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Duh Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home Business
So why does everyone want to work from home?? I'll tell
you why, because working 9 to 5 SUCKS!!
Hey don't listen to me, here are the stats: According to The
MicroEnterprise Journal "In the last 25 years,
self-employment has grown by almost 300%, fueled by waning
employee loyalty and growing worker dissatisfaction." And the
US Census Bureau reports that "90% percent of all U.S.
businesses employ between ZERO and FOUR workers, making this the
fastest growing segment of the business community." See I told
you!
Everywhere you look on the Internet we're bombarded with
sites peddling "work at home" opportunities. The stats prove it,
we're all looking to get out of the 9 to 5 rat race. The biggest
problem is that MOST of the so called "work-at-home" related
websites are so bogged down with clutter, fluff and double talk
that you'd have to be a friggin robot to find and process the
information you need in order to understand what the heck to do.
So where can an Idiot like me get the information I
need contained in a simple, concise format that's easy to
understand and follow? Well nowhere really. That's why I wrote
this article and condensed the whole process down into 5
Summarized Steps, so that maybe other Idiot's like me will have
a fighting chance in hell to get out of the "Rat Race".
Idiot Step 1:
SELECTING a business - simple enough right...wrong.
Questions to ask yourself: What do I like to do? What will make
money? What is available? Can I make Money?
These are tough questions. These days, most people are scouring
ways to make money on the Internet. If considering a TV or
Internet program, do as much independent research as possible on
the program you're interested in and find something that fits
your personality so that you will excel no matter what.
Whatever you do use common sense and don't allow desperation to
influence your decisions.
Start-Up Nation - www.startupnation.com offers SOUND advice and
has tons of RELIABLE resources for selecting a home business.
Idiot Step 2:
PLANNING your business. You will have to have some "form"
of a business plan before you get started with a home business.
Even if you are the only one that will ever read it, you should
definitely put a plan together on paper. An informal business
plan should contain a start-up budget (money you need to get to
the point of doing business) and an operating budget (money you
need on a weekly basis just to keep doing business).
Be certain to include all overhead expenses and be sure to
include a budget for advertising. Also you should note any
significant milestones you hope to achieve and list your
financial goals in a time-line fashion.
Idiot Step 3:
FUNDING your home business. Every business has start-up
costs and your new home-based business will be no different. As
the old saying goes "You need money to make money". So where do
you get the money you need to start?
The simplest way for home business owners to get the money they
need is from the principal owner's own pockets...that means YOU!
Like myself, many work at home entrepreneurs simply use their
own savings to fund their businesses, using money from personal
resources such as...
• Savings • Personal Investments • Credit Card Advance • Sale of
Assets • Second Mortgage Loan
...are all ways to finance a small business start-up using your
own funds.
The alternative to funding it yourself is to apply for a small
business loan. The biggest issue there is that unless you have
sufficient collateral, or any related experience in your field
of business, you may not qualify for this type of loan.
The Small Business Administration - www.sba.gov has a TON of
information and resources for start-up businesses. It contains
valuable info on locating financing and it contains several
links to other business resources, planning tools and
calculators.
Idiot Step 4:
STARTING your home business. Once you've chosen your
great new home business, and have got your starting cash in
reserve, it's time to get you up and running. But before you do,
you will have to do some preliminary work just to get to the
point where you can actually start operating.
Two-thirds of all small business are solo operations. Therefore,
when you're a "one-man band", you must wear different hats and
assume several roles as the "head" of various departments.
You're the CEO, sales manager, director of marketing, director
of finance, the shipping clerk, receptionist, the janitor...you
get the drift Fonzi?
Because of your heavy load, you need quality office equipment,
supplies, software and business services to keep you, I mean
your "departments", running smoothly and at peak efficiency.
Idiot Step 5:
MARKETING your home business. Now that you've got your
business funded and operational you will need to implement a
marketing and advertising campaign so that you can start
attracting customers and finally start making some money.
This isn't "Field of Dreams". If you build it, that doesn't mean
they will come.
In order to draw customers to your business, you MUST do some
form of repeated advertising, and you should definitely have a
plan in place so that you can budget it into your overall
Business Plan when you first start.
A good place to start is by reading Jay Conrad Levinson's
series of Guerilla Marketing books. This is standard reading
for any small business entrepreneur. You can learn some very
useful and basic techniques that will help you form a great and
inexpensive plan.
Everything contained here is information extracted from my web
guide, "Duh Idiot's Home Biz Start-Up Guide", and
condensed to fit into this 1,000-word article format. Not bad
for an Idiot, huh?
You can visit the site to get the additional "Easy to Follow"
Idiot's recommendations on what you'll need to successfully
launch your own home business.
"U can do it...just dive into it" SM
About the author:
Duh Idiot's HomeBiz-StartUp-Guide, a website dedicated to
helping average individuals find EVERYTHING they need for starting a home business.