Introduction

When you look back over human history, the concept of working from home is not new. A lot of paid work was done in the home. A shoemaker, for instance, would make his shoes in his own house and there are many other examples that can be given where people in times gone by worked from home.

However, with the onset of the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, the locus of work shifted from the household to the factory. Now, with the advent of the computer and the World Wide Web, many people are discovering the rewards of starting a business that enables them to work from home.

Home based businesses are, in fact, some of the most rapidly growing segments of today’s business world. If you are looking to start a business working from home this article will provide you with some home business start up tips and also look at goal setting when working from home.

A Summary of the Work from Home Benefits

When you work from home, you have many advantages that other business people do not have. You have no additional expenses incurred by rent or mortgage on the building. The start-up costs are likewise reduced or even eliminated, since the entrepreneur may already have the necessary items such as a telephone, computer, a printer, a fax and other office items. Time and money spent on commuting to and from work are also eliminated. All these factors have led many entrepreneurs around the world to start a home based business.

Starting a Home Based Business – Home Business Start Up Tips

Along with setting your goals there are a number of actions that need to be taken when setting up your business. Below you will find a selection of business start up tips that will help you set up and run your home based business.

1. The need to be flexible in business. As times change adapt your home business to keep up with the trends in the home based industry implementing business opportunities, information products, software and training programs that compliment the business you have already set up and which help move you forward.

2. Consider what work you enjoy doing yourself and outsource the rest. Build a ‘dream team’ of outsourced workers who can help you complete the numerous daily business tasks.

3. Don’t go it alone, select a business mentor. Research your marketplace and find the top ‘players’ in your niche and follow them learning from their experience. Opt into their subscribers list and learn from them. Work with a mentor who has been there and done it and who can support you with your business through coaching, education and training. Choose mentors who pass onto you their experiences so that you can avoid making the mistakes that will slow your business development down.

4. Do a vision book – having set your business and personal goals which look at what you want to achieve in the short medium and long term – visualize them? Put pictures into a scrap book, in a folder or on your home office wall and look at them every day to remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place. This will help you keep motivated. For example, if you want to make money on line and set up automated systems so that you have more time with the family put pictures of this into your vision book.

5. What business model to follow – Whilst working online from home you will find that many business opportunities hit your inbox. However, how do you decide which one is right for you? Well, once you know what type of business you want to build, what you are passionate about and why you want to do it, then you will build the right type of business from the outset because you will only take on businesses that meet your own criteria. Don’t feel obliged to join everything going. Just join what works for you and businesses that help you ‘build the right business the right way’ so that you fulfil your own goals and dreams but also help others solve their problems along the way.

6. Have a daily plan of action – Each night, go over what you have done in the day, see what you have accomplished, congratulate yourself and figure out how to carry it forward to the next day. Write up daily plans of action, cross them off as you do them and feel good about what you have achieved. This way you are looking at what you have done and not what you have not done.

7. Read inspirational stories and listen to music that motivates you – Find articles in books, in magazines, or online, about people who have been successful at similar businesses. Play music that gives you a lift each day and which makes you feel upbeat and motivated.

8. Read out loud personal and business declarations – Do this each morning as you get up. An example might be "No one will ever fire me again because I am my own boss" or "I will be debt free through my business ventures" or "I am now on a course to change my life totally and pull in millions of dollars". Why would you do this? Well, because it helps you remove any limiting factors and by reading out your own declarations each day it helps you maintain your focus, stay positive and remove any limiting beliefs you may have every day.

9. Parallel Lines: Basically, you can stay in the system and the same place or choose a different path which allows you to leave the system and achieve your goals and financial freedom. Do not make excuses not to do something – Just do it; your attitude is what propels you to go forward. Make excuses not to do something and you will stay put!

10. Register yourself with the appropriate Tax and Vat offices.

11. Set up your account with an accountant and set up a business bank account.

12. Get your home office set up with the Utility Company for the telephone lines, internet, mobile phones, gas and electric and buy and set up your computer system.

13. Look at what you are passionate about. What knowledge can you share with the world? Having decided upon the niche you are going to work in put your foundations in place by setting up your products, services, landing pages, auto responders, websites and educating yourself about marketing offline and online.

It’s great that you know which business opportunity you are going to join and develop but don’t make the mistake of not educating yourself about marketing. There are many elements to a successful business and if you take the working online route then as well as having an affiliate product or your own product or service to promote, you will need to learn about building squeeze pages and websites, list building, and investing in marketing and how to set up marketing funnels.

14. Work in a team or join an online community in your niche. Be a pro-active member adding value to the team and community that you are in by sharing your knowledge for the good of the team. In this way you will build your profile and also be able to feel part of a community of like minded people with a common goal of helping each other succeed.

15. Consider exactly what type of enterprise will you be running? Will you be selling products, or will you be performing services? Or maybe your home based business will be offering both. What kinds of products and/ or services will be offered? How will you go about obtaining those products, or the skills needed to perform the services? And how will you pay for them?

16. Your target audience – What kinds of customers are you targeting? The general public? Local People? A Global Audience, Men only, or Women only? People in a certain age group, such as middle aged people or the elderly? And how much money do you expect to make from this venture?

17. What will the name of your business be? You should choose a name which both clearly indicates what the business is about and sounds attractive to the potential customer. For the work from home internet marketing niche the branding tends to be personal so that a website would have the domain name of the individual marketer.

18. Finally, check to find out about any licensing and legal requirements for your chosen business opportunity.

Goal Setting When Working From Home

In addition to setting up your new home based business, goal setting is crucial; it must be taken care of at the start of your business and it is also a good strategy to continue to set new goals as your home business develops.

The goals you set for yourself should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. A specific goal that is measured through statistics and analytics, that is achievable and realistic so that you are not setting a goal that is out of your reach. A goal that can be achieved by implementing a business opportunity and working it within a period of time that is not unrealistic.

In my experience goal setting can often be overlooked at the start of a home based business and many people know what business they want to run but they don’t know why! If the ‘why’ isn’t big enough then quite often the motivation dwindles and the business does not help the individuals meet the goals they have set for themselves.

Once the task of goal setting has been taken care of, you now have the challenge of putting those goals into action. This won’t happen overnight, so remember you won’t get rich quick, it will require work and dedication.

Starting A Home Based Business – Final Remarks

Finally, remember that, as with all human ventures, there will be times when your work gets you down and you may feel like throwing in the towel. Don’t quit!

Now you may seem to be getting nowhere, but the next opportunity may be just around the corner. If you quit, you may be missing out on that opportunity. See it through and don’t quit! Keep going with your business, persevere, develop a no quit attitude, take yourself on a journey to success and work through all the barriers that will surely present themselves.

In the end you will win through and you will find yourself with a successful home based business on your hands where you not only are helping many people along the way but also making a very decent living working from home.