Starting a business from home has its perks. One of them is that you don’t need to pay for office space rental fees and the utilities that come with it.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people have created home-based businesses. But creating a company, even from home, still requires a lot of planning and research.
This article will help you start a home-based business by providing eight easy steps which you can follow.
Let’s get started.
8 Easy Steps to Starting a Home-Based Business
Explore Business Ideas
Just like any other business, you’ll first need to find a business idea that suits you. To help you do that, here are things that you should consider:
- What skills do you have? By answering this question, you can narrow down your idea exploration to what you’re best at.
- Create a skills map. Connect your skills and expertise to see what type of business ideas appear.
- What do your family and friends say you’re good at? Get confirmation from them that you are indeed good at what you’re doing.
Once you’re done, you should conduct product research. This is to help you discover what kind of products or services you can sell using your expertise.
Choose Your Business Model
The next step is to choose your business model, which will describe how your business will make a profit. Will your business be service-based, product-based, or a combination of both?
Input detailed information about your business’s structure, purpose, culture, processes, and everything you found in your product research.
There are many business models, and they can be modified to suit the industry you’re in. Below are some of the most common business models that you can choose from:
- Franchise – Established businesses provide small businesses everything they need to become a part of their franchise.
- Direct sales – Your business sells without having a fixed location.
- Manufacturer – Your business takes raw materials and creates a product from them.
- Retailer – Your business buys from a wholesaler and sells it directly to your target market.
Register the Business
Your business needs to have a legal structure because it will determine how you operate and manage your assets. The most common types of business are limited partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, and limited liability company.
After you’ve registered the legal structure, the next step is to note your business for taxes and get the permits and licenses you need to run it. The requirements differ between countries and business types, so check with your local government to be sure.
Once you’ve finished, the next step is to register a domain name for your business, which is the address and name of your website. Use a domain name generator to help you find the right word. You’ll want to use the same service to register your domain and build your website for easier management.
Build Your Website
Since you’re a home-based business, you’ll need to create a website to promote your product or service and reach out to your target market. The easiest way to build a website is to use a website builder. It’s easy because you don’t need to have any technical knowledge beforehand and just use their pre-made templates as a baseline.
Since there are a lot of website builders out there, here are some things you should consider to help you narrow down your choices:
- Ease of use.
- Affordability.
- Various template options.
- SEO features.
A good website builder, a domain name registrar, and a web hosting provider is Hostinger. Using the same platform for all of the above services will provide easier management and transition.
Write a Business Plan
At this point, you should create a business plan so you can set up your business goals. Having a business plan will let you create your business strategies and track their progress.
A business plan can also help you attract investors. It can be used to determine whether your business aligns with the potential investors’ expectations.
Here are some tips to help you:
- Be realistic when it comes to resources and timelines.
- Describe the facilities you’ll need.
- Be conservative when it comes to financial estimation and projections.
- Include investor payout options.
- Highlight your target market and competitors’ products.
Secure the Business Funding
One great benefit of setting up a home-based business is that you immediately eliminate the costs that come with renting an office space or opening a brick-and-mortar store. In some cases, you might not need to have any business costs at all.
However, this all depends on the type of business you are in. You might need to secure some business funding to help cover some of your startup expenses. If your business requires you to store a lot of inventory, you will need some financing for storage space.
Your business plan is how you’ll gain business funding. All you have to do is reach out to potential investors, present them your business plan, and highlight the investor payout options.
New businesses typically have a hard time getting loans and grants. However, you can still get some funding by using credit cards or getting funding from your family and friends.
Set Up an Office
One of the most significant drawbacks of setting up a home-based business is working in the same place you live. Therefore, you must designate a specific room or space for your office so you can focus on productivity and separate your work from your home life.
To set up your home office, you’ll need to:
- Find an empty room or space.
- Invest in the right tools, furniture, and technology.
- Decorate your office space. Using a minimalist design is the way to go.
- Take measures to minimize distractions.
Plan Your Marketing
Once everything is set up, you can launch your home-based business. Do note that customers won’t immediately come to your website. You’ll need to do some marketing beforehand to make it happen.
Here are some marketing strategies you can do to promote your business and start gaining traffic:
- Bid for keywords. Use Google Ads to help your site appear on top of SERPs.
- Give special launch promotions and discounts.
- Promote your business through your social media accounts.
- Implement search engine optimization (SEO) to help your website rank higher on SERPs.
Conclusion
Now you know the eight easy steps to starting your home-based business. All that’s left to do now is to begin.
To summarize, here is how you can start:
- Explore business ideas.
- Choose a business model.
- Register the business.
- Create a website.
- Write up a business plan.
- Secure some funding.
- Set up an office.
- Start marketing.
Remember that you’ll need to conduct thorough product research to come up with products you can sell for profit. Also, pay special attention to your business plan because it will be your measure of success and a way to attract investors.
Good luck!