Here are some tips to help make sure that your business is off to a good start
1. Make sure that your family is 100% solidly behind your decision to start a home-based business.
It is important to have your family’s support when you start a home business. It may be that you will need to tighten your purse strings as you jumpstart the business, especially if you are leaving a job to launch the business and the family loses one steady income source. The family must believe in your vision for them to allow you to use the family’s savings and assets for this business. Or it may be that you will need your spouse to continue employment to ensure that the family still has health insurance and benefits.
I also interviewed an entrepreneur who had to get her family’s approval because her business required huge quantities of supplies and inventories. Her business took over one of her child’s bedroom and garage, in addition to another room for her home office. She said it came to the point where her business supplies even spilled over to the family room, and it was a case of boxes here, there and everywhere. Luckily, the business took off and after a year she was able to move the business to a Main Street store, clearing her house with all the supplies and inventories.
2. Make sure that this home business is what you really want to do.
Starting a home business is NOT easy. For your home business to succeed, you need to invest significant amounts oftime, effort and resources. So you better make sure that this is what you really want: that this business is something you’d like to be doing for the next five years, and that you really want to work from home.
Don’t get carried away with the initial rush of excitement of this new home business. Instead, try to think of how you will feel about doing this business in the long term. Is this a business that you think you will still love to do a year or two from now — even if your initial expectations are not met?
Also make sure that you can actually work from home. I talked to an entrepreneur who started a business with his best friend. They worked in their respective homes during their startup phase, and kept in touch during the day to compare notes or plan their next activities. Unfortunately for him, he learned that he did not like working from home solo the whole day. He craved for human interaction, and being cooped the whole day in his basement while working on the business drove him nuts. After six months, and seeing the business start to show growth potential, he convinced his partner to rent an office downtown instead.
3. Know what you are REALLY getting into.
This seems very basic, right? In reality, however, there are many entrepreneurs who decide to start a business, but have absolutely no clue what they are getting into.
Take for example the many Adsense publishers. With the popularity of Google’s advertising program, many folks decided to launch online businesses by starting Web sites or blogs. They then applied to Google Adsense (or other ad programs) thinking that they will start seeing thousands of dollars per month, only to find that their sites could only earn pennies per month. So what went wrong? They went in and started their online businesses without really understanding what works best for Google Adsense. They made false assumptions with the program, and failed to take into account the responsiveness of their audience to ads, their topic, their topic, and placement of ads.
Read books about the specific business. Visit forums to find what others are saying or experiencing with the business you want to start. The Web has also made it very easy to research competitors and how the strategies they are using. Be a sponge willing to absorb anything and everything about your business. Remember, research is your best friend!
Home based business requires good planning. The niche you choose should deliver products of high value. Family support is essential.
Many people don’t know what to expect when trying to start a home based business. Lots of people start a part-time home based business and wait to earn a fortune, fast. But you need patience and time if you want your business to be successful.
good advice. You absolutely need the support of your family otherwise there will be too much stress and tension for you to focus on your business.