What To Do When Starting a Home Business

by on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 | No Comments

Many people dream of starting a home based business – today, there is nothing stopping you but you. Anyone with a web connection, a plan, and the drive and talent to follow it through can be a successful entrepreneur.

The hardest part is getting started. Here, in condensed form, are the things you need to do to get things moving.

1. Write a business plan. Every business needs a plan, but because internet businesses are often not anchored by real-life objects like stores, it’s especially important when starting online home based businesses. Your business plan needs to include market research, an assessment of other businesses that do things similar to what you’re offering, an outline of who your anticipated customers are, and your financial goals.

It is essential that your business plan includes a clear set of actions to generate steady traffic. This is a special, yet essential part of online business success.

2. Build your online storefront. This is more involved than just a web page. This storefront should have: a. your business home page – about you, what you sell, a portal to what you’re selling, and all the other stuff you would normally put on a business home page. b. something to keep your customers at your site: a squeeze page, a fun survey, games, free downloads, great pictures, consumer reviews, an online community – you get the idea. You need to offer your customers goodies for their time. You will be rewarded with their trust and patronage. c. Forums will allow customers to interact with you and each other. They can ask questions, get answers and state opinions. You can offer them a discount coupon, offer a free report in exchange for signing up for your mailing list. You’ll want some kind of feedback mechanism so that you can get to know your customers.

3. Write a sales plan. A sales plan can be very complex, taking into account every step to success or simple like an online sales letter outlining what you sell. Most people when starting go with the simpler sales page; however, which ever you decide, you need to get the piece right, so make sure you do some research before you start building.

4. Test you system. Ask for feedback about what’s good and what’s not on your sales page. Look at it critically yourself. The biggest sales stopper for new online businesses is sales copy with problem. It could be as simple as the copy is boring. It doesn’t grab the reader or give them an incentive to read past the headline. Have your friends and relatives read and test the sales copy, then tweak it and have them do it again. After you think it’s the best it can be and you have a stable system, test it from time to time and every time you make a change just to make sure it continues to work.

5. Build profits. Once your business is online and working, build your product line, focusing on back-end products (the ones you don’t show on the front page) and selling your current customers more of your proven products. This is where your business really grows. You can’t count on new customers continuing to flow in, but you can count on the old ones who love what you offer to keep coming back. That’s why you gathered data about them, gave them free stuff, and maybe even built a community for them to play in.

6. Revisit these steps periodically. The web is a changing, evolving entity. It is different from day to day and hard to keep up with. You will need to keep up with progress while tweaking your own goals to stay on top of you niche market.

This sounds like a lot of work, but look at it this way: you won’t be buying suits, commuting to work, or going to lunch with people you only tolerate. No more business meetings! No more voice mail! And no more answering to the boss who knows less than you! In the end, it’s all worth it.