Home-Based Success: 15 Top Tips To Help You Through Year One

Taking a leap of faith by jumping into the world of business is 50% excitement and 50% fear. You already know the potential rewards, as well as the potential dangers, but have made your decision. And quite frankly, there’s never been a better time to take the plunge.

The digital arena is fiercer than ever, but the opportunities are greater than ever too. As long as you take the right steps towards success, there’s no reason that your home-based startup should fail. If Mark Zuckerberg and co. can make a success of their ideas, there’s no reason that you can’t follow in their footsteps.

Unfortunately, up to 90% of all new businesses fail to reach it to year two. Use these 15 tips throughout your first 12 months of operation, and you should find the right pathway to success.

1.Realize that your love of money is greater than your love of [insert your personal passion or hobby here]. There are many reasons to start a home-based business, but they aren’t as significant as your need for profit. With this in mind, the best home business plan is the one that will generate the highest revenue. If you can start to see those profits quickly too, then that’s a huge bonus.

2.Learn to run before you walk. Even if you’re equipped with a great business plan, it will take some time to start raking in the level of profit you want. Therefore, finding the best value for simple overheads like web hosting and gas rates can give you a far greater chance of reaching your goals. Sadly, wasting money in the early days is the main reason why so many businesses fail.

3.Appreciate that you can’t do everything with one pair of hands, and take on some employees. Under the circumstances of working from home, this will probably mean outsourcing jobs to freelancers. Nonetheless, the influence of a quality staff cannot be emphasized enough.

4.Build a working environment that encourages productivity. Sitting in bed or on the sofa will lead to distractions. Even if it’s simply setting aside a space in the hallway, having this office space can be crucial. Meanwhile, it’s imperative that you equip yourself with the necessary equipment. That includes ensuring that your PC is running at full health. Otherwise, those wasted minutes could eat into your effectiveness.

5.Remember that our interactions with online systems have changed. Nowadays, consumers are just as likely to access data via their smartphones. Therefore, ensuring that your website is optimized for mobile screens is crucial. Alternately, you can take things one step further by launching an App.

6.Understand that you cannot impress everyone. Very few businesses are lucky enough to reach a universal audience. Knowing your place in the market will enable you to hit your demographic with greater impact. Ultimately, as long as you gain the desired response from those people, you cannot have any complaints. Let’s face it; the views of other audiences simply aren’t relevant.

7.Learn to embrace the influence of digital marketing. Customers cannot buy your products if they don’t know your company exists. In addition to boosting your Google ranking with SEO, you should look at effective social media. Those interactions can be key as you look to bring them to your website. Moreover, a blog can give them an additional reason to keep coming back for more.

8.Build on the success of greater visibility by building a brand identity. People buy from people, even when dealing with online purchases. Just because you don’t have human interaction, it doesn’t mean you can’t build a personality. Look at Starbucks for inspiration. Their branding is the difference between a $1 coffee and a $5 one. While you might be in a completely different field, those lessons are just as crucial.

9.While the customer comes first, it’s important to appreciate your happiness too. Working from home can be quite lonely, so staying healthy at the home office is vital. More importantly, you need to establish a good work-life balance. Without it, the slog of building a successful business will feel infinitely tougher.

10.Embrace the importance of creating a great first impression by taking a few simple shortcuts. Registering a virtual office space will give you the presence of a far bigger company. Likewise, a virtual receptionist service can offer a professional vibe while saving you time and money. Given the importance of customer care, the importance of those features should not be overlooked for a second.

11.Track your financial situation at all times to ensure that you know where you stand. It’s only natural to have dreams of progressing to a greater level. However, you’ll never find the quickest route to those destinations unless you first gain a sense of perspective. Whether it means using accounts software or monitoring staff productivity doesn’t matter. Gaining a greater sense of control will work wonders for the journey ahead, including aspects beyond the first 12 months.

12.Don’t think that you know it all. Employers in normal jobs invest in your development for a reason. You should be doing the same now that you’re the boss. Whether it’s improving your computer literacy of your customer service skills doesn’t matter. Appreciating your weaknesses as well as your strengths is always a great step forward.

13.Stop comparing yourself to other businesses in similar positions. There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from successful entrepreneurs. But it’s important to remember that there is no one route to success. Every business undergoes a unique process. As long as yours is moving forward at all times, you’re doing just fine.

14.Protect yourself from day one. Scammers and thieves are always developing advanced ways to get hold of your possessions. It isn’t only physical and digital data that needs to be considered either. Intellectual property can be attacked just as easily. So taking the necessary legal copyright precautions is vital.

15.Enjoy the ride, because it’s a truly special year filled with excitement at every turn.