A home business startup can be an exciting way to earn money while working at home. It can also be challenging, especially when you’re just beginning. Here are some things to consider before launching your own home business. (Note: these tips also helpful if you have been operating a home business for a while).
If you’re interested in starting a home business, there are some things you need to consider before jumping into the deep end.
First, you should determine what type of business you want to run. Do you want to sell products or services? Maybe you want to offer consulting services? Or perhaps a combination of options.
Once you decide what kind of business you want to start, you’ll need to find out whether you have the skills needed to make it work. You also need to think about where you’d like to do business. Would you prefer to operate from home or would you rather open a brick-and-mortar location?
This mini-guide provides you with the 5 steps to starting (or growing) a successful home business.
Create A Plan For Your Home Business
Before you launch your home business, make sure you have a plan. You need to decide what type of business you want to run, whether it’s online or offline, and what products or services you’ll offer. Then, determine where you will sell those products or services. Next, figure out how much money you expect to make each month. Last, but not least, assess whether you have what it takes to succeed on your own. Or if you need to leverage off the expertise of a home business coach and support of like-minded peers.
Find The Right Products and Services That You Can Sell
Once you’ve decided what kind of business you want to start, you’ll need to find the right products and services to sell.
As we continue to move through the economic downturn and limited supply issues in the world, it is a great time to really focus your product lines to a local market, especially if you can source or produce them locally as well. Marketing and sales can be carried out online as well as offline.
However, if you’re planning to predominantly sell products online, then research different websites that allow people to buy products. This will give you ideas for your own business and may even help you identify items you can source, get manufactured or even resell.
For example, you may be great at making custom designs to print on t-shirts, but you don’t want to manufacture the t-shirts or do the printing of them. Or you could decide to write a non-fiction book, and choose print-on-demand platforms to manufacture and ship them for you.
In the early days of your home business startup, you might also consider selling services instead of products. This may be a quicker path to income if you have the relevant skills and experiences to be of value to others.
Our team inside KESWiN Academy have been sourcing and creating products for a wide range of markets over many years. They also have worked in service-based fields as coaches, consultants, and mentors. In other words, as a member you can fast track your success by leveraging off their experiences.
Set Up an eCommerce Site for Your Home Business Startup
There are several options available when starting an eCommerce site. While many are easy, turnkey systems, they also have hidden costs and risks. Due to the fact that you are building your business on someone else’s “land” or servers. This is often referred to as “The Cloud”. But a more accurate term is “digital sharecropping”.
For example, if you do something that the cloud server owners don’t like, they will close your account down in an instant. This scenario leaves you locked out of your eCommerce site and unable to operate your business. For more information on the risks, read this article on digital sharecropping.
Examples of digital sharecroppers are Shopify, Facebook, WordPress.com, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Amazon and eBay. While they allow you to set up a free or low cost online store with multiple payment methods, you are completely beholden to them.
In some cases, you never get your customer’s contact details, so it is also close to impossible to build repeat business with them. Which is definitely not one of the steps to home business startup success!
Rather, we encourage you to “cut out the middle person” and build your own eCommerce site. This way you will be fully in control of your online real estate, as well as have direct contact with your customers. This makes it WIN/WIN for everyone involved.
Inside KESWiN Academy we teach you how to set up your own online shop using self-hosted WordPress and WooCommerce. This is low cost, and when you follow our step-by-step training, it’s easy to do.
Both of these options will help you build a successful eCommerce website for your home business startup.
Start Marketing Your Product Or Service
Marketing is what will make your business succeed. But it’s hard to know where to focus your marketing resources and efforts on. Especially if they are limited, which for most home business startups is the case.
Often most entrepreneurial endeavors fail due to lack of marketing investment. If you don’t have the finances, then you need to put in the time.
Social media marketing, for instance, is a popular marketing tool It can be cheap and rewarding from a financial perspective. But it also requires you being active online for a huge portion of your day, especially if you allow comments. While comments increase interaction with potential customers, it can also attract trolls, which require monitoring. So the downside is that it takes your attention away from in and on your business, making sales, etc.
Other types of low cost online marketing include content marketing (content being blog posts, podcasts, videos and so on), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), email/newsletter marketing, etc.
Of course, you can also explore paid advertising with Facebook, Google Adwords and other platforms. This can quickly get expensive though, especially if you don’t choose the right strategy.
Offline options include in-person networking events, local and community newspaper advertising, letterbox drops, directories, signage, and so on. Again, costs can range from low cost to beyond the reach of a home business startup.
Fortunately at KESWiN Academy we provide marketing training to help you identify which combination is affordable and effective for you.
Grow Your Home Business Startup Over Time
There are several different options available when it comes to running a home business.
- Start with a small business and then expand as your business grows.
- Purchase an existing business and add new products or services.
- Begin with no business at all and build one up from scratch.
Whether you choose to start and grow your home business startup part-time while in paid employment, or jumping in boots and all as a full-time venture is also something to consider. It may be best to work this as a “Plan B” side gig until it replaces your existing income. Or you may be suddenly unemployed (and possibly “unemployable”) and need to make this a success as soon as possible.
Either way, as you get started working on your plan, it is important to look at the long-term vision. You want to build on your success, and plan on growing it. Possibly you may even consider scaling up in the future as your customer base expands, maybe even taking on employees to help you.
Bonus Step! Join a Supportive Community
Whether you are a start-up venture or have been going a while, being part of a like-minded, supportive community keeps you accountable and on track.
Ideally look for a place where you can ask and gets answers, access step-by-step training, and have access to coaches and experienced mentors. People who have already “been there, done that” can guide you over obstacles, and fast-track your way to success.
One example of a supportive community is KESWiN Academy. We have been working with home business owners and solopreneurs since 2008. In fact, we were one of the online membership community pioneers, mentoring individuals to set up and grow online businesses. Our clients have been all ages (even in their 80s), from all walks of life and residing all over the globe.
Consequently, over the years we have developed extensive experience and training in brand development, content and email marketing, WordPress and eCommerce, digital and print book publishing, and other related topics.
Our friendly online community includes a social network, live topic specific workshops and Q&As, interactive group coaching, tailored training courses, an extensive library of articles and downloadable guides, and lots more!
Your Level of Business Success is in Your Hands
How big your business grows is up to you and the efforts you put into it. But if you don’t get started, then neither will your business. Whichever route you choose, you’ll want to keep these five steps in mind:
- Create a Clear Business Plan
- Find the Right Products and Services
- Set Up the Channels to Sell Through
- Develop, Implement and Revise Your Marketing Strategy
- Build on Your Successes and Grow Your Business
- Join a friendly supportive community.
KESWiN Academy would love to be part of your home business startup journey. If you feel this is a good fit then join our friendly and supportive community, and leverage off our trainers and coaches knowledge, experience and skill-sets.
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About the Author
KESWiN Academy Team (KAT)
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