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Blog post by Mary Shannon of seniorsmeet.org
Starting Your Home-Based Business Is Easier Than You Might Think
Many of us dream of the days when we no longer have to punch someone else’s time clock. Short of winning the lottery, our next best option is to become entrepreneurs. This often means starting a home-based business. Fortunately, it’s not the challenge you might think, and we have tips to help you get started without a hitch.
Check Your Savings
First things first, you have to know how much money you have in savings. Ideally, you’ll have at least a year’s worth of expenses sacked away in the bank. MoneyUnder30 explains that this will give you a cushion and reduce worry so that you can focus on doing your best work.
Look Into Business Insurance
One expense that some home business owners don’t plan for is business insurance. Keep in mind that your homeowner insurance will not cover business losses or damage to your property because of business activities. Contact TCG Insurance Solutions for more insight on BOP, commercial general liability, or commercial auto insurance.
Decide What You’ll Do
Even if you know what you’re good at, you’ll need to decide how to translate that into a business. Spend some time evaluating your skills, assets, and availability. This way, you can start your business with a clear plan. Remember, it’s almost always best to start with a few core products or services and build on that as you grow your customer base.
Form Your Business Structure
There are a few different types of business structures that make sense for a home business. Sole proprietorship, LLC, and corporation top these. An LLC is one of the simplest and cheapest structures to form, and it comes with many benefits. If you file using a formation service, you’ll save money on legal fees, and you’ll still enjoy tax protection and separation of your personal assets. Keep in mind that each state has a slightly different process, so make sure that you know your local laws before moving forward.
Learn How to Market
Marketing doesn’t have to be a huge challenge. There are many tools available that can help you get your business out to the public. Start with social media. According to Social Media Today, the top sites are Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Create a Growth Plan
As you get your business underway, it pays to write out a clear path that you’ll take for success. This does not have to be a formal process, but knowing what makes your business unique and having an idea of your ideal customer will help. You should also get to know your key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify current and future potential revenue streams. Entrepreneur also suggest taking a look at your competition and hiring the right talent.
Understand Local Zoning Regulations
Depending on where you live, you may be required to obtain special permits to run a business from home. At the very least, you’ll probably need a general business license. If your business requires foot traffic, such as if you will have people come in and out of your home office, you also need to check with your local zoning laws to see if this is permitted. Running an unlawful business from home can leave you on the hook for fines and fees that will hurt your profits.
Stay in the Red
Of course, starting a business is just half the battle. You need to be able to sustain it and keep it going and even growing for the long term. Have an invoicing strategy right off the bat that ensures you get paid on time. A key component of this is to use an online invoice generator that you can customize with your own branding elements to show your customers that you do, in fact, mean business.
Having a home business is one of the greatest freedoms there are. However, it comes with responsibilities, such as having the right permits, marketing well, and creating a growth plan. You’ll also need to make sure that you have enough money put aside to support yourself and your family until your customer base can support you.
TCG Insurance Solutions offers quotes for home, auto, business, and supplemental insurance. Give us a call today at 913.390.3220 for more information.
