Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Making Preparations With Your Home Based Business

By Stewart Woyo


Operating your own home-based business is one of the most satisfying ways to work. That is, provided that you do your research ahead of time and lay the proper foundation. Most people think that starting a home-based business is convenient and easy. They're right in that it is usually convenient. But as for easy? It couldn't be farther from the truth. Starting up a home business takes a lot of work, but if you do your homework you can navigate around many of the common pitfalls of beginning a home business of your own.

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.

Second you will have to decide the location of your office. Whether it is in the family room, living room, or your own office, it should be somewhere where you have enough space so that you are not crowded. Make sure it won't get in your families way so that they can continue in their lives without disturbing your business while you are working. Do your own homework on the tax laws and find out how much space you can write off for business use in your house. Also you have to call the zoning board to find out what kinds of permits you will need to get your business started. Most of this information can be found on the internet so just do your research and you will be working optimally.

Once you get your permits you will be ready to buy your product to sell it and make some money. Make sure whatever you sell, gives you enough profit margin so that you can continue to sell it. Most home business owners think their overhead is basically nothing, so they commit the error of pricing the product too low. You want to set a good enough price for your product so that you'll be in profit. Make a list of everything you have to buy during the month for your business such as office supplies, extra utilities being used due to business, and all the other little small things that will be involved with paying for your new office. Then once you have a monthly price you should price accordingly so you can make the profit you want to attain.

Now that you're ready to venture into the free market, you need to decide upon business hours. You might think, "I work at home! I can work whatever hours I want!" However, you have to be accessible for clients who are relying on you to be there during regular daytime hours. You need to have a set schedule for your customers' sake. They have to know when they can catch you in the office and when they'll just get sent to voicemail.

Now, tell me how your family is going to respect your business hours and not bother you while you work. Good Luck. I know it can be done, but you will have to communicate well with your family about what is acceptable and what is not. Some home business owners have a suite with a separate entrance that is not connected to the inside of the house. This works well, the family has to go outside and knock on the door to speak with the business owner during work hours. However you achieve it, the understanding must be clear that when you are working, you are working.

You will need to establish a backup plan in case your business grows out of your office and you need an assistant to do the busy work. So think about your choice of office area when you are making the decision at the start, only if you plan on expanding though. Just make sure that you can deal with outgrowing your home office. Set up a plan to transition into a larger office space once your business grows to another level.

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