We have discussed in the past about great home based business ideas which can start from a hobby or your own profession. In general, people who want to start a business are either unhappy with their current job or believe that their business idea has the potential to take off and bring them huge incomes.
If your main motivation in starting a business is the fact that you hate your job or feel that you could be more successful working on your own, you need more than this belief in order to succeed. You need a clear, actionable business plan, the capacity to organize your time and multi-task, and the willingness to learn new skills such as marketing, blogging, maintaining a website and finding potential customers for your business.
Running a business at the very beginning, when you are a one-man-show, is not easy. It will not give you the freedom to do whatever you want, kick back and relax while money pours into your accounts. Before you can afford to hire other people to run various aspects of your business, you have to do them on your own and know exactly what type of skills you need from a successful employee. That is, if your business grows to the point when it will outgrow the home based business concept.
However, first things first, you need to know if you are ready to make the transition from full-time employee to entrepreneur. Be honest in answering these questions:
1. Do You Have a Savings Fund to Support Your Family?
Before your business takes off and starts earning you a sufficient income to replace your salary, you will no longer depend on your monthly paycheck. You will also need to make some investments in your business: business insurance, website hosting and design, domain name registration, various pieces of equipment and stock of raw materials or office supplies, and anything else you need to run your business professionally.
2. Can You Make and Stick to a Daily Schedule?
At work, you get your tasks from your boss and can split various tasks with your colleagues. As a small business owner, you have to figure out on your own what needs to be done to promote your business and attract customers. And you also have to execute all the tasks by yourself, without help (save from the situation when you might involve your spouse in your home-based business). Do you possess the self discipline to fulfill every task without procrastinating and getting lost in the distractions around the house?
3. Do You Know Who Your Customers Are?
Have you figured out who is most likely to buy your products or services? What do you know about these people’s habits, their likes and dislikes? Do you know how to approach them, whether they want to be your Facebook friends or receive your newsletter in a weekly email? If you want to be successful as a business owner, you need to have a clear and precise answer to all these questions.
4. Does Your Family Support Your Choice?
Even if you do not plan to get any family member involved in your home-based business, you will need their support and understanding. You will need a quiet place in your home where you will set up your workshop or office. During your working hours, you should not be disturbed with demands to do various chores. You need to make sure that your family understands that, although you are at home, you are working.
5. Do You Have a Back-Up Plan?
When it comes to the financial stability and future of your family, you cannot risk everything for a dream, no matter how achievable it seems. Many small businesses fail on a daily basis and many would-be entrepreneurs have to regroup and start from zero, after wasting all their savings in a business idea which did not materialize into the success they expected. What will you do if this happens to your business? Can you rekindle your relationship with your former job or find a new one quickly?
If you have managed to answer “Yes” to all these questions, then you are prepared to leave your job and start a home based business. However, if you answered “Yes” to less than half of them, you are probably unhappy with your job but not ready to become a business owner, and should rather start looking for a new job.