Starting a home based business is both rewarding and potentially frustrating. Your rewards will be defined by the amount of time you invest. Eventually, your business may run itself, but you’ll be working hard as you head out of the gate. Just with anything, you have to work hard to get the best results.
If your home-based business requires you to drive during your working hours, be sure to track your mileage and collect receipts for the gas required. These travel expenses, even if they are only for a day trip, are considered to be 100% deductible. However, make sure you can prove that the driving is necessary to the business’ profit.
Keep two phone lines, one for home and one for the business. A business that has a separate phone line will always appear more professional, thus lessening the chances of the wrong person answering the phone.
Dress professionally, even when you are working from home. Although you may feel like wearing pajamas when you work in a home office, don’t. As with any other job, you should dress for success. Dressing appropriately places you in the frame of mind to work productively.
If one of your products is not available for any reason, post that information on your website. One way to upset your customers is to have them buy something and not let them know that it will not arrive for several weeks. If a product is on back-order and can’t be delivered swiftly, say that prominently on your website, and offer them a suitable substitute to it.
Have a banner page on your site. This will enable you to swap banner links with different webmasters that you know. The method is simple, but it will effectively allow for increasing both party’s traffic and ratings among popular search engines.
Make goals each day. You might miss a few things, but if you establish achievable and reasonable goals each day, you will accomplish more. Establish boundaries for a online business so that your family can respect what you are doing.
Business Plan
Use a good business plan. Even though your business might be small, you still need to outline what your business goals are, what resources you need, and what methods you will use to reach your goal. A well thought out business plan keeps you focused as the business grows and expands.
Even though it may seem like it’s not worth it, many businesses started the same way. Nobody achieves overnight success, because if that were possible, many people would be rich. Give yourself every advantage by working hard, doing your homework beforehand and learning everything you can about the business you want to start. Business is about competition and the hardiest survive.