11 Tips for a Successful Home-based Business

Posted by Debbie Dragon on January 9, 2009

It’s a new year, and with it comes new beginnings and opportunities.  If your resolutions include starting a home-based business (or improving one you already have!) here are 12 tips you can use to become more successful:

1. Set up a place to work. Yeah, it’s comfy to sit on the couch with a laptop, but you can’t be as productive if you’re watching Cosby re-runs while “working”.  Get an area in your home set up for work, and spend most of your work hours in that designated area.  Not only will it increase your productivity, but it will also help you separate home time from work time.
2. Create a schedule. While you probably don’t need to follow a schedule with the discipline of a military boot camp, having consistent work hours helps you establish a routine.  It’s far too easy to find other things to do when you’re at home (cleaning… doing dishes… laundry… watching tv, etc) and without a schedule you might find yourself forgetting that working from home actually requires that you do some work!
3. Tell everyone you know. When you first start working from home, it’s common for other people not to understand what that really means.  Make everyone you know aware of your work schedule, and ask them to limit phone calls and visits during those hours.  Don’t be surprised if friends and family ask you to babysit or run errands for them since you’re “home and not busy” – put a stop to it before it becomes a problem.
4. Seek out people who are successful doing what you want to do. Most successful people will tell you that much of their success can be attributed to having a mentor.  Use the internet to find business owners who are in the same (or similar) industry.  Many people offer formal mentoring programs or coaching, and some people would just be honored to help if you asked.  If you’re serious about your business, you may want to enroll in a program for extra help and coaching.  I teach people how to make money from writing, while friends of mine offer help creating an ebook business, but programs exist across most industries.
5. Get a better understanding about how the internet works. If you’re going to work from home, you’ll benefit from having improved knowledge of the internet and how it all works.  Enroll in an internet marketing course (online or off), or read about internet marketing through books and websites.
6. Learn to use to-do lists, prioritize and manage your time. Learning how to prioritize your business tasks comes through practice.  Learning how to prioritize business tasks while living and working under the same roof takes patience and even more practice!  Most successful people working from home rely heavily on to-do lists to keep them on track.  You can use a plain piece of paper, a spreadsheet, or software designed to help you manage multiple clients and tasks.  I prefer Basecamp, but there are many options available.
7. Set goals. How do you know if you’ve accomplished anything if you don’t have any goals?  Setting specific goals allows you to measure your success and determine whether you’re moving in the right direction.
8. Know when it’s time for a break. Depending on your business, there are probably going to be times when no matter how determined you are to get something done – you just can’t make it happen.  This is called burn-out and it regularly happens to creative types (artists, writers, graphic designers, web designers, etc).  Recognize when you need a break and give yourself some time.  You’ll be far more productive when you return to work than if you just force yourself to keep at it when you clearly need the break!
9. Accept credit cards as payment. It’s been proven that people buy more when they can use a credit or debit card to pay.  Plus, if you’re working online it’s the best way to receive payments from your clients or customers instantly without having to wait for a check to arrive in the mail.  Set yourself up with a Paypal account, or other way to accept credit cards, and then try out invoicing software like Blinksale.com to create professional invoices in just a minute that your clients can pay with the click of a mouse.
10. Learn a little something about online marketing. No matter how many times you’ve watched Field of Dreams, if you build a website it does not mean your target customers will find it!  Getting people to a website takes a little technique.  There are a variety of free methods for driving traffic, but if you  need some help getting traffic to a blog, try our blog carnival submission service (or work time into your schedule to do your own submissions).
11. Recordkeeping. Do yourself a favor and get in the habit of keeping good records all year round so you aren’t scrambling at tax-time to find everything you need to file.  Receipts, invoices, expenses, income, and client files should be kept in an organized fashion, online and/or offline.  Find a system that works for you and make it a priority.

This post is part of the “Write Online For Money” Blog Carnival hosted at Need Extra Cash Blog.

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