Starting a business from home is an exciting venture for anybody with an entrepreneurial spirit. And today, there are more options than ever before when it comes to starting a business from home. Thanks to the internet, and a huge range of cloud-based applications, it’s more than possible to offer your service to clients all around the world without ever needing to meet them face to face. Or you could start an eCommerce store that’s run from home, with no need to open a physical store for customers to visit.
But before you can get started with your home-based business, there’s a lot of preparation to be done to ensure that you’re on the right track for success. Here are some of the main things you’ll need to do before starting your home business.
Decide on the Products or Service You’ll Offer:
First things first; before you can start your home-based business, you’ll need to decide on the products or services that you will be offering. Today, this could be just about anything. Some good home-based business ideas include:
- Making and selling arts and crafts items from home
- Starting an e-commerce store
- Content marketing
- Copywriting
- Web design or development
- Graphic design
- Hairdressing
- Massage therapy
- Personal training
- Consulting
- Catering
- And many more!
To decide what kind of business will be the best choice for you, start by asking yourself these simple questions:
- What do you have to offer?
- What makes you an expert in it?
- Do you possess the right education and skills?
- Does your potential product or service meet a need?
- Is it a seasonal or year-long product or service?
- It is a ‘trend’ or something that’ll last over time?
- Do you have a passion for this business idea?
Get to Know Your Market and Your Competition:
Once you’ve decided what you’re going to offer, it’s time to get really familiar with your market – and the competitors that you’re going to be up against. If you don’t know your buyers, it doesn’t matter how great your product or service is – you’re going to struggle to get it in front of the right target audience.
One example of doing this within one of the industries mentioned above is getting a certification. According to fitness education site Fitness Mentors, online personal training courses allow you to work from home and give you the training you need to have a true grasp on your market. This, says the site, really allows you to get in front of the right audience. Knowing who your target market is, what they want and need, and what inspires them to spend their money are all crucial to your success. Once you’ve determined who your target market is and what they are looking for, it becomes easier to come up with a unique selling proposition (USP).
Then, look at your competition. You don’t want to copy them, but it’s worth finding out what they are doing well so that you can do it better. And, find out if your competitors are missing out by failing to offer a product or service that has the potential to be popular, then be the first to offer it.
Make Sure That Your Home is Ready:
It’s not just you that needs to be prepared for starting a home business; you should spend some time making sure that your home is ready too. When you run a business from home, your house becomes your office and you’ll find yourself suddenly spending a lot more time than usual there, so you’ll want to make sure that all those little odd jobs you’ve been putting off are completed.
Before you get started setting up your business, it’s also worth coming up with a separate space in your home that can be used as an office. You may have a spare bedroom or another barely used room in your home that is ideal, but if not, you might want to think about adding some extra space to your home or converting space such as an attic or garage into somewhere suitable to work.
If you’ve decided to turn existing space in your home into an office, then ideally this should be completed before you start your business. Get in touch with The Home Design Group to discuss your options for adding space like a sunroom or conservatory, or turning existing space into an office.
Get Ahead with Any Legal Requirements:
The legal requirements for your home business will vary depending on the type of product or service you’re offering, and who your clients are. For example, if you’re designing websites or writing articles for clients that you find online you will probably be good to go. On the other hand, there’ll be legal red tape to contend with if you’re going to provide a service to clients in your home such as hairdressing, massage therapy or childminding.
If you need a business license or a health and safety certificate, make sure that this is finalised before starting your business. Starting before you have the required legal documentation and permits, if required, could see you landed with a hefty fine.
In addition, it’s worth determining whether or not you are going to need insurance for your home-based business. Again, this might not be required if you’re providing an online service, but will certainly be necessary if members of the public are visiting your home to buy services.
Make Sure You Can Do All the Necessary Tasks and Outsource Where Necessary:
Finally, it’s important to make sure that you’re being realistic when it comes to all the tasks involved in starting a home-based business. There’s a huge amount that goes into starting a home business, depending on the products or services that you plan to offer.
Even if you’re working on your own to offer a service to online clients, you’ll need to contend with tasks such as emailing and scheduling, organizing your work, invoicing, bookkeeping, marketing your services, and much more.
To avoid getting overworked and overwhelmed, it’s a good idea to craft a list of all the tasks that you’ll need to do regularly. Wherever you can, it’s worth automating or outsourcing tasks, to free up time for yourself to get on with providing the product or service you offer. Tools for automating email can be very useful, and you might find that hiring a freelance accountant to manage your books helps to minimize stress.
There’s a lot to think about before you start a home business! Are you ready?
