If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to go the small business route, you can still start your company at home while holding down another job or pursuing other activities. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to start a small business at home, here are five ideas to help get you started.
What you need to know before getting started
Starting a business from your home can save you money and time, especially in startup costs. However, you also have to consider things like zoning regulations and insurance requirements when running a business out of your house.
To make sure you’re ready for anything, here are some key factors you should think about before getting started. A lot of these questions can be answered by calling your local chamber of commerce or talking with people who own similar businesses in other locations. It’s important to get your business up and running smoothly as soon as possible, so it’s worth taking a few minutes to do your research beforehand.
Your municipality might require certain licenses or certifications if you want to run an enterprise out of your home—for example, commercial buildings must meet building codes that residential ones don’t need to worry about. And just because you live in an area where it’s legal doesn’t mean it’ll always stay that way: If a neighbor complains about noise or increased traffic due to your business activities, there could be trouble on the horizon.
Step 1: Finding an idea
Find a business idea you’re interested in. It could be one that’s been rattling around in your head or something you learned about while doing research. Whatever it is, write it down somewhere where you can get back to it later. If possible, check with family and friends for business ideas they have that they think would make good side hustles or full-time businesses.
Remember: Don’t limit yourself—you could come up with an awesome idea for something completely unrelated to what you do now! There are lots of great business ideas out there, but if you don’t have time to explore them all right now, focus on these three areas: Start a business online with an established business model. This is often cheaper than starting from scratch and gives you a solid foundation to build upon as your business grows. Try freelancing for others or selling things on eBay. This will help you understand how businesses work from both sides (buyer and seller) and give you insight into different types of products or services people want or need.
Step 2: Research your product/service
If you’re ready to do more than just think about starting your own business, then it’s time to get down and dirty. In order for your business idea to succeed, you have got to make sure that there is actually demand for what you are planning on selling. You need to know if people will actually buy what you’re planning on selling; an easy way to do that is by checking out other similar products in your field.
There’s no point in spending thousands of dollars creating something nobody wants! You can also research whether or not somebody else already has a product similar enough that yours would have trouble competing in such as small niche market. A quick Google search should be able to tell you all you need to know.
The third step, create a business plan: Now that you’ve done some research into your business idea and decided it’s worth pursuing, it’s time to put together a solid business plan. This should include information like how much money you want to raise for startup costs (if any), what kind of revenue projections are expected over the first year or two of operation, how much revenue those projections translate into in profit per year/month/week/day (depending on how long your company expects to be operating), etc.
Step 3: Validate your idea with potential customers
Before you quit your day job and launch that business, do your research. The first part of validating your idea will be answering these questions: Do people actually want what I’m selling? Can I sell it for more than it costs me to make? Do enough people want it for me to make money?
Can I scale my production up as demand increases? Are there any competing products that can undercut my pricing and steal away customers? Does anyone even know about my product or service, much less need it? You can find answers to all those questions by talking with potential customers—and that means going beyond friends and family.
If you have an online business, use Google AdWords to set up some keyword-targeted ads. You’ll pay only when someone clicks on one of your ads (you don’t pay unless they click), so you won’t waste any money if no one is interested in buying from you yet. It’s also smart to survey potential customers with online surveys via SurveyMonkey or Polldaddy. You’ll get unbiased feedback from real people who are willing to tell you exactly what they think—good and bad—about your business idea. Just remember not to take everything personally!
Step 4: Don’t quit your day job
If you want to start your business on nights and weekends. You’ll need enough capital to make it through two or three months without generating any income. It’s not required that you quit your day job until you can generate enough income from your business to support yourself. If you’re able, try supplementing your income with some consulting work on nights and weekends until things get rolling.
If your new career is going well, it won’t be long before business will replace salary in terms of income! And remember, once you do reach that point, there are still lots of benefits to working for yourself (flexibility, control over your schedule). Even if you aren’t making as much money as you did when you were employed by someone else.
Just because they call themselves an employer doesn’t mean they deserve more respect than they would get if they were self-employed! And now we’re getting into semantics… But don’t worry about any of that right now. We just want to keep reminding ourselves how far we’ve come so far… Before we go out there and try to become millionaires overnight, let’s remind ourselves what kind of people are reading our books.
Step 5: Make sure you have extra cash on hand
Start-up costs can range from free (your laptop, a phone, and an internet connection) to $100k+ (the legal fees associated with registering your business). Whatever they are, make sure you’ve got enough cash on hand to cover them until your first paycheck. One way of doing that is by getting someone you know who has established credit to co-sign on a small business loan.
Another way is by taking out personal loans or using your credit card. No matter how much it takes—and really, it should be as little as possible. You want to make sure there’s enough cash in your bank account. So that you can hire quality talent without going into debt before you take off. You also don’t want to run out of money before you land your first client. So, once again: Have enough money for three months’ worth of expenses on hand when you launch your business by using.
Step 6: Find a name for your business
This is where many small business owners get stuck and end up getting overwhelmed and quitting before they even begin. The reality is that you can’t just come up with any old name and be successful. You need something short, catchy, memorable and that describes your business in some way.
It doesn’t have to be unique (but if it is unique, great!) as long as people like it. And don’t worry about trademarking or copyrighting your company name; unless you have an extremely valuable name or one that is an obvious trademark infringement of another business. It won’t cost much money for someone else to use it later on down the road – which means you should keep looking. Don’t stress over coming up with a perfect name right away.
Start brainstorming business names now by asking yourself these questions: What does my business do? What words describe my business? Who am I targeting? What sounds good? How would I explain my business to someone who has never heard of it before? Is there anything special about me or my business that I want to include in my name? If so, what is it and how can I incorporate it into my business name?
Step 7: Set up shop in your spare time
Starting your business in your spare time gives you more flexibility. This does come with some challenges, like figuring out how you’ll get everything done if it’s not your full-time job. But that’s one of many reasons why it can be an attractive option for people who are just starting out.
If you have another source of income or have savings set aside. Then working on your business on nights and weekends could be an ideal way to start out. You don’t want to wait until retirement age before you pursue your dream—you want it now! So take advantage of what free time you do have and use it wisely.
Focus on making progress every day and eventually, it will add up to something big. And remember: If you truly enjoy what you do and believe in yourself, then nothing is impossible! Another step to getting started from home-based business ideas.
When thinking about opening a business from home, think about these questions: What skills do I already have? What skills would I need to learn? Where could I find those skills? How much money would I need to make my business work? The money would I need to live off of each month? How long would it take me to earn that money back after spending it on things like rent, equipment, and supplies?
Step 8: Complete these things on the side first before starting full-time
It’s usually recommended that you complete these three things before starting your business full-time:
Get health insurance: Starting a business can be a huge risk and often isn’t covered by your personal health insurance. So it might be in your best interest to get a gap policy. Gap policies are for individuals who don’t have existing health insurance coverage. But would like temporary coverage until they can find another option. If you don’t have access to individual or group healthcare plans, gap policies are one of your few options when starting out.
Make sure you have money saved up: You may not make any money for several months after starting your business, so having savings set aside is important. This is especially true if you don’t have other sources of income coming in during those first few months. Make sure you understand how much money will be needed on a monthly basis to keep everything running smoothly (including taxes).
Set aside some time to dedicate to your business: Even though most businesses can be run from anywhere with an internet connection. There are still some tasks that require physical presence. For example, going to networking events or meeting with clients face-to-face requires being present in a physical location.
So even though you could technically work from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. Doing so probably won’t help grow your business very quickly—and it certainly won’t help you meet potential clients or customers face-to-face. Your business should always come first and getting tied down with daily tasks is crucial to its success.
Step 9: Be prepared
If you’re considering starting your own business, be prepared for long hours and plenty of stress. But also know that it can be immensely rewarding. Be prepared for having plenty of questions and problems you didn’t anticipate–and do your best to remain flexible in your business plan so that you don’t get boxed into a corner.
Focus on growing your business without spending all of your time with it; even if everything goes perfectly, entrepreneurship is a time-intensive vocation, so don’t let it consume all of your spare time or energy. Remember: You don’t have to run out and hire employees right away. In fact, starting out solo can allow you more freedom and control over every aspect of your business!
Final Words
Why do you want to work from home? What are you hoping to get out of your new business? The answer is probably freedom. You don’t have to report, anyone. You can eat lunch whenever you want, and take vacations when and where you please.
And you can wear what you want, too: Business casual one day; sweats another day; jeans and flip-flops on another if that’s what sounds good for that particular day. Working from home has many benefits beyond being able to wear whatever you like in your own space.
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