If you’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart, then now might be the perfect time to start a home-based business. We have all been affected by the coronavirus in some way this year, and many of us have had the circumstances around our jobs change dramatically.
If you fall into this category, then you might want to consider how you can start your own business from the comfort of your home, to get your pipeline dream off the ground, and to make sure that you’ve got a buffer in case things go sour again. Let’s take a look at how to start a home-based business in 2020.
Advantages of Starting a Home-Based Business
What are the advantages of starting a home-based business? To start, you’ve got a minimized cost of overheard. If you had an office that you had to pay bills for, you would quickly realize how much money you would need to get your startup off the ground. If you’re doing it from home, though, you minimize those costs.
You also get increased flexibility when it comes to starting a business from home. You waste less time commuting to the office, and you are able to quickly scale your business up or down, depending on what feels right. One of the only downsides is that you’ve got limited space to work with, and you’ll have to learn how to juggle family and work life in the same environment.
1. Learn Your Regulations
Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you won’t have business regulations you’ll need to stick to. As well as having a good business plan, it’s really important to know the federal and provincial rules around home-based businesses so that you can start out on the right foot.
You will need to look into what licensing requirements there are, as well as covering your startup with insurance. Get the necessary tax numbers so that you can cover all aspects of your business and not get hit hard further down the track.
2. Sort Out Your Funds
Just because you’re beginning your business from home doesn’t mean that you won’t need to secure funding for it. It’s still going to take a bit of time and a lot of money to get your idea off the ground, so having your finances sorted out before you decide to go ahead is essential to making sure that it can work.
If you need cash now, consider a title or short term loan. This can be a great way to bridge the gap and allow you to purchase the items you need to begin your home-based business.
3. Get Ready to Market
One of the most important things to make sure you cover if you are going to start a home-based business is marketing. If you have a brick and mortar store on a relatively busy street, then it’s going to be pretty easy to start spreading the word with fliers and by talking to people.
However, if you’re launching your business from home, most of your marketing strategies are going to center around the internet. Make sure that you use platforms like social media to connect to your target demographic so that you can get the word out and give your business a good chance of survival.
You will also want to look into email marketing and generate more leads for your business.
4. Find the Right Team
Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you still have to be a one-man-band. While you might not need office employees, you’ll still need a good accountant to help you with those taxes, as well as a lawyer who can take you through the legal side of things with ease. Having solid people on your side like this is going to make a big difference to your success.
There’s never been a better time than right now to start your business from home. Check out the tips above, and put your best foot forward with it.
