8 Tips to Help you Start a Successful Home-Based Business
8 Tips to Help you Start a Successful Home-Based Business
The Dad exclaims in frustration, “It’s not easy! Just get out of the car”.
That sounds similar to the conversation I’ve had dozens, maybe even hundreds of times with smart, skilled people who want to start a business. Just like the young boy, they don’t know what they don’t know. But what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
Here are some basic tips that will help you make building a home-based business a reality:
1. Create a plan, even if it’s just a few pages. It will force you to think through your ideas and decide where you want to be a year or two from now, who you want to work with, what products and services you want to offer, and how you’ll meet your financial goals.
2. Create an ideal client profile and compile a list of possible marketing activities you think would reach this market.
3. Decide on a start up budget and figure out where to get the money. You can bootstrap in the beginning and start with very little, but you will need some money—at least a few thousand dollars.
4. For one week, monitor how you spend your work time to see how productive and efficient you are with your time. How much of your time is spent on business building, potentially profit generating activities? This does not mean checking e-mail, doing administrative tasks or surfing the Internet. How you use your time will absolutely determine how successful you’ll be.
5. Make a list of which life, family or childcare obligations are non-negotiable for you and outsource the rest. For example, maybe you have school age kids and you’re willing to put them in after school homework club, but you absolutely want to spend time with them after dinner. Or, maybe you’re willing to work Saturday morning, but want Saturday afternoon and evening with your family. This will help you determine how your current situation can be changed to accommodate uninterrupted work time. You will have to make some compromises, so be clear which ones you’re willing to make.
6. Prepare an office space that is large enough to accommodate your business needs. If you can find a space where you can close the door to indicate to everyone that you are at work and not to be disturbed, all the better.
7. Don’t answer your personal phone or doorbell when you’re working. That’s what caller ID is for. If it’s an emergency call or someone you really need to speak to, you can answer. If it’s your friend calling to say hi or a neighbor dropping by, you’ll be tempted, but don’t respond.
8. Find a coach or mentor who can guide you through the start up process as quickly and efficiently as possible, who can show you how to avoid unnecessary struggles, stress and wasted time and money. You’ll feel so wonderful when you fastrack to your first $100, then $1,000, the $10,000!
8 Tips to Help you Start a Successful HomeBased Business - To learn more about this author, visit Janis Pettit's Website.
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Did you ever see that Toyota commercial where the Dad was giving a first driving lesson to his son? The son is so excited about the Bluetooth technology, the GPS system and the Engine Start button that he keeps telling his dad that driving is going to be “so easy”. He’s convinced he just pushes a button and steers and he’s good to go.
The Dad exclaims in frustration, “It’s not easy! Just get out of the car”.
That sounds similar to the conversation I’ve had dozens, maybe even hundreds of times with smart, skilled people who want to start a business. Just like the young boy, they don’t know what they don’t know. But what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
Here are some basic tips that will help you make building a home-based business a reality:
1. Create a plan, even if it’s just a few pages. It will force you to think through your ideas and decide where you want to be a year or two from now, who you want to work with, what products and services you want to offer, and how you’ll meet your financial goals.
2. Create an ideal client profile and compile a list of possible marketing activities you think would reach this market.
3. Decide on a start up budget and figure out where to get the money. You can bootstrap in the beginning and start with very little, but you will need some money—at least a few thousand dollars.
4. For one week, monitor how you spend your work time to see how productive and efficient you are with your time. How much of your time is spent on business building, potentially profit generating activities? This does not mean checking e-mail, doing administrative tasks or surfing the Internet. How you use your time will absolutely determine how successful you’ll be.
5. Make a list of which life, family or childcare obligations are non-negotiable for you and outsource the rest. For example, maybe you have school age kids and you’re willing to put them in after school homework club, but you absolutely want to spend time with them after dinner. Or, maybe you’re willing to work Saturday morning, but want Saturday afternoon and evening with your family. This will help you determine how your current situation can be changed to accommodate uninterrupted work time. You will have to make some compromises, so be clear which ones you’re willing to make.
6. Prepare an office space that is large enough to accommodate your business needs. If you can find a space where you can close the door to indicate to everyone that you are at work and not to be disturbed, all the better.
7. Don’t answer your personal phone or doorbell when you’re working. That’s what caller ID is for. If it’s an emergency call or someone you really need to speak to, you can answer. If it’s your friend calling to say hi or a neighbor dropping by, you’ll be tempted, but don’t respond.
8. Find a coach or mentor who can guide you through the start up process as quickly and efficiently as possible, who can show you how to avoid unnecessary struggles, stress and wasted time and money. You’ll feel so wonderful when you fastrack to your first $100, then $1,000, the $10,000!
8 Tips to Help you Start a Successful HomeBased Business - To learn more about this author, visit Janis Pettit's Website.
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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