5 Key Elements to Starting a Home Based Business That Is Right for You
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5 Key Elements to Starting a Home Based Business That Is Right for You
There is a good possibility that if you have been looking into starting a home based business you may be feeling overwhelmed and ready to give up.
Having many choices and the freedom to make them can be a very good thing but there is a flip side to that. Sometimes having to many choices can cause a crippling affect.
It can create a cycle of just researching and never taking action which of course prohibits us from attaining anything other than knowledge. We all know knowledge alone doesn't pay the bills.
I want to be honest here and let you know that this very thing happened to me when I first started out. I spent over a year researching and consequently spending a ton of money jumping from one idea to another and never taking the appropriate action to get where I needed to go.
Worse yet, instead of actually making any money or even being able to help others do the same. I had ended spending every dime I had basically chasing my tail. If that's not insanity I don't know what is!
Trust me friends this is a very easy trap to fall into and I hear stories similar to mine every day, believe it or not I have even heard worse.
Now with that being said, I have made it my mission to turn my experience into something positive and reach out to help as many people as I can to avoid the common traps and stumbling blocks that keep us trapped in a lifestyle of working for someone else just to be able to pay our bills if we're lucky. I have outlined some key elements for getting started with choosing a home based business that is best for you.
- 1) Don't rush into things too quickly. You want to make sure the home based business you choose is something you can become passionate about and love sharing it with others.
You must believe in your product if you expect others too. Your passion will shine through naturally.
This will go a long way in getting you through the challenging times that will arise in your efforts to establish and maintain a long term profitable business.
- 2) If you choose to go with a company that is already established as opposed to building your own company from scratch make sure you research them properly.
Check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure they do not have unsatisfied complaints or an unusual amount of complaints.
It is also a good idea to talk with a number of people who have dealt with the company and ask them if there experience was a satisfactory one. Researching a company is relatively easy to do now days with all the resources the internet has to offer.
One important thing to keep in mind though while performing this kind of research is that with any company or business opportunity there will be a select group of people who know matter what will always find negatives in everything. You can usually tell these types of personalities with a little observance.
- 3) Set a goal for the kind of income you are seeking to obtain within your business and how quickly you would like to start generating revenue. Choose a good business model that will help you achieve this.
- 4) Decide how much time you are realistically able and willing to dedicate toward getting your business up and running. With any business there will be a lot of initial work in getting things started however a good thing to keep in your mind is the long term benefits of your efforts.
Some people like to ease in a little more slowly and build momentum as time goes on. Some people (like me) are naturally more aggressive and devote more time to getting things set up and running.
There is no wrong decision here. The most important thing is to decide which category you belong to and plan accordingly.
- 5) Now that you have some idea of what you have in mind it's time to decide where to go from here.
Do you want to start a business of your own from scratch?
Do you want to join an existing business?
Do you want to focus online?
Do you want to focus offline?
Do you want to promote your business both online and offline?
Which one is best to focus on first to gain the maximum exposure and quickest return on investment?
There are some deciding factors that go with each one of these decisions that will help you make the right choice for your individual strengths.
The first thing you want to do is establish what it is you want to do. If you follow steps 1-4 it should help you get started on the right path.
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Comments
Hi Dominic,
I haven't really thought of doing this for stimulating ideas but it certainly sounds like a good method to get ideas for doing some market research on. Awhile back though I was on an email list that dealt with this because in the beginning I had given some thought to buying an already established online business and just take over growing it.
After seeing the high prices these businesses were going for and also hearing some horror stories of bad deals I decided to shy away from it. The notification list I was on disclosed the sales revenues and traffic stats but didn't disclose the actual niches and markets of the site unless you were a viable buyer.
What happened to me was that there were so many ways to make a good living online that instead of settling on one thing I tried to do everything and never really completely followed through on something until it became profitable.
That' s when I finally decided I had to wisely choose one thing that would fit me well and follow through.
I still have tons of ideas and areas I want to venture into but when I am tempted to stray off course I just pull out a piece of paper and write them down for future reference.
If I hear of or come across any of these sites I will definately let you know.
Here's To Great Success In 2008!
Linda
Hello Linda,
I ran into a statistic the other day that 80% of people who start home based businesses spend more than what they make throughout the life of the business. I think your post will help anyone who reads it to expand the other 20%. I am finishing up a hub on "tax benefits of a Home Based Business." I look forward to your future hubpages.
Brooke
Thank you so much for your comments guys. That's what makes it all worth while is the ability to help people and really make a difference.
Hey Brooke,
I look forward to reading your hub about the tax benefits.
Linda
Linda,
It seems that you and I are both on the same mission! I became involved in MLM/Network Marketing in the early eighties. Since then, I have done a lot of research (actually spent a lot of money, too) looking for a company that offered everything that I was looking for in MLM. Since I have found that company, I spend much of my time trying to help others learn how to look for the right opportunity and understand how and why MLM works. Many people don't fully understand how this works, what to look for in the comp plan, what retail profits they should look for and other things that they should know before joining any company. I wish you the best in your mission of education and will be watching for more of your informative hubs! Good job!
Bonnie RamseyDiamond Team Leader
Interesting HUB with good advice
regards Zsuzsy
Great read. I agree you have to do something that inspires you. I've been thinking about what kind of business I would like to do and I still have a few years at home. I'm hoping to use these next 3 years to educate myself on running a business as well as finding something to be passionate about. Thanks for sharing these tips. =)
Thank yous so much for your comments. I am looking forward to creating my next hub. I actually have something written already about red flags to avoid that goes along with this subject of looking for a home based business.
I think after tweaking it a bit I am going to do another hub with it. I have read to many horror stories about people who have gotten sucked into things. You would be surprised at some of the copy I have seen on the web.
Sometimes it's real easy for someone to get caught up in a well written sales copy and before you know it BAM you sign up out of an emotional decision before really thinking it through. Boy don't I know, I've been there and done that!
Not so much that I signed up for scams but I used to find myself signing up for things that I didn't really need and sometimes I didn't give any thought to whether or not I had the time to implement. Making a decision purely on emotions almost always comes back to bite you in the butt.
Thanks for joining my fan club!
To Everyone's Success!
Linda
Hi Linda
I know exactly where you are coming from. I have spent just over a year,(and a lot of money), looking at ways to make a living online. I don't regret it as it has been a massive learning curve and I now know a lot of stuff that I feel could be of use to others. Avoiding some of the traps that I fell into for one thing.
One problem is that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for a magic bullet. They want to pay their money, click their mouse and watch the profits roll in. Their are also plenty of people willing to meet that demand with their system, plan or blueprint. The truth is, it's not going to happen!
The clue is in the title, 'Home Business'. If you are going to be in business, you need to do some work, put in some time and either learn how to do stuff or pay to outsource it. You can't put nothing in and expect to get something out.
I recently came across the concept of being a 'Serial Newbie'. Jumping from one business model or system to another, and never becoming an expert in anything. That is so true. It's easy to cry that you've been scammed when you don't make money or you lose money. But what did you actually do?
There are lots of legitimate business models that do work. You just need to pick one, learn it and work it. The hardest thing is to keep focussed and ignore the distraction of the next big thing.
Cheers
Rich
Hi Linda
I know exactly where you are coming from. I have spent just over a year,(and a lot of money), looking at ways to make a living online. I don't regret it as it has been a massive learning curve and I now know a lot of stuff that I feel could be of use to others. Avoiding some of the traps that I fell into for one thing.
One problem is that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for a magic bullet. They want to pay their money, click their mouse and watch the profits roll in. Their are also plenty of people willing to meet that demand with their system, plan or blueprint. The truth is, it's not going to happen!
The clue is in the title, 'Home Business'. If you are going to be in business, you need to do some work, put in some time and either learn how to do stuff or pay to outsource it. You can't put nothing in and expect to get something out.
I recently came across the concept of being a 'Serial Newbie'. Jumping from one business model or system to another, and never becoming an expert in anything. That is so true. It's easy to cry that you've been scammed when you don't make money or you lose money. But what did you actually do?
There are lots of legitimate business models that do work. You just need to pick one, learn it and work it. The hardest thing is to keep focussed and ignore the distraction of the next big thing.
Cheers
Rich
Sorry about the double post. I had a problem with my internet connection and nothing seemed to be happening when I clicked the first time.
Rich
Don't you hate that when that hapens!l lol No problem, I've accidently done the double post thing before myself.
One thing I advise anyone who is just starting out with wanting to start a home business that they plan on marketing online is to focus a lot of their efforts on learning how to drive traffic. There are basically three core ways to do this which in the end all three should be implemented but my advise is to learn one at a time and get really good at it before moving on to the next.
Driving traffic is is essential for success in anything one does online. You can have the best product or opportunity in the world and a great looking website but if nobody knows about it it's not going to be of much value.
How do you drive traffic??? I'm new on this web thing...regards Zsuzsy
Hi,
There are paid ways to get traffic and free ways. The best paid way to get targeted traffic is pay per click advertising also advertising in solo ads and ezines and things of that nature and also paying for ad space on a relevent site.
Search Engine Optimization is another good way to get free traffic to your website. Whether you study it and do it yourself or pay a company to do it. Sometimes it takes quite awhile to get your site ranked on the first page of google but in the end it's well worth it. I would suggest though to implement other strategies that will drive traffic quicker while working on SEO.
Now for what I have been doing. Article Marketing, getting actively involved in forums and have a signature line. Social bookmarking, blogs and various web 2.o stuff.
In the end to have a well rounded traffic plan having a bit of all three implemented is the best but it does take time. The important thing is to pick one and learn it well before moving on to another.
My suggestion would be to study as much as you can about web 2.0 and social marketing. A friend of mine wrote a free report that is good. I don't have the link handy but it's called Constant Conversation. If you google it you can probably bring it up.
I almost forgot to add something important and that's video.
I hope this helps some. I am not sure if you are trying to drive traffic to your hub page or another site so I included various methods.
Good Luck!
Linda
Thanks Linda! regards Zsuzsy
No problem. Glad I could help.
working
SendaCowChip says:
8 months ago
I read your post and wanted to see if you ever considerd using sites that list web based businesses for sale as a source of stimulating new ideas. If so I would be interested to know which sites you have found useful. I am also happy to share those sites I have found useful in that regard as well.
Sincerely,
Dominic From SendaCowChip