Entrepreneurs who work from home have no one else to rely on except themselves, and if your workday is entirely conducted from your desk at home, you have to find ways to be as productive as possible in that home setting. Here are some tips which may help you establish or grow your enterprise, right from the friendly confines of your own dwelling.
Focus on details
When it’s all on you, there are some details that you just have to get right, because no one else is going to cover for you. The first of these is to make sure you have an effective schedule for each day, so that both short-term goals and long-term goals are considered. With a clearly defined agenda, you should next pay attention to dedicating one certain area of the home for doing business. After having established your home office, the last important detail is to always maintain a professional attitude, even from your home. Whenever you’re communicating with business associates, keep the conversation about business, rather than about you sipping coffee in your pajamas.
Establish an online presence
You might be sitting at home every day, but your business is going to need to be online, because that’s where the world does business these days. At a bare minimum, you need to have an excellent website to announce yourself to the world, and it would also be helpful for you to write a regular blog so as to establish yourself as an authority in your market. You should be active on social media, because anyone you reach via social media has the potential to pass on your message and your brand, in a never-ending domino effect.
Prepare a realistic business plan
It has been said that a good business plan is a roadmap for future success, and this is very true. In your business plan, you will identify your target audience, how you will market your products or services to them, who your competition is, and what your own unique selling proposition is for being competitive in the marketplace. All these characteristics will be set in the framework of a plan that covers the next two or three years, and serves as a guide to your destination.
Don’t forget about taxes and insurance
Every business needs to keep in mind how its taxes will be handled, so that you don’t have a mad scramble at that time of year, and so that you don’t provide inaccurate returns to the Internal Revenue Service. Insurance is an absolute must, so that your personal assets and business assets can be protected against any kind of litigation. You might think that lawsuits and court proceedings are things that would only happen to other more formalized businesses, but your business finances can be literally ruined if you don’t have adequate protection. Don’t rely on your homeowners insurance to cover your home-based business, because none of the equipment you use in the conduct of your business will be covered by your home insurance policy.
If you have any questions or would like to further discuss how to set yourself up for success in your home-based business, we would love to help. At Lowcountry Business Advisors, we strive to use our experience and passion to help business owners achieve their goals. Let’s meet for coffee and see how we can work together.
