A Home-Based Business: Tips to Help Launch Your Venture
Let’s face it, the idea of starting a new business can be daunting. It’s a step into the unknown, into a world where we rely only on ourselves. And if we are leaving behind a secure job to start a new passion project, it can be even scarier.
But the truth is that there’s never been a better time to start a home-based business. With all of the companies closing down over the last two years, competition is low. At the same time, there are many incentives and small business grants available to stimulate economic activity.
Taking the first step is often the hardest, so why don’t you just do one thing today that will move you towards building your business and get you a step closer to your dreams?
Onward Studios presents 10 things you can do to get you started on the road towards business ownership right now.
- Conduct a self-assessment. What are your entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses? How much time are you willing to put in? What do you expect to earn? How long do you really want to commit to one business? Should you seek out any additional learning or education, such as a business or accounting degree, before continuing? If so, online options allow you to continue working as you further your education.
- Determine what type of business you’d like. Do you want a completely home-based business? Do you want to sell to other companies? Do you want to sell products or services? If you’re not feeling inspired, there’s plenty of articles online.
- Brainstorm product ideas. What products or services do you wish existed but can never find? There are likely other people out there that share your same need. Do any of them inspire you enough to work on them?
- Research your competition. Do you have a unique selling point to make you stand out from the rest?
- Choose a business name. A great name can also be very inspirational and say a lot about your business. Once you have a name, take it one step further and create the perfect tagline to accompany your business name. If you’re struggling to develop it on your own, remember you can hire help to craft the perfect business name slogan before you go to market.
- Develop your elevator pitch. Once you know what you want to sell, how you want to sell it, and who you want to sell to, develop an elevator pitch. This is one short phrase that you can use to let people get an idea at a glance of what you’re doing and what your vision is.
- Location inspiration. If you plan to have a physical location, think about where you would like it to be, what you would like it to look like, and how you want the clients to feel when they walk in the door.
- Start a draft of your business plan. To create a business plan draft, put all of the elements you’ve come up with on a spreadsheet to start getting an idea of how much startup capital you would need, what your costs would roughly look like, and what profit potential you would have.
- Make a list of your startup funding options. Do you have any savings? Any potential investors? Is your business idea suitable for crowdfunding, or do you need a bank loan?
- Plan your work team. Based on your self-assessment and the type of business you want to run, how many people would you need to hire? Do you need full-time staff or just freelancers specialised in different areas?
The truth is, a lot of hard work goes into setting up a successful business. But it all starts with one small step. So why not start today?
