Tips for Starting a Home-Based Business
There are many benefits to starting a home-based business. These tips should save you some effort. First, you can go after something you are passionate about rather than following someone else’s dreams. Second, you call the shots and determine where to take your business at each junction. Third, working from home means that you have more flexibility in when you work and how you make money.
Nonetheless, starting a business is not easy. Running a firm that has long-term success is even more difficult. Along with unwavering dedication, managing a business requires several disciplines. First, you must understand how to fulfill your daily responsibilities best. Second, you must strategize how you grow your business. Third, recognize that things beyond your control happen, and you must remain willing to adapt when necessary.
If you are throwing around the idea of starting a home-based business, here are some tips to keep in mind for making it a successful venture.
Consider the timing of starting a home-based business
Right now is a challenging time to start a business because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You should not let the COVID-19 pandemic discourage you from following your dream. However, you also need to make special considerations and understand the unique challenges that lay ahead. And for the record, all times are challenging to start a business. There will be unexpected issues to deal with now.
For instance, research possible scenarios that you could face in the coming months and years. How can you remain adaptable in uncertain times? And how could the current global economy affect your business? Additionally, be sure to make time to brainstorm how you could create alternative streams of revenue if needed. Investigate the various financial assistance options that can help you along the way. Project your income and expenses for the six to eighteen months. You can make these projections on paper or in a spreadsheet. Also, you can use cash flow and business planning tools like LivePlan or ProfitSee. Spend your money wisely. And if you are fortunate enough to have a severance package, reflect on how those resources can become your seed money and start-up capital.
Foster communication for your home-based business
No matter what kind of home-based business you start, communication will play a vital role. Communicating will it be necessary for maintaining healthy relationships with your clients and partners. If you work with a team of remote workers, you will need to make sure you have the right tools at your disposal. For example, apps like Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Zoho Connect can help ensure effective communication among your team. These tools even allow you to create a newsfeed to present essential company information, as well as channels to communicate and share work specific to each project.
Also, consider how you might market your services. Do you have a referral network? Can you leverage your social circles, social networks, and business contacts in the community who know you and recognize your skills? How much effort do you need to spend to make your home-based business known? Does your website communicate your capabilities? Please see our article on outsourcing tasks to recall that experts can help with your website, social marketing, and other critical tasks.
A reasonable approach is to consider what tasks waste your time and where you can utilize tech. Then, hire out the rest of the work. Ultimately, you will find that the time you save will be money saved. This will help your business be in a better position to grow.
Think about whom you should hire and when
A lot of small business owners start by doing everything themselves. Depending on the size of the company and what it offers, this might work out fine at first. After all, software and technology solutions can help you with a variety of tasks (e.g., accounting, project management, marketing). If you need a complete small business solution, Zoho Corporation may have the answer. Zoho One has everything you need to run a small business from word processing and email to eCommerce and recurring billing.
Further, if you are a professional, you will have complete suites of tools that provide you, as a small business, the same technology as a massive operation. As an example for accounting professionals, AccountantsWorld Power Practice, CCH Axcess, and Thomson Onvio all have the capability of running your practices with no locally installed software.
However, you also must keep a growth mindset—not just for five years from now, but for this moment. And frequently, the best way to grow is to hire freelancers to handle the tasks that don’t come naturally to you or where you simply don’t have the time. Outsource where you do not have the expertise. Leverage other people’s labors that are also looking for work. Outsourcing could mean the following:
- Hiring a web developer to create a high-quality website
- A writer to provide engaging content for your website and social media pages
- A virtual assistant to handle phone calls and invoicing, or any other number of hires
- Intentionally locating and contracting for skills like tax, client accounting services, or financial statement preparation
Establish a workspace and work hours for your home-based business
Working from home can provide you with flexibility, but it can also be very challenging to get work done, especially if you have kids at home. Create a workspace, complete with any equipment, furnishings, and decor that will help you stay productive. Also, set work hours, and make sure everyone in your household is clear on when those hours are. Doing these two things will help you to achieve a healthy work-home balance.
Remember that we have guided you on home workspaces in our article on Advantages of Starting an Online Shop and Easy Ways to Start. Further, we discussed many other tools in Insights on Work At Home. But our main reminder is to separate work life from home life and maintain a reasonable work-life balance.
Summary
Running a home-based business is hard, but it can also be one of the most fulfilling ways to make a living. Hopefully, the tips in this article and the suggestions in the linked articles provide useful guidance. Remember to take cash flow into account when planning your business. Make sure you have all the communication tools necessary for your business to succeed. Consider hiring freelancers for the tasks that you cannot do efficiently. Create a dedicated workspace. Finally, set consistent work hours to maintain a work-life balance. With these steps, you will likely be glad you made the best business decision of your life.
Consider our other articles such as The Importance of CRM to Manage and Grow Your Business or as noted above: Outsourcing Tasks Can Do Wonders for Your Small Business, Advantages of Starting an Online Shop and Easy Ways to Start, and Insights on Work At Home. If you need specialized tools for your small business, consider our K2 Course Enhancing Small Business Accounting with Add-Ons.
Looking for guidance on working from home with children in the house? Click here for great tips on how to manage that challenge.
