Home Based Business – Having a Plan is Your Secret to Success
This is a reprint of an article I submitted to ezinearticles.com in 2009. I feel it cannot be stressed too often that starting a business, online or offline, requires a plan. Too many people start with no goal in mind other than to make money. There's nothing wrong with that as we would all like to make money, but in order to do so there must be a plan or a ‘road map' to lead to the goal.
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So you've decided to start a home-based business. You've identified the area in your home that will be used for your business and you've taken inventory of what office equipment you will need – a computer with speakers, printer, fax machine, scanner, telephone and cabinets.
You also had a lot of fun at your local office supply store selecting matching items for your desk and you are motivated and ready to go, but…do you have a Plan? There is a well-known cliche that states, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This has proven to be a very true statement in starting and working on a business from home. To be successful in your home-based business, you must have a plan. Here are 3 initial points to consider.
1. Type of business – online or offline: Will you be starting an online business; will your marketing and sales be offline, or a combination of both? Perhaps you've read the statistics that there are over 1.5 billion internet users in the world and that internet marketing is growing by leaps and bounds so you decided you'd like to enter the internet marketing arena.
2. Products or Service: As you read through newsletters you subscribe to and eCourses you will see a recurring theme – You Must Identify Your Niche. I found that challenging when I first began because while I had several years of offline sales and marketing, internet marketing was relatively new to me. I'd recommend that you choose a broad topic in your area of expertise then as you learn more, you identify if there is a need or if there are people looking for the information or service, then you narrow it down to a specific area, your niche.
3. Type of Products or Service: Eventually you may consider producing your own products like eCourses and eBooks. In the meantime there are opportunities opened to you like Affiliate Marketing, eBay sales, buying and selling digital products with resale rights.
It takes time to research and time to implement. How much time you will spend each day is up to you, but note that it needs to be done each day. A Weekly Plan Sheet is a valuable tool. I recommend that on Sunday evening you get a hard copy outline of the week broken into hours and put all the known activities on paper. Then enter the times you'll spend on research and times you'll spend on implementation in your home-based business. Make the decision to stick to your schedule and be committed to your success in working from home.
And now I'd like to invite you to visit my website at http://www.mysuccesscircleonline.com to read more articles on working from home as well as articles that affect entrepreneurs.
