Want to start your own home based business online? Then just like any other business, you'll need to be completely focused. Unfocused businesses do not succeed. One way of testing if you're focused is to have (or imagine) a conversation with your best friend. The object is to convince them that your business will fly.
Great! What will your business do? Simple question, but one owners don't always find easy to answer. Have you identified a real need, and how your business will provide a solution? Who are your customers and are they willing to spend good money on what you will offer? What makes your business different from the thousands of others on the web? When you explain your business to family and friends, do they 'get it'? Do you understand the section of the internet market that you will be operating in, and are you confident that you can offer something different or better? Check out your customers and competitors online before you dive in. Visit forums and blogs to see what's current. Find your niche and go for it.
Oh yes, and what will you sell? People planning to run their own home based business online know that attracting customers is key. So they often start with plans for their website or other selling outlet, and focus on their customer niche. Deciding what they will actually sell comes way down the list of things to think about. This is a particular hazard if you plan to sell other peoples products as an affiliate. Make sure your products are a key part of your plan. It would be deeply frustrating to succeed in attracting customers, only to find that they can't find what they want from what you have on offer. Keep your range of products well focused on the customers you have identified.
Where will you sell your stuff? Most online businesses sell through their own website, and a website is essential if you sell your own products. You can have a 'shop front' site with a range of goods and services on offer, or a site dedicated to one product only. Your site or sites can also be a mechanism for attracting customers, by offering free information for example. You can link sites to refer customers onwards, so one site does not necessarily have to do all the tasks. If you are planning advertising products as an affiliate then the selling is done by the product owner from their site and your task is to refer customers to them as soon as possible. Some strategies in affiliate marketing do not require you to have a website.
So you'll just work online will you? If you are selling physical items or your personal services, you'll almost certainly need an offline part to your business too.That might just mean having a telephone line where people can reach you. It could mean space for making, storing and dispatching goods. Maybe you'll need somewhere where customers can meet you face to face. If any of these describe your business then you are probably better thinking of your business as an offline operation with an online marketing strategy. That way you have a better chance of putting your efforts into the right parts of the business.
Do you really know all that techie stuff? With the software available these days you don't have to be a techie to do anything online. But just because you could do something yourself, doesn't mean you should. You have two budgets for your home based business - time and money. You should spend most of your time on the things you do best and that most benefit your business. Spend some of your money budget on paying others to do things they can do better or quicker than you. No one in the offline world hesitates long before employing an accountant, a lawyer or a plumber when they are needed. You should employ web designers, marketers and others in the same way. There's lots of help out there; use it wisely.
Have you got everything you need? When writing your business plan, think about the hardware, the software and the people you'll need to run your business. Keep asking yourself "So what?" questions. For example, you need a website, so what? So you need a domain name, a hosting service, a way of designing your site, writing content, illustrating products, taking payment, tracking sales, and so on (and on!). Also ask the supplementary questions. I'm going to design my site myself using a software package, so what? So I'll need to buy, or rent the software, or get one included in a package. Plus I'll need time to learn how to use it, and check my results, and so on. Work out the time and money you'll need to invest, budget for that and add a contingency amount.
Are you really well organised? No? Then get organised. Now! Your own home based business will take a lot of your time and mental energy. You need a highly efficient system of recording what you have done, what needs doing, when, how, and much more. And that's before you start tracking customers' orders and payments, managing your cashflow, and calculating your tax. Highly efficient doesn't mean complicated, but if your organising must be as simple as possible, it should also be complete. You will loose hours of scarce time, and money, if you don't get yourself organised from the start.
So, are you ready to go? You bet!
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