Raven's Work From Home Resources
Your Own Business - Doing What you Know and Love
Your Own Business - Doing What you Know and Love
When it comes to having an at home business, the best business is based in what you already know. Are you crafty? Are you an office worker? Are you good at organising things? Alternatively, are you extremely clean? All of these talents and abilities could be the start of a successful home business if it is operated correctly. It will not happen overnight and you will not get rich quickly, if at all. Nevertheless, you can make a reasonable living at it.
One thing that you should remember if you want a home business is that you do not necessarily need to become someone's down line. You can go the Amway and Discovery Toys route if that is what you want and you believe in the product well enough. However, if you are talented at building ornate office organisers, aligning yourself with Pampered Chef will not help you. Even if you went online and found business opportunity building office furnishings, you will find that you are confined by the other company.
You can run your own business but you need to do some thinking before you run away from your day job.
1. Figure out what your primary business will be: There is wisdom in the internet-marketing adage that you need multiple streams of income. However, your primary business is what you want to make the most money eventually and it is this into which you will pour your heart. When you have only a few moments right now and need to get things done, this is what you will work on. If you have money to put into marketing your product, this is where you will spend it first. Will you make quilts or become a personal organiser? Will you go into Multilevel Marketing for Amway or Shaklee or will you write your own greeting cards?
2. Determine 2 or More Niches for your Product: If you are going to make quilts, you could sell at craft shows, the flea market, on an internet mall, at EBay and advertise in the paper. If you are a freelance writer, you will need to find as many resources for presenting your talents as possible. If you are into MLM, home parties are not the only way to make money. Perhaps you could get a kiosk at the mall, sell items over the internet and hand out brochures at the local coffee shop. If you are handy and like to repair items and resell them, think of all the places where they could be sold when new and try to duplicate that as well as places where used items are sold. You could also advertise that you repair and restore things and let customers pay you to do so with things they already have.
3. Determine the Start-Up Cost: How much will it cost for materials or your kit (if you are selling for someone else); do you need to have a separate area to perform your task and do you already have it? If you sew quilts, you may already have a few and just need to find the funds to register for a craft show. If you do decorative murals, how much money should you keep on hand to purchase specialised paints for each project and what/how much will you need to store the extras for future use?
4. Determine Your Profit Margin: If you plan to create a large amount of whatever it is you make and sell in bulk, it may mean you can sell with a smaller profit margin and gain more customers that are loyal. If you sell knives, and get a large amount of them, it is possible to keep a small margin of profit on the smaller models (like pocket-knives) as customers will not want to pay $30 for a pocket knife, but might buy 3 if they are $5. If you make bath salts, you could probably sell for a smaller profit margin at the flea market with less decorative packaging, but sell online at a larger one with more ornate packaging.
5. Think of a Good Name: You will need to think of a good name for your business and then register it. Be sure to do a copyright search or you could find someone else already liked your idea and did so before you. This could really become bothersome if they discover you are using their business name. Register as a business with your local authority and also fill out any "doing business as" and "also known as" paperwork you need as well if you plan on using an alias yourself while conducting business. This would include pen names if applicable.
6. Find Good Suppliers and Good Markets: Not all suppliers are reputable and can cost you business. Investigate them. Make sure to check out the market for your product as well. There may not be a big market for your newfangled jewel encrusted nail file. There may be a big market for the accompanying homemade hand cream.
7. Find a Way to be Paid: There are merchant accounts available for those who plan to do business that allow you to accept credit. If your business reaches a certain level, you will need to accept them. Your bank most likely already has what you need; you do not necessarily need to search the net for them. Online, until you get a merchant account, and as long as you do not have the appropriate software to run it, you will need to accept pay pal or storm pay. If you do not already have an account, you can get one here:
If you have online auction material and wish to use this venue, you can sign up for Storm Pay.
8. Budget your Time: You need not throw yourself into the business 24/7 but you also need to spend some time each day on it. You will go nowhere if you don't touch it for weeks. Even if you write for a living or do crafts for show, you will need to produce items to have for markets when they become available. You cannot create 70 hand carved limestone chairs for the craft fair next week if you do not have any started. In addition, you will look mighty foolish with two or three available. A hand full of handmade jewellery looks like you have no business and cannot afford supplies; a wealth of it looks like you are in demand and are willing to sell in bulk as needed. If you are selling items over the net, you must have some at least started so that when a customer orders them you can send them right away.
