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Is starting a home based business right for you?

Are you right for starting a home business?

Since you are reading this, I would be willing to bet you want to start your own home based business, or you have tried to start one a time or two. Maybe it didn’t work out and you would like to try again. Maybe it was a modest success, but you wonder why your home business is not more successful.

It is no secret that I believe at least half of all adults, and some teenagers, should start their own home based business. Even if they have a good job. Everyone knows, especially lately, that a good job can be gone in an instant. So, start your home business in your spare time. Build it into a successful sideline as insurance against loss of that good job. Or, build it into a business that could provide you with as much income as you make at your job, or more. Wouldn’t you like to tell your boss someday “Goodbye, I’m quitting this job to concentrate on my home business. I make more with my business than what you pay me”?

But, I’m getting off track. To be honest, a home business is not right for everyone. And, not everyone is right for a home based business.

A home business, or any business for that matter, takes some degree of skill and knowledge, hard work, persistence, dedication, and focus. And a home business is different in many ways compared to a corporate job or a traditional retail or manufacturing business.

Is a home based business right for you?

Almost every home business has tons of distractions; kids, pets, home maintenance, the “honey do” list. Distractions make it hard to focus. Will these distractions make it so hard for you to focus that you can’t get done what needs to get done in your business?

Running a business from your home makes it hard to separate personal time from business time. The two will overlap a lot and you will either find your personal time eating into your business time, or your business time will take over and you will have little if any personal time for yourself or your family.

Many home businesses will result in loss of face-to-face social interaction with people. Nice chats with coworkers over cubicle walls, or at the water cooler, or over shared lunch breaks are replaced with emails, tweets, or phone calls.

If your home or apartment is fairly small, you may not have the space to set up a separate “office” where you can do your “work”. Your kitchen table might become your “office”.

Most home business entrepreneurs have no regular paycheck. Having a uncertain and irregular income creates its own problems and may require a much better job of budgeting, saving money during the good times, and strict control of expenses.

During the initial year or two of your home business efforts you may not have total family support. If that is the case for you, it may be difficult to keep going until you are as successful as you would like to be.

Are you right for a home based business?

Are you self-directed? – Are you willing and able to get things done with no boss telling you what to do?

Are you able to live with no structured job description? – Can you function and be comfortable without a specific job title or written outline of what you are supposed to do?

Are you willing and able to learn about, and learn how to do, a wide variety of tasks and functions? – Can you wear many hats doing whatever is required to start and build your business as the chief cook and bottle washer (at least initially)?

Are you able to identify exactly what you want in your business and your life? – Can you clearly identify what you want to do, have, or be, and why? Can you persist until you have that? Knowing what you really want, and why you want it, can give you the direction and motivation you need to succeed. And, persistence is one of the most important characteristics you could have for success in home business, or in any effort.

Are you able to “sell” ideas and products to people? – I don’t mean “Can you be a hypey sales type that tries to manipulate people into buying something?” Many people hate to “sell” because they think that is what it means to sell. But, it has been said that “nothing happens until something gets sold”. You will need to sell in order to be successful. When I say “Can you sell?”, I mean, can you identify with people and the problems they have? Can you communicate with people in such a way that they believe you understand their problems? Can you tell them about how their problem could be solved, and especially how your product is the best way to solve their problem? Can you clearly state all the benefits to them of using your product to solve their problem? Can you create and communicate an offer to your prospects that is so good they would think it is too good to pass up? Can you find the people who have the problem your product can solve and present your offer to them? Can you ask for the order and deliver the product you have promised to those who order? And, finally, can you follow up with your customers to make sure they are satisfied and to offer them additional products and build your relationship with them?

Are you able to function without a lot of face to face social interaction with others? – Are you comfortable with having your interactions with people being limited to emails, Twitter, Facebook, or maybe phone conversations? Or, do you NEED personal conversations over the cubicle wall, at the water cooler, or during shared lunch breaks?

Do you have a success “can do” attitude, or do you have a lot of excuses for why something can’t be done?

Are you able to plan your business, marketing, and product creation, and then execute the plan? – Are you good at planning, and more importantly, are you good at taking action to make your plan happen?

Are you able to ask others for help when you need it? – Nobody can be an expert at everything. Are you humble enough to realize you will need help with something? Are you willing to find and ask an expert for assistance?

Are you able to make decisions quickly, or do you procrastinate? – Are you willing to move forward, even if you might fail? Or, does everything have to be perfect, with no chance of failure, before you will act?

OK. I think you get the picture. A home based business may be right for you. And, you may be right for a home based business. Be honest with yourself when you evaluate both possibilities.

If you think you can weather the storm of a home business environment, and if you think you have the drive and personal characteristics to be successful in a home business, GO FOR IT!

When your home based business becomes successful, the personal and financial freedom you will have, and the pure joy of doing something you love, will be worth all the time and effort.

You know I think a home based business selling information is perfect for most people. But, if you don’t agree, pick one you can believe in and make it happen.

As the economy waffles along increasing one minute and decreasing the next, and unemployment hovers near 10% nationwide, people are fast realizing that they need to take control of their own destiny. As a result, home based businesses have jumped to the fore as a way for anyone to supplement or replace their income without being dependent on others to provide work.MSNBC recently completed a study shows that 75% of all newly created jobs are directly related to home-based businesses. The US Census Bureau states that 49% of all businesses in the US are home-based businesses. A recent survey conducted by Yahoo revealed that 75% of its user base claimed the Internet helped them to start their own business. These numbers are just skimming the top of a mushrooming trend of people ready to get out of the rat race, and take control of their lives.While it’s great news, that people can take control of their income and their future, there is another alarming statistic we need to recognize. Of all the new home-based businesses started over the last few years, a whopping 97% are failing. That means that only 3 out of every 100 businesses started in America are going to survive. Most of them go down within the first few months. Why is this happening?It takes two essential ingredients to start and run a successful home-based business, customers and prospects. For any business to succeed, there has to be a steady influx of customers to buy your product or service. There must also be a steady flow of leads or prospective customers so you can continue selling your product or service, and grow your business. Knowing this, you can logically deduce that you must have a way to attract and keep your customers.That’s where marketing comes in. Without an effective marketing plan a company is doomed for failure. Marketing is considered by the successful as an essential investment, in money and or time. When done correctly, yields massive returns. Done badly, marketing costs can double or triple, in addition to not attracting customers to your business. While you often hear that companies close because of cash flow problems, the root of those cash flow problems stems from a lack of marketing or bad marketing. Without customers, there’s no business, and naturally, cash flow problems arise. This means budgeting for marketing right from the beginning.Use the following three powerful and effective marketing strategies to help ensure your business success:1. Offer Value
Marketing your business properly is a key component of having a successful business. Some people claim that instead of marketing, they on word of mouth and referrals. In today’s parlance, this has become known as viral marketing, and it can be extremely powerful in today’s marketplace. If you provide top-notch customer service that not only encourages customers to return, it also influences them to recommend you to others. No matter what approach you take to marketing, you must offer your customers value. If they do not feel like they have received anything of value then they are unlikely to return, and very unlikely to recommend you to others. On the other hand, great customer service, drastically increases the likelihood of them returning and referring.2. Use Social Networking
When you offer great customer service as well as implied value, you can then turn to the social networking sites to exponentially increase your market presence. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are uniquely designed to allow Internet marketers to exploit the power of marketing through these social networking sites.3. Offer a “Loss Leader”
Another key way to draw customers in attract customers is to offer a “loss leader”. What this means is, you offer something at a discounted price, or for free, to get prospects to your site. Once there, you give them a reason to buy, i.e. you offer something of value to them, and then you provide excellent customer service. Marketing your business can be done in many different ways. If you are not marketing savvy and know how to market a business, then take the time to learn using the Internet, reading books, or attending sessions offered by the experts. Marketing your business is key to your survival and to your success.What are you waiting for, get out there and start promoting your business today!