Setting up a Home Business: The First Steps

With the news that by 2020 42 million Americans will be self employed, it’s clear to see that the corporate dream is beginning to fade, soon to be replaced with new visions of flexible working hours, creative thinking and independent decision-making. For stay at home moms particularly, therefore, considering setting up a business within the comfort of your own home is inherently appealing – allowing you to use any spare time you have to work on your project while bringing in potential income.

For many of us in today’s society, home businesses have become our reality. As such, it’s beginning to be easier and cheaper than ever before to set up an entrepreneurial home-based profession. While it doesn’t ensure that profit will be immediate and easy to make, so long as you have passion, an idea and time to put the work in, you’re sure to be on the right track to success. But where do I start, we hear you ask? In this article, we’re covering just that.

Consider why you want to run a business

First and foremost, it’s important to decide what type of business it is that you want to run. This will depend on a few factors too, such as how much time you can dedicate to your new business plan on a daily basis, whether you can you afford to do it in the long-term and how you plan on making money from your idea.

While, ultimately, your goal is to make money, you need to consider risk versus reward and shouldn’t base your decision on potential profitability alone. Instead, you need to think about your invested interest in your new idea, whether that means turning your hobby into a home business or utilising a skill you learned at a previous job – after all, it’s always better to opt for an idea you’re passionate about instead of one simply designed to make you money.

Home business ideas: 

Amongst many, many others, the list below discloses a number of home business ideas you may have never considered before…

• Consulting – If you’ve worked in an industry for a number of years, then you’re likely to have acquired certain skills and a knowledge base that make you an integral source of information for others who lack, but require, these skills. As such, why not consider consulting? From the comfort of your own home, you’d be able to consult businesses on a subject specific to your area of expertise. For example, if you’ve spent the majority of your career learning and developing a software programme, it could be a wise idea to consult businesses on how to use said piece of software
• Blogging – An inexpensive idea to begin and an easy job to set up if you choose to start doing it, blogging can be as simple as starting to write about something you’re interested in – whether that be food, music or interior design. Once you establish yourself as a blogger and start attracting regular visitors, you can make money from affiliate marketing, sponsorships and digital adverts. However, it’s important to remember that this isn’t promised and can take time
• Forex trading – The foreign exchange market is the most lucrative market in the world. Once only available to banks and finance professionals, the forex market is now easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Once you’ve spent time researching the market, trialing your trades on demo accounts and learning to trade forex from the professionals, you could be able to earn a profitable secondary or full-time income 
• Virtual assistant – A virtual assistant (VA) works independently to provide professional services remotely. Jobs included as part of a VA’s job description include; editorial support, website maintenance and design, email maintenance, billing and invoicing, event planning, research and content creation (for social media and blog posts). It’s vital that a VA can support themselves in regards to technology and have a strong, reliable internet connection at all times

In the end, whether you choose to start a career in freelancing using popular sites such as Upwork or Fiverr or decide to do something a little more imaginative and creative at home, starting a business, while at times a daunting task, doesn’t have to be difficult, so long as you put the time in and opt for something that you feel passionate about.  

Author bio: 

John James is a content writer for Learn To Trade, the foreign exchange education and learning specialists – offering a range of training courses to help people understand the currency trading market, as well as its opportunities and risks.