Get up early, take a shower, and get ready for work. Put on your professional attire, your color coordinated shoes and take care of the hygiene. Make the kids breakfast, pack their lunch and send them off to school or daycare. Drive for 30-45 minutes to work, grab a quick cup of java, fire up the computer and you’re off!
Just another day at work, right? Or is it? Imagine waking up to your internal alarm clock, moseying into the kitchen to make yourself a nice, warm pot of Columbian coffee, sitting down to a breakfast of Havarti cheese, salmon and spinach omelet, walking across the hall to your office and gently turning on the computer to start your work day. Is this possible? Of course it is.
According to WAHCareers.com (2008), a website dedicated to work-at-home statistics, the United States Department of Labor, it is estimated in the year 2025, up to two-thirds of all Americans could be working from home. Some of those numbers are from companies hiring work-from-home employees while the rest of the bunch is made up of entrepreneurs who have started their own home-based business.
What are the benefits of starting your own home-based business? Well, let’s start with flexible hours. You are the boss now and can set your own hours according to your schedule. Another benefit is saving money. No more business professional attire, unless you are meeting with a client, no day care fees and no more commuting and wasting precious gas fumes.
So, are you going to become an overnight success and make millions of dollars? Hold on a second before you start investing in a second dream home and planning that lavish vacation. Building your own business takes time and takes a plan that you need to put into place before you barge into your boss’s office and fire him.
Clarify – The first thing you’re going to need to do is find out what type of business you want to start. How do you do this? What are you passionate about? Look at your interests and hobbies and narrow it down to three. Do you like to cook, garden, arts & crafts? Everyone has something they are good at and love. Take out your notebook and put these skills, experience and gifts down on paper.
Research – Next you’re going to write your type of business at the top a clean sheet of paper and create three columns. In one column, you’re going to write the word Supplies/Equipment needed for this type of business. Take a look at this industry and see what type of supplies/equipment is needed to start out on the right foot. In column two, you’re going to write down Knowledge/Skills. In this area you are going to put down the experience required for this type of business. For example, if it is a food business, you definitely want to learn how to cook or if it is a dog sitting venture, you would need to have knowledge of dog types and their dispositions. In the last column, you will place the word Cost here. After thoroughly researching over the internet or calling vendors (people who supply the products/services you need for this business), you should have an idea of what your start- up costs will be. Do this for all three businesses you chose. After looking at the skills, costs, and supplies needed for each business, eliminate two and choose the one that you feel you can work with and that is feasible for you.
Legalize – Once you decide on a business, choose a name for it and get it registered with the Secretary of the State. This is referred to as the DBA (doing business as). You can go down and get it done or sometimes the site will give you the option of registering it online. This is a crucial step as it protects someone in your state from taking your name, operating under it and will also be required of you to open up a business checking account.
Online Presence – Now that you have legalized your business name, you want to create an online presence for your company. There are many sites that you can visit that offer both domain names and hosting packages. The domain name is the name you are going to register for your site and will be the name people type in as the url to get there (example: suzannetaylorandcompany.com) (2013). Hosting allows you to publish your website online and allows you to manage and create a personalized business site. A couple of great sites to get in touch with for both domain names and web hosting are weebly.com (2014) and godaddy.com (1999-2014).
Advertise – So, you have a great service and/or product, you’ve registered your name with the state, created a website and now what? Get your business out there. This is where marketing and advertising comes into play. Create business cards, flyers, car magnets, signs; you name it (vistaprint.com 2001-2014). Put your name everywhere. Tell everyone you know, meet and plan on meeting. In order for a business to grow, it needs to be planted. Grab your seeds (marketing tools) and start digging everywhere.
Payday – In order to accept checks, debit/credit cards or even PayPal from your customers, you will need a business checking account. This is where the DBA form will come in handy. Head over to your favorite financial institution and hand over that nifty piece of paper. You will need your Identification card with you as well as a second piece of identity form and you will be good to go.
Once you’re done doing all this, and yes it is a process, you can proudly start telling everyone that you are an official entrepreneur. However, unless you have a lot of money saved up to pay bills and make a living until your business begins to generate money, I would recommend beginning this new venture as a part time effort while maintaining your present job. Once your business begins generate enough income to sustain you, then you can quickly march in to your boss’s office, say “I quit” and walk out with your head held up high.
Works Cited
Daddy, G. (1999-2014). Go Daddy. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.godaddy.com/
Money for every moment. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/home
Start something. (2014). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from Weebly: http://www.weebly.com/#
Taylor, S. (2013). Suzanne Taylor and Company. Retrieved April 9, 2013, from Suzannetaylorandcompany.com: http://www.suzannetaylorandcompany.com/
Vista Print. (2001-2014). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from Vista Print: http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/default.aspx?mk=vistaprint&ad=e&query=vistaprint&crtv=4356416799&psite=mkwid%7cG6pqWehE&GP=4%2f9%2f2014+3%3a34%3a00+PM&GPS=3154010732&GNF=0&couponAutoload=1
Work at home statistics. (2008). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from Work at home careers: http://www.wahcareers.com/work-at-home-statistics.html
