This article was copied with permission from: Porch.com
If you’re someone who loves being at home and spending time in your personal sanctuary, probably the idea of a run-from-home small business has crossed your mind quite a few times. The multiple and different things you can create from home have increased in the last few years, and nowadays, it is widespread to know that many people have been able to manage running a business from the comfort of their homes.
This might sound like a dream come true, but we know that every rose has its thorn, and several obstacles come into place when starting a business on your own; this is why we decided to gather some business experts to share with us the secret of success. We’ll break down everything you need to know so you can start your own run-from-home small business like a pro.
Contents
STARTING WITH YOUR BUSINESS
How do you know if there is a demand for the product or service of your business idea?
It all comes down to performing solid niche research before you even start implementing your business idea. You need to pick a niche where you can make money; that’s what you are here for, right? Ideally, you want to enter a niche where you get just the right level of competition to ensure there is a sizeable market for your product or service.
There are several revenue sources available, as well as growth potential combined with low seasonality, and are established as the expert in the field or can at least hire an expert to boost your credibility. However, after considering these factors, the most critical decision is whether you are still interested in your niche of choice!
Ioanna Karelia | Founder for Be Your Maverick
How to choose a product or service to sell that would be a perfect fit for you?
There are two ways to approach this: ride a wave or grow into something you’re personally passionate about. Sometimes it’s both, but more often than not you’re following the money or your calling. If the former, I always recommend trendspotting tools, such as Exploding Topics. As the name suggests, it alerts you to topics and products that are bubbling up 6+ months before they hit the mainstream. Perfect if you want to get in early and beat the crowds.”
Stuart Goulden | Founder & Lead Consultant for Likenoother.co
What are some low-cost business ideas for a run-from-home business?
These are some of the low-cost business ideas to implement at home.
- Being a YouTuber
- A Blogger
- Starting a Car Wash
- Vegetable Farming
- Cleaning Services
- Baking and Distributing Snacks at Road-Site
- Social media management
- Computer and cellphone repairs
Marenyane Mokhethi | for Earn Online Lesotho
How do you avoid a business failure before it happens?
Avoiding business failure as an entrepreneur is like avoiding the very essence of entrepreneurship; In fact, the acceptance of failure makes you stronger. Every entrepreneur should build systems and structures to help manage failure and mitigate against a total business breakdown. Build structures and systems to help you understand the likely pitfalls, your competition, your business environment, and most importantly build resilience to failure.
Olufemi | Managing Director of Experts
What should be the process to follow for financing a small business?
Financial management for a business is not a simple task if you are not a professional, you should take a basic accounting class or seek the advice of an expert before you start. The first step in the small business financing process is to define the business model (especially needing to be specific about the cash-in and cash-out of the business). The next step is to determine the size of the business and the capital to maintain operations, including contingency costs for possible harmful situations. Last but not least, receive capital mobilized from different sources such as equity, bank loans, and state support.
Linh Nguyen | Marketing Manager at 2B-IO
How to find the right investment tool for a small business?
To find the best investment tool for small businesses: first, think about what type of assets you’re looking to invest in: you’ll generally need different platforms to invest in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Once you’ve decided on the assets you want to target, focus your search on two things: cost and customer reviews. Keep in mind that even 1% fees can have a major impact on your profitability over time, so don’t overlook even the smallest amounts. And if you’re still stuck on where to invest, I recently published a list of investment newsletters that will help you narrow down your options and cut through the noise to discover vetted investment opportunities personalized to you.
Jordan Bishop | Founder of Yore Oyster
What are the stages of growing your business?
Stage 1: Start-Up
This is an action-oriented time with an overall goal of building a rock-solid foundation that can sustain your business over the long term. During this phase, you’ll be getting educated, creating your business entity, nailing down your services, branding yourself, building your team, putting systems in place, strategizing your online presence, and creating a marketing philosophy and plan.
Stage 2: Growth
This is the growth phase and actually the toughest phase—and the one when most businesses fail. Vision, determination, and thick skin are crucial to getting through it. During this stage, you focus on client relations, networking, generating new business, creating online content, and continuing your professional education so you can delineate yourself from your competitors.
Stage 3: Maturity
During this stage, you’ll be focusing on reevaluating and refining your systems and marketing strategies, continuing your education, reviewing your clients, and savoring the fruits of all of your hard work. In this phase, work is a stable workload as a result of consistent referrals and refined marketing strategies, and you can be more particular about the type of work you do and for whom you do it.
Janet | CEO of Scribaceous
How do you start creating a brand?
Understanding and specifying the characteristics of your target customers is the real first step to creating a brand identity. When you identify their problems and issues first, you will be able to carve a brand identity designed to solve their problems. You can only create how your brand will look, feel, and sound. The brand logos, colors, and slogans come secondary. What comes first should understand who you wish to help with your products and services and how your brand will help these people.
Clancy Clarke | Head of Marketing for BrandCrowd
How to avoid poor branding strategy?
There are two vitally important things you need to get right in order to avoid poor branding. The first is to make sure you have all the fundamentals in place—a clearly defined brand strategy, messaging guidelines, and a visual identity system that you feel comfortable using. If you lack these things, it’s time to hire an expert. Look for someone small enough to pay attention to your business, but skilled enough to put together a high-quality brand. The second is to ensure consistency in everything you do. If you can’t commit to a consistent look and a consistent message, what reason do prospects have to believe that you can deliver a consistent quality product or service?
Jon Person | Cult Method
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS
Why should small businesses invest in social media?
Every business needs to create awareness of their products and/or services with their target market. The most efficient way to do that is through social media, which is vital for small businesses. To do it effectively, you need to understand your target market, what needs they have that you can meet and what social media they use to get your message in front of them.
Nigel Greenwood | Managing Director at Bubul
How is storytelling important for your business?
The human brain is wired and attracted to stories. This is because stories are how the human brain learns, grows, and remembers things. You can better remember important events and communicate or connect with your audience through stories.
When you tell a story, you humanize your brand. You show your customers that you are more than just about making money and problem-solving – especially solving their problems. Stories allow you the opportunity to be more creative with your audience. People love learning and gaining new perspectives, and stories effectively do this through your brand image and knowledge. When you use stories, you gain audience engagement and the action required to run a successful and sustainable business.
Jon Allo | CEO of JonAllo.com
What are different ways to market your small business on a shoestring budget?
The answer might have been social media a few years ago. Still, many of the most popular social media platforms have made organic marketing very difficult, instead of forcing more businesses to pay to play. However, one social media network, “TikTok” still allows niche-based creatives to thrive organically. Therefore my suggestion would be to create a business TikTok account and focus on making 1-2 videos per week until something hits, and you learn what type of content resonates best with your customers. Short business videos are the answer, even if straightforward and informational.
Cyprian Francis | CEO of Cyprian Francis
Other marketing strategies for run-from-home small businesses?
Starting a business from home typically involves keeping your costs low, otherwise known as bootstrapping. It, therefore, makes sense to be resourceful with your marketing too. A good starting point is the free marketing tools directory. You can find software for SEO, content marketing, social media, automated email marketing, design tools, photography banks, and a lot more!
Stuart | for Surges
DIGITAL SMALL BUSINESS
Why is it important for a run-from-home small business to have a website?
Having a website gives your business credibility and makes you look professional. Research shows that 84% of consumers believe that a business with a website is more credible than companies having only social media profiles.
A website can help you attract new customers through Google. Every business needs to add more customers to enjoy continued success. A website helps boost the business’s visibility on the Internet. As a small homerun business, a website can help you to showcase your products and services. Customers can be attracted by using high-quality pictures on the website.
A website makes it easier for prospective customers to know more about your business, products, or services. A professional and experienced website development company can help you design and develop an impressive and effective website that can help boost your business growth. Their design and development services will help in enhancing the online presence of your business.
How to choose a good domain name for your business?
The First step in building a brand is to create an online reputation. Therefore, you must ensure the domain name you’re choosing for your business is short and memorable. It is also recommended that a good domain should also pass the radio test. Remember a domain name has its own perks, it makes a visitor confident about your website.
Robin Hablani | Digital Asset Specialist for Godomainers LLC
How to choose a proper website design for your business?
The design of your website is a representation of your business. When you choose a design for your website, you’ll want to please your customers and reflect your brand.
Your brand’s values are a good base and guide for your website design. Also, you must consider the experience of your visitors. Every design element must be an element of the overall goals of your online presence. Your website should propel your brand forward by generating confidence in your business. The goal of your website is to provide your customers with a reason to keep coming back to your website and recommend your business to others.
Meshach Owolabi | for Rindx.com
How do you bring traffic to your business website?
There are three important parameters to bring target customers towards a business: Profitable Keywords, Quality and Engaging Content, and Strategic SEO with Link Building. We believe this works for almost all businesses who want to get tons of organic traffic in a natural and long-term way.
Uday Tank | for Rankwisely
How to start an online business?
An important aspect you have to pay special attention to when creating an online business is to understand that the virtual experience of your client has to be amazing. This means you need a responsive and friendly website, your SEO strategies need to be implemented from the very beginning, your customer service (email, chat, phone) have to be friendly and ready to help, and your communication should answer the main questions people will have about your company, products or services.
Last but not least, be creative and have fun with your communication. The is no right formula so you have to test several times until you find the best results.
Lilian Oliveira | for HelloNira
What are the key elements to growing an Online Business?
The key elements to growing an online business are knowing your target audience, focusing on providing value to them with your content, and connecting with complementary businesses. No business worth its salt makes it on its own. It’s important to provide value to your consumers and find complementary businesses that value mutually beneficial collaborations.
Peter Keszegh | for OnlinebizBooster
What are the different digital sources you can use as an online business?
There are several digital sources to run easy online dropshipping businesses. You can consider using eCommerce platforms like Amazon FBA, Shopify, eBay, BigCommerce, etc. You must find suitable types of dropshipping business before you use these platforms. For instance, product reselling, product creation, print on demand, or business extensions.
Edward | for Leeline Sourcing
What are different online business ideas to start a business?
There are countless online opportunities for starting a business. To mention a few; blogging, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, selling courses, vlogging and freelancing. Every online business idea has challenges. It’s never the best approach to select an opportunity with the hope of making money easily. Rather, choose one idea based on your skills and passion. Then double down your efforts on that business idea, continuously educate yourself, connect with other online entrepreneurs, and above all be persistent. It’s only through deliberate and focused action that you can build a successful online business.
Elvis | Founder of Kampusville.com
What are different tech business ideas you can do from home?
One of the best and trending to run an Internet research company based on technology-related services, like running and monitoring web applications using various tools. Run blogs based on Search Engine Optimization. Profits are gained from blog platforms upon online content services. There are a lot of giant companies already given proof to run a successful business on these ideas. For the online sales and services from time to time. It is more important to promote the various services online direct end-to-end business.
Harish | for Techno Hoop
How can webinars be a tool for small businesses?
Webinars are effective tools small businesses and solopreneurs often use to attract new customers, because they give people a chance to get to know you, personally experience the depth of your expertise, and see what it would be like to do business with you. The problem is live webinars are exhausting and impossible for small businesses to sustain on a regular basis over the long term. The solution is to automate your webinars in a way that maintains the interactivity and two-way communication that makes them so valuable. If you do that right, you’ll not only save a ton of time, you’ll be able to attract qualified leads and sell your services in your sleep — literally!
Todd | for eWebinar
Why are barcodes important for a product sold online?
Barcodes serve as an identification of products and help them to be more accessible and recognizable by customers worldwide. They are used to speed up the checkout process, as well as improve inventory management for both producers and retailers. Producers should not save and should buy barcodes if they really care about the genuineness and identifiability of their products.
Harry | for Barcodes Pro
MANAGING YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE
How to create an effective home office setup?
A Home Office is an ideal setup that can be realized. Depending on the work profile, it might vary. Choosing a spot where you can sit comfortably is a prerequisite. By sitting comfortably, we mean not a cozy chair but a place or a spot that you can stick to without any hiccups.
Next comes the noise levels. The place you selected to sit down should be quiet enough for you to focus and talk on calls with your colleagues. Adding an aroma you like to the space can help you be happy, especially on calls.
