The rise of the home-based business is a long-term trend that will continue to accelerate. Driven by a desire to regain work/life balance, fueled by technology and enabled by low-cost, over half of all the businesses in the US are home-based. And while they are often dismissed as hobbies or part-time ventures, research shows that over 6 million of these businesses provide at least half of the household income. And one in ten US workers employed in the private sector is employed by a home-based business.
The following checklist is a guide to starting your own home-based business.
Plan Your Business
- Choose a business based on your skills and interests – if you need ideas you can find a list of 200+ business ideas and specific start up guides for each at homebusinesscenter.com
- Write a business plan
- Develop a marketing plan
- Choose a name and legal structure – when choosing a name check to see if the domain name (preferably yourbusinessname.com) is available.
Form Your Business
- Apply for your Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
- Obtain licenses and permits
- Sales Tax
- Business license
- State and federal licenses (certain types of businesses will require additional state and federal licenses)
- Open a business bank account
- Set up an accounting and record keeping system
- Obtain commercial insurance
- Set up your office
- Organize and create systems – organize your business as if someone else will be running it for you. Creating systems will streamline the operational side so you can focus on growing your business.
- Hire employees or build your network of contractors – especially while revenue is low, consider using freelancers or contractors to help with specific tasks. This will keep your fixed overhead low until you have grown revenue to support permanent employees. eLance.com is a good resource for finding contractors.
Go to Market
- Create a business identity – create a logo that will identify your business and print business cards and marketing literature.
- Set up a website – Your website is your storefront. Make sure it is professional looking, easy to navigate and fully represents your business.
- Implement your marketing plan
Hi, I’m Cathy! I’m a former career-driven professional turned stay-at-home mom. Living on one salary has its challenges, but it is possible to live the good life while spending less. Cool to be Frugal is all about how we’re thriving, not just surviving, on a single income.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Organize and create systems; this is so important and yet often overlooked by business owners. Not only will it make your life so much easier while you run the business but if/ when you start to hire someone to do the day to day stuff of your business you will be able to train them. Critical for growth!
Ashley @ Everything Finance´s last [type] ..Close the window