Setting up a home-based businesses is a good way to start a new business, especially in these recessionary times. In fact, as job lay-offs increase, so do home-based business start-ups. It’s still another form of professional development, which will give you additional skills, should you later look for a job. And you can always keep your home-based business on the side.

Here are some keys for starting such a business successfully.

• Create a special work space for the business in your home, and make it clear this off limits for other uses. Then, when you get ready to go to work there, close the door and ask others not to interrupt you for non-work related except for emergencies, just like if you were in an office away from home. This way you really feel like you are at work.
• Determine what materials you need for your office and have them readily available. To determine what you need, visualize what you will do everyday and make a list of what’s needed. If you have a limited budget, prioritize what you need and get what is most important first. To keep down costs, look for store specials and no-interest loans.
• Check your e-mail every two or three hours, so you have large blocks of time available for doing your work. Advise people that if they need a quick response to call you; otherwise e-mail you. This way, you reduce distractions from phone calls and checking your e-mail too frequently, and gain a solid block of work time.
• Allocate about 2-3 hours a day for marketing your product or service so you continue to get new clients or customers. Attend networking events as part of these marketing efforts. These events will also contribute to your professional development and making contacts that can lead to a new job, if you want one.
• Create a professional-looking Website for your business. Numerous services now provide templates where you can create a Website in only a few hours. You just choose the layout; then customize it for your business. For instance, Sitebuilder offers several hundred Website formats.
• If you feature products or services for sale on your Website, make it easy to buy them, such as by using Amazon payments or Paypal. Then, people just need to click and pay. If possible, create a merchant account at your bank, so people can pay with credit cards, too.
• Create flyers, brochures, or sales sheets for your products or services, and take some with you at all times, so you can give them out if you have an opportunity to people you meet at networking events or in your day to day activities. But don’t be pushy in handing them out. To keep costs down, you can order through a number of Internet companies, such as Vista Prints, which specialize in large printing runs.
• When appropriate, turn the conversation to the products or services you are offering; then give out your flyers, brochures, catalog sheets, or a business card to those who are interested. Be sure your Website and email are on everything you hand out.

For more ideas on how to achieve what you want, you can see some chapters from my books Want It, See It, Get It (www.wantitseeitgetit.com).

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Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D. is the author of over 50 books and a seminar and workshop leader, specializing in work relationships and professional and personal development. Her latest books include Want It, See It, Get It and Enjoy! 101 Little Ways to Add Fun to Your Work Everyday, both from AMACOM. Gini’s Websites are: www.workwithgini.com and www.ginigrahamscott.com.

     

More on Topics: Home-based Business, Job, Marketing, Products, Professional Development, Services, Work

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