Starting A Business From Home

You can begin the journey of starting a business from home right here. In this section we will give you essential information to help you select and start a home based business. This section is for starting any kind of home business. This includes businesses that are online, offline, or offsite.

Examples of online businesses are sites that sell merchandise and drop ship it to customers, and sites that provide a service online, such as customer service. Examples of offline home businesses include businesses that assemble or manufacture products at home. Offsite businesses are home based and provide services to clients at a location away from home, such as computer services, air conditioning, home inspection service, medical delivery, pool maintenance, technical consulting and landscaping services.  

We have an organized process below for you work through. Keep in mind that the work you do in the following decision-making and listing of information is NOT merely an exercise. This is an essential activity you should perform to end up with a viable business with great potential.

If you already know what home business you want to start you should still take a look at the 3 main decisions below. This should help you with the important first steps of getting started without big mistakes.

The Main Decisions
for starting a business from home

To begin starting a business from home, there are 3 main decisions you need to make:

1. What will your business do? 

What product or service will you sell?

What business ideas do you already have?

2. How will you operate your business?

How will you make the products or provide the services?

Do you have production skills or service experience?

Do you already have production or service equipment?

3. Who will you sell to? 

What will your market be? 

Are you interested in wholesale or retail?

Do you have knowledge of a market?

The Business Attributes
for starting a business from home

In addition to the 3 decisions above, look over the attributes of any business you seriously consider. These attributes include:

  • Personal Interest: the degree of your interest in this business idea
  • Personal Knowledge of this business type.
  • Cost of Entry: your estimate of the cost of starting this business.
  • Growth Prospects: your estimate of the growth of sales as a percent per year.
  • Competition: who are your competitors and how many are there?
  • Profitability Potential: can this business make a profit and how much?
  • Market demand: the demand for this product in terms of estimated sales numbers.

Continuing with your quest, write down the 3 decisions above with your answers to them.  Also, list the attributes above and your answers to them. 

Take a second look at each of these 3 decision items...

First go to What Will Your Business Do? for help with deciding on a good type of business choice for yourself.

Then go to How will you operate your business?

You will need to market your home business to start and gain sales.  Take a look at Who Will You Sell To?

Before or after your listing of the decisions and attributes above, look at some promising home business suggestions 101 Best Home Based Businesses.

More suggestions for a business to start are at: Cheap Home Business Ideas, 10 Home Business Ideas, and Creative Home Based Business Ideas.