Plan Before Starting Your Home Based Business
Owning a Home based business is one of the most rewarding things you can do with your life, but it requires a lot of hard work and doing research. Most people perceive home businesses as easy and convenient, but it is not easy at all. If you do your homework you will easily avoid most of the common mistakes made by people who will fail at home based business.
The 1st part of having a good home business is finding a product that people need, so that you will be able to sell this product to your target market. If the customer won’t pay a decent price for your widget, you won’t move any product. You will probably get bored and most of all you won’t be making any profit. So you must have a product that will sell well if you expect to have a thriving business.
Secondly, from where in your home do you expect to run your business? It will take space to operate a business, so using the living room as your home office means that you’re essentially kicking your family out of it. Try to estimate the amount of space you’ll need, and make sure you settle your business in a location that’s good for you, your family, and your clients. This is probably an area where you’ll need to consult a legal expert to fill you in on tax laws. How much space can you deduct for business use? Your local zoning board will have information on the permits you need to make such deductions.
Now you have your permits and you know what you are going to sell, next make sure you know what you must charge to make a profit. Many home based business owners make the mistake of thinking they don’t have much overhead so they price the product on the low side. Make a list of everything from a percentage of the mortgage payment and taxes to the cost of the hour you take to clean the office once every few weeks. Figure in utilities (don’t forget the extra phone, fax and internet services you will need), furnishings, office supplies and equipment, even the cost of maintaining your drive way if clients will park there. Usually, the over head in a home based business is higher than you think. Price accordingly.
Now that you have decided on your prices, you need to decide what hours of the day you’re going to work; even though you work at home you can’t be calling people whenever you want. So your home business operation hours must be convenient for the customers, preferably the same every week so you can be consistent and people don’t have to wonder if you will be open at a certain time. Try not to let the answering machine pick it up always because if you never answer your phone they can easily go get your service elsewhere. One of the main parts of working at home is being an excellent customer service person and if you can’t provide that you will most likely fail.
Since you’re working from home, you have another consideration and that is your family. You have to set clear boundaries and let them know that even though you’re at home, it doesn’t mean you’re available. Working in your home office is just like working in an office building downtown. You can’t take a break whenever you feel like it, and your family needs to understand and respect that. Some people create a separated entrance to their home office to separate the rest of the house from the home office. Whatever method you use, make sure that you and your family are on the same page.
Last but not least, have a back up plan for what you will do when your successful business out grows your home office. When will you have to hire an assistant to help with the administrative tasks? How will you accommodate growth? When will you know it is time to move to a commercial space? How will you make the move with out disruption of your business? Just a semi-lucid plan B in the back of your mind will do for now. As your business grows you can solidify your plan and be ready if and when the day comes.
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