advertising.

Eighth: Reputation. Develop a reputation for a square deal and always respond promptly to your customers, this will drive more business your way through word-of-mouth and repeat business. Mentally grit your teeth, if necessary, when dealing with customers. Remember you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Smile, even if it hurts, and never let them see you loose it. And never forget a customers name even if you have to look it up just before you contact them.

Ninth: Never talk bad about your competition. People dont want to hear your opinion of the competition, they want to hear what you intend to do for them. Have references ready and examples of your work or product.

Tenth: Always do everything when interacting with customers in a neat and professional manner. If you are selling a product that has to be shipped by some means, be sure everything is packaged neatly and with proper protection so that the product will arrive as if you just reached from the shelf and handed it to your customer. In service businesses, always appear neat and clean, Your appearance is your customers first impression and it is the first impression that makes the difference.

Follow the above ten tips and you are well on your way to building a good business. As I said before, regretfully there is no guarantee, but following the above will increase your chances. Good luck in your endeavor and one last thing: HAVE FUN, if it is not fun now it never will be and you will soon tire. So have fun and watch your new business grow.