Running your own home-based business is not for everyone, but most people will at some point personally consider the idea. It provides many things that a regular job cannot, and if you run the business alongside your regular job, you can have the best of both worlds.
The biggest challenge in running your own business is not in the actual running of it. Where most people struggle is in choosing what kind of business to run!
With that being said, there are still important aspects of any business that need to be dealt with effectively in order to create a successful business.
If you find yourself not enjoying what you do, find out exactly what it is that you do not enjoy. From there you can either fix it, forget it, or find someone else to do to take on that responsibility.
Why do something that you do not enjoy?
Running your own business is not like a job with someone always telling you what to do and how to do it. ALL the choices are yours when you run your own business. Choose a strategy, take action, and move on.
Working from home is hard to beat in terms of low overhead. There isn’t any rent and staff to pay or any commute to drive. The lower you get your overhead the easier it will be to profit.
The best time to increase your rate/prices is when you’re doing well. To keep loyal customers, have a modest increase each year for existing clients. Every other business does it. Taxes go up. Food goes up. Gasoline goes up, and so should your rates/prices.
Make the increase at the same time each year and tell customers ahead of time so that they can expect it.
Always charge NEW clients/customers higher rates from the start. Charge the maximum you can. If you’re providing outstanding service, nobody will mind paying for it.
Always be looking to increase your efficiency. If you can increase your efficiency, your profits will increase. It’s easy to waste time when you work from home, and time IS money when you run a home-based business. How much are you willing to waste?
Divide your weekly profits by the number of hours worked to find out your hourly rate. If your profits for the week are $250 and you serviced 10 clients, you are worth $25 an hour.
Or, if your average fee per client is $25: If it takes on average one hour to service each client, you are worth $25 per hour.
If you set 30 minutes between appointments for lunch breaks, always take 30 minutes. If you tell clients that bookings run from Wed to Saturday, always book on those days, without any exceptions. Be consistent and don’t allow clients to encroach on your free time.
ALWAYS be persistent. If you follow up with anyone, such as a bank, clients, suppliers, or IRS office, be persistent. Keep at it until it is resolved to your satisfaction. Don’t let things slide and allow things to accumulate.
The bottom line is the tighter you run the business, the better services you’ll provide, the more satisfied clients you’ll create, and the more profit you’ll make. Plus, you’ll enjoy more satisfaction and fulfillment.
If you’re running your business alongside your regular job, it’s important to create and maintain a routine to ensure that your business doesn’t interfere with your job and vice-versa.
The business doesn’t have to be huge to become meaningful. If you could make a modest $250 a week profit, working part-time from home, that would be an extra $1000 a month into the budget. What a difference that would make for you!
It’s not always the case, but sometimes you can grow a small, home-based business that will eventually allow you to quit your full-time job. If that is something that interests you over time, begin with that end goal in mind.
What’s most important is not to get everything right, but to get started. You can adjust and adapt as you go, but most important of all is just to GET GOING. You’ll be glad you did!
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