Are you tired of working in your 5 to 9 office job? Do you think you might be able to do much better? Or do the prospects of being your own boss excite you? Then maybe it is time for you to call is a day and start a business from home! Many entrepreneurs around the country are finding themselves starting a new business from scratch on a day to day basis. At least there was one thing the quarantine and the pandemic were useful for! But how do you go about starting a business from home? Well, we examine just that in this article!
Do a lot of research
The first step you will want to make it research – just like you are doing right now. Luckily, the internet is full of excellent and useful information you can utilize. For example, if you want to go into digital marketing, all you need to do is Google “how to start a digital marketing agency.”
From there, try to read as much as you can about everything you find. Mind you, not all information might be relevant – or even correct – but the more you know, the more your horizons will expand. And the more this happens, you will be better prepared to tackle any problem or challenge that dares come into your path.
This also includes doing market research
Whenever you start researching the topic of starting a business from home, you will run into the term “market research.” What is market research, and how do you do it for your home business?
Well, in simple terms, Imagine yourself in a dark room. You need to find an exit, but you have no idea what might wait for you there. Now, think of market research as a flashlight. It might not give you a clear picture of the room you are in (nothing ever can, really, other than experience), but it will help prepare your expectations. With market research, you will figure out some of the most common trends in your niche, or who the major players are. These will all become helpful when you start shaping your business strategy in the next step.
So, how do you do your market research? Luckily, you do not really need any professional help with that! All you need is a smartly designed set of questions, people willing to answer them, and some time on your hands. The questions should be about the things you do not know about right now, but which are necessary for your business plan. For example, you can gauge how customers might react to your brand or service, or you can ask them about their thoughts on your products.
There are many ways to do this – face-to-face, through focus groups, and even online through surveys. A thing to keep in mind here – doing this can seem scary. You might be going out of your comfort zone doing this. However, this is information you need – and you cannot get it from your friends and family, since they will have a bias towards you.
Make sure you have a solid business plan even when starting a business from home
Now let’s move to another metaphor. Imagine you are building a house. What is the first thing you need – something that will keep it stable and ready? If you answered “a good foundation,” then you are already halfway done on your way to starting a business from home! And the foundation in the startup world is your business plan.
As an amateur or an inexperienced entrepreneur, creating a business plan can often be frightening. You might not know what “goes” into a good business plan – nor how it should look, at the end of the day. Fortunately, there aren’t many rules and regulations about it. You create a business plan that you like!
However, there are some guidelines that you should follow. For starters, make it approachable. Think about an elevator pitch – this is what you do when you approach the investors. You want to present your idea quickly (during an elevator ride, for example). If you create a short business plan, with the most important ideas in bullet points, you have done a good job. You will want someone who doesn’t know too much about your business to come in, read it, and learn the basic, most important things.
The second thing to keep in mind is to make your business plan as flexible as possible. The idea is to visit your business plan often – sometimes even once a week. This will help you examine where you are going, how far you have already traveled, and what else you need to do. Furthermore, a flexible business plan can change easily – and you will appreciate this in an ever-changing economy.
Figure out your budget
The thing that can often cause problems when starting a business from home is the budget. How much you will need to spend can often dramatically change based on the services you offer – or how you conduct your business. For example, running an online store will often require you to have stocks already, while drop shipping – which is growing quite popular – won’t. Similarly, if your business is focused on services, then you might need some capital to get the starting boost.
This is why it is highly important to estimate just how much money you will need – and create your moving budget. Think about all the materials you will need on a monthly basis, and how much they will cost. You shouldn’t forget about any “hidden” or extra costs. For example, you will want a website – no matter if you are running an online or a mortar and brick business. Thus, you will need to pay for the hosting – as well as the design.
You will need to do marketing
Another thing you need to consider investing in is a good marketing team. Even when you are running a business from home, you will still need to advertise. This is one of the best ways to attract new clients – and this makes marketing an essential part of starting a business from home.