SETTING UP YOUR HOME-BASED BUSINESS

Setting up a home based business doesn't have to be intimidating, expensive or time consuming. When you decide to make your living working from home, you simply need ensure you are ready. Check each one out and see if you are ready:

ONE. Do you have the right attitude to work at home? The key to your business success is your attitude. Treat your business like a business. At home, if it is business time, it is business time. While working, you should not be bothered as to “Who will pick up your son from school?”, “What’s for lunch?”, “We’re out of bread!”

Imagine yourself as still working outside the home. How did the family manage before?

If you want this home-business to work, you have to treat it seriously.

TWO. Can you describe your business? You should be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others.

A unique and memorable tag line is an invaluable for promoting your business. You have to be able to speak briefly, confidently and memorably about your business and what makes it unique.

THREE. Do you know your product or service by heart? You should be familiar with what you are offering, be it product or service. You must not only know it, you must be passionate about it! Once you have chosen the product or service to sell you need to know your product intimately.

Your customers will look up to you because of your product (or service knowledge), and you will become their preferred supplier.

FOUR. Do you have a domain name? In the twenty first century, everyone needs a domain name for their business! You should develop your online presence as well as your store. This will identify you as a reliable company to trust.

Choose a domain name that describes your business the shortest way possible. Do not rush, try to search for a name that will not only represent your business, but will be very short, easily recalled and spelled.

FIVE. Do you have an email address? An email address will make you easily reachable and approachable. Prospective buyers can easily contact you through this email address.

Having an email address will assist in the promotion of your business and give it a more professional business image.

SIX. Do you have a merchant account? Gone are the days when people just paid in cash! You have to be able to accept credit card payments, which most people and businesses use for their business transactions.

You will definitely need a way to process credit cards. The easiest and most popular way is to use Paypal.

SEVEN. Are your computers protected? Let your computers be installed by a reliable computer professional, and get a regular maintenance contract, especially if you depend mostly on your computers.

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored. You will need a lot of preparation with regards to your computer, to ensure that it cannot be broken into by virus, as well as hackers.

EIGHT. Is your environment organized? Your workplace should be organized so that it helps to facilitate your transactions. Getting organized is highly important, to ensure that you complete projects on time but also pay your bills on time and even bill your clients on time!

Having a working environment that help rather than hinders you work is also highly important. It can be tough but you need to establish a definite workspace for both yourself and any other people that are around.

NINE. Do you know how you will administer your business? You should always use good record keeping practices.You may need to consult a tax advisor who can let you know about the best way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept.

Your advisor can recommend record keeping systems and software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally you can obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate account.

We recommend that you send an email to VirtualAcct@hotmail.com, they are a group of professionals specializing in helping start-up businesses, as well as providing accounting services for a very minimal fee. They have been around for a long time so the service is both trustworthy and reliable.

It won't be bad if you can get help with the dirty jobs, while you take care of making the money.

TEN. Have you prepared a schedule? Are you ready to stick to it? Develop a schedule that works for you, your family and your business. When you mark off a block of time for work, then use that time for work.

Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self-education (reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work.

Remember, one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family and you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time. You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss".

When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your family and have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule. Set aside a time for your business and a time for your family.

Assume that you are in the office outside of your home. You cannot cook meals for your family if you were in your office away from your home, can you? When you are in your “office,” tell all the members of the family that they should not disturb you, and treat you as if you were not home.



Some of these items may change a little depending on the type of business you choose but in essence, this is it. A home based business can be the most fun, most rewarding experience of your adult life as long as you realize there are a few simple rules to keeping everything on track along the way.