If, like many other people during these tough times, you are thinking of starting your own business, then doing this from your own home often provides the perfect starting point. Not only do you not have to worry about renting an office but you can also save valuable time and money on not having to commute into the city every day.
However, when entering into any business, large or small, there are a few pieces of advice that you should heed. Running a business is never easy and when you add in the fact that this is all going on under your own roof then things can get a bit too much. Here are a few pieces of great advice for anyone thinking of starting their business from home.
Separate ‘Home You’ From ‘Work You’
Managing your business from home means that you almost have to live a double life. In order to increase productivity whilst making sure that you don’t ruin your family life by becoming a workaholic; it is important that you separate ‘home you’ from ‘work you’. The easiest way to do this is to make sure that you have a designated area in the house which you can use for your work. This could be an office room upstairs or a converted garden shed, but it will work best the more you segregate yourself from the rest of the house.
Structure Your Days
When you don’t have to travel to work and there is no one there telling you what to do and when to do it; it can be hard to get into a routine and give your days structure. However, it is important to do this otherwise things could begin to get on top of you and you could lose sight of your social life. Just because you are not in a traditional working environment it doesn’t mean you can’t structure your working hours and days off so you can begin to get into a routine.
Choose Something That Can Be Done From Home
Although starting your business from home can be a great idea; not all business ideas can be easily adapted to work within this environment. Therefore if you know that this is the route you want to take but you are not sure what sort of business to embark on, then you need to think about the logistics.
If you are going to be selling products then you need to decide if you have enough room in your home to keep the stock there or whether you need to hire a warehouse or lock-up to dispatch them from. If it is a service you are selling then this is slightly easier but you need to ensure you have space for all the equipment you’ll need.
Don’t Become Too Isolated From Your Industry
If you are working from your own home then the chances are that you are not going to be speaking to many people that work within your industry on a daily basis. This could in turn mean that you start to become isolated from your industry and lose track of the latest trends and changes. So that this doesn’t happen you should make a point of keeping up to date with all the latest business news that relates to your company. Keeping your business current and desirable is the key to success and therefore you should always know what’s happening in your corner of the business world.
Chris Mayhew has often thought about starting his own business from home but just needs to find the right industry. He would recommend that anyone doing this keeps up to date with the latest business news through the New Business website.