There’s no denying that many people believe starting a business and working from home is a better alternative to getting a full-time job working for someone else. Firstly, they can fit their business around their lifestyle, and secondly, there is no one micromanaging them.
You’re likely reading this article today because you’re about to embark on an entrepreneurial journey, but you want to avoid making any catastrophic mistakes. With that in mind, it’s crucial you know which mistakes to avoid before you open for business.
Take a look at the following points to help steer your new business on the right path:
1. Not Having a Clear Vision
The idea of starting a business from home sounds excellent, but if you don’t have a clue what you plan to do in it, your new enterprise won’t last long. Whenever anyone starts a new business, they should know what they want to do with it.
For example, if you start a business selling custom tote bags, will you wish to expand to other markets in the future or stick with tote bags? Plus, what types of customizations will you offer your customers, and how will you achieve them?
2. Not Planning for Your Financial Future
When you work from home for yourself, it’s up to you to earn a living by whatever means necessary. If something happened to you one day, and you became disabled or worse, what would happen with your family’s financial future?
It’s a good idea to take some steps to secure your financial future and that of your family. For instance, key person insurance and life insurance cover can ensure your business can continue and your family is financially secure should something happen to you.
3. Forgetting to Plan
Even if you planned for your financial future and that of your family, you also need to do plenty of planning in your business. For example, you should create a roadmap that shows where you want your business to be at certain milestones.
Plus, you should also create plans for how you are going to achieve your objectives. You also need to consider how you wish to expand and when will be the cut-off point that you stop working from home and find commercial premises for your business.
4. Not Having a Financial Safety Net
Point two about planning for your financial future is sage advice, but you also need to think about today and how you plan to pay your bills and feed your family! The last thing you should do is quit your day job and start a business without any money to cover your bills.
It might make more sense to have a part-time job and run your home-based business on a part-time basis before concentrating on it full-time. That way, you still have a regular income stream, and you still get to build your brand without worrying about money.
5. Forgetting to Do Market Research
One of the reasons people start new businesses is because they have good ideas they think their target audience will like. That’s great, but sadly some of those individuals don’t end up with successful businesses because of one detail: they forgot to do market research!
With that in mind, you need to make sure you conduct a thorough analysis of your target market and determine whether the products or services you want to sell to them are viable. For example, survey some people and get them to try out what you want to offer.
6. Forgetting to Do Any Marketing
If you live by the mantra “build it, and they will come,” you should probably not run a business. Why? The answer is simple: your customers won’t magically know you exist and have products and services that might interest them.
For that reason, you need to include a robust marketing plan as part of your home-based business startup strategy. Determine which online and offline marketing methods you will use, and ensure you measure the results, so you know which ones work best for you.
7. Not Asking for Help
Last but not least, there’s never any shame in asking for help. Even the most experienced of entrepreneurs can’t do everything alone, and neither should you. Sadly, some people feel they must do things by themselves.
As you can imagine, those individuals typically don’t end up with a viable business. Make sure you don’t make that common mistake, along with the other top ones described on this page.
