This is a sponsored guest post.
Whether you’re an at-home mom, or you just want to supplement your regular income, starting a business from your own home can be a fun, domestic source of revenue for your family. You get to work on your own terms, at your own hours and, since the advent of ecommerce and intuitive online sales platforms, the whole this is (more or less) a cinch.
Like any business, however, there are mandatory steps you should take to ensure success. They aren’t particularly laborious steps, but they each aid in setting up a profitable, legitimate business. In this post, let’s walk through those crucial steps, so you can get started setting up your dream job… right from the comfort of your own home.
Develop an Idea
Any business’ success begins in the ideation phase. If reading this has already sparked an idea (or, perhaps you had an idea in mind coming in) that’s a great start, but it’s not the end of it. Developing the idea involves fleshing out the concept to make it a fully-fledged franchise business idea.
You may know, for instance, that you want to sell handcrafted candles online, but you then have to ask yourself: what’s the angle? What separates your idea from all the other candle retailers out there, and how can you set up your branding to reflect that differentiation.
Do Your Research
Once you have a good grasp on your business idea, it’s time to buckle down and do research. The last time you might have done research was back in school, and you might have stressing memories of how challenging it was. But this stage can be fun. You can also use feedback and advice of thousands of other people by creating a survey on sites like helpfull.com.
First, research businesses doing the same thing as you. Knowing your competition is a key component in besting your competition. What are they not doing that you would like to see done, if you were a consumer? Then, enlist your friends your friends and family for a little “market research”. Ask them questions about what they want from a business like yours, and solicit their opinion on your prospective goods or products.
Know Where You Can Save Money
This is sort of tied in with research, but it’s an important step, so it gets its own entry! Where can you save money?
If you need a vehicle for your business, for instance, consider commercial car leasing instead of buying a car, since the monthly payments are lower and the down payment is negligible. If you need packing supplies for shipments, research the best value supplies instead of choosing the first ones you see. These little tweaks are simple, but they’re important – leasing a commercial vehicle, or finding a packing paper supplier that offers sheet for even a cent cheaper can add up, meaning you get to pocket more profit.
Advertise
Finally, it’s time to advertise. Choose the method of advertising that suits your business best. Is yours an online retailer that primarily does business over Pinterest? Your best bet is probably social media ads. Is yours a business that serves your local community? Flyers campaigns, a branded commercial vehicle and an ad run in the local paper might be the best course of action.
Once you’ve done all that, it’s time to legitimize. This is as simple as figuring out what permits and licenses you’re required to hold, and then applying.
