Identify your initial investment and work out the time you will take to break even when you make money at home. Have you the financial backing to tide over the initial non-profit phase? If not, work out an alternate route for earning money in the short run. Do you need help from a financial institution? What is the cost of the monetary help you will take? Do you intend to start as a freelancer and later move to investing in a website?
Know the business requirements
Are you going to provide freelance services in tutoring or writing? Are you planning to start a home based call centre to make money at home? Do you need to purchase equipment or hire it? Whatever you are choosing to do, know all about the basic investments you will have to make and the time span over which you can expect returns to come your way. Know how your space has to be managed, for e.g., if your house tends to be noisy, it may be difficult to take customer calls on the telephone. Documents and office equipment require storage space, plan this out beforehand. The simplest model is that of the individual service provider with only a computer and telephone to run the business.
Know The Market
This is the most crucial aspect of your business. Your advertisement investment is limited and does not allow access to a wide audience at the start of your plan to make money at home. Is your offering relevant to a local community or a larger area? Can you narrow down your audience by age and lifestyle? What are the likely habits of your audience? What websites is your audience likely to visit? Answering these questions helps you to decide about your communication investment and mode. If you are an individual service provider, know the expectations of the client. It is possible that you have to learn new skills to satisfy client requirements. There are many resources on the net to enhance your skills.
Know The Competition
Identify your competition and see how they are managing their business. Is your offering the same as theirs or can you differentiate yourself in some way? What are they offering as their value proposition? What they are doing to make it possible to keep their client base. Go through the competitor’s website to see how they describe themselves. On the other hand, if you plan to make money at home, with individual efforts, visit the websites of others who are offering similar services. See what they offer to help you decide about your future plans.
Know thy USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
There are many ways to carry out a business. Think through the business processes you will have to follow and find creative ways to engage the customer. Think about what extra value you are adding and word it well. You may need to take professional help for doing this. If you intend to make money at home by offering professional services for a fee, word your resume well. Highlight your skills and experience and provide suitable references.
By: Alan Lim