Everyone can use guidelines and tips when it comes to starting a home-based business. Honestly, what would the world be like if people who have been there and done that were not willing to impart their knowledge and experiences to fledgling entrepreneurs?

We have compiled a series of 8 tips to assist you in starting a successful home-based business. These

Suggestions should help your progress on the road to achieving home-based business success in no time!

1. Partner with other businesses

Teaming relationships with a number of other companies in related field is one of the most efficient and cost-effective

means of reaching a larger target audience. We suggest that you identify appropriate supplementary businesses in your potential marketplace and then approach them concerning their interest in forging partnerships.

You can even partner with businesses that sell other products likely to appeal to your customers. For example, if you’re selling jewelry, you can partner with a fashion clothing dealer and offer them free advertising on your website.

Since both the products are geared towards the same audience, both businesses are more likely to increase their sales through the partnership.

2. Automation

Handling every business issue manually will eventually limit the potential growth of your home business, not to mention the fact that you will be exhausted from personally answering hundreds of e-mails and phone calls every single day.

Automating some of these activities will optimize your efforts towards building a sustainable and profitable business. Why not consider employing round-the-clock auto responders for instant email responses and an integration of a shopping cart for online sales? This strategy can help you save substantial time and money.

3. Complementary products/services

Once your product or service starts establishing itself in the marketplace, don’t just sit back. Use this chance to

introduce exciting new offerings and freebies that encourage your customers to place additional and/or even larger orders.

This will ultimately enhance your Revenue picture with existing customers as well as encourage new customers to come onboard. The founder of Virgin Enterprise, Richard Branson, once said: "Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming".

4. Sell more to existing customers

Convincing your current customers to purchase more is more cost effective than acquiring new customers. This will help you to not only save time but also save money wasted on extra marketing.

One of the most effective strategies to convince them to purchase more Product is to offer discounts on volume purchases. You could also offer an incentive for every new referral that an existing customer provides to you.

5. Establish yourself as an expert in your niche

As you continue to invest in marketing your products and services, don't neglect to invest in yourself by expanding your knowledge of your business niche as well as continuously educating yourself relative to good business practices.

In addition, make it a practice of providing your customers

with valuable content related to your products and services. If you have a website, add high quality information

for your visitors to review. The more they know about your product and services, the more likely they are to buy your offerings.

Share important tips with customers via monthly newsletters and e-mails: enlighten them on various issues

that may be helpful and relevant to them. This will increase your credibility as an expert in your specific niche. As a result, you will win customers’ trust and generate higher sales.

This is a very productive step towards achieving success through your home-based business. The words of John Mackey summarize this very well: "Business social responsibility should not be coerced: it is a voluntary decision that the entrepreneurial leadership of every company must make on its own".

6. Provide high-quality customer service

Add value to your services or products by actively interacting with customers and inviting constructive feedback.

Give more attention to areas in your niche that you feel have not been addressed sufficiently.

Use customers’ suggestions, Comments, and even complaints to improve on your business products, services, and especially business practices. Join social networking groups relevant to your business and become an active participant. As you connect with other people who think alike, identify what they are looking for in your niche and act accordingly.

7. Accept different methods of payments

Your customers can be located anywhere in the world. It might be a Sheik from Saudi Arabia or a web developer

from the UK. What you need to insure is that you don’t lose customers due to this global customer pool.

If it is an online payment being processed, remember that Paypal and various other payment methods do not work in

third world countries and the Middle East. Integrate credit Card and a wide range of other internationally accepted

payment systems into your website. This will not only widen your customer base but also improve your company’s

credibility as an international operation.

8. Innovative marketing strategies

One sure-fire way to remain competitive in any niche is to employ innovate promotional methods. Creativity is

a must in this arena, especially in internet marketing. Advertising your home based business doesn’t necessitate

spending tons of money.

Creative marketing strategies are keys to reaching a target audience even when resources are limited. For instance, consider viral marketing. It has the potential to identify millions of targeted visitors to your home business website and does not cost a fortune. Employ only efficient and cost-effective marketing methods and don’t depend on one method alone.

Spread your risk. Combine a number of marketing campaigns and monitor them consistently. Always remember to adjust your advertising campaigns to match the needs of your Marketplace and the success of your campaign.

At the end of the day, the success of your home based business is highly reliant upon your personal motivation and

drive. Exactly how far are you willing to go to achieve success?