How to Choose a Home Business That Suits Your Lifestyle
Evaluate your personality., Consider your business skills., Weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Evaluate your personality.
Many people want to work from home because they think it will be easier to balance work and family needs.
For example, mothers of your children may think working from home will make it easier to take care of their kids.
However, this is not necessarily true.
Working from home is very challenging, especially if you have young children competing for your attention.
It’s not for everybody.
Decide if you have the personality traits to make it work.You must be a self-starter.
Without a supervisor to keep you on task, you must be able to motivate yourself to focus on getting your work done.
You need critical thinking skills.
You have to be able to handle all of your responsibilities without direction or guidance from someone else.
You have to be organized and a good planner.
You need to be able to plan ahead to meet all of your work and home responsibilities.
You need to be comfortable with being alone.
You will not have your co-workers around for social interaction.
Decide how important this is to you. -
Step 2: Consider your business skills.
To make your home business successful, you need basic business know-how.
The categories of business skills you need include financial, marketing, communication and technology.
You need to be willing to develop these skills in order to run your business.Financial skills include managing your accounts payable, collecting money from customers, managing your inventory and determining your profit margins.
Spend time playing around with your accounting software.
Many programs generate different kinds of reports that allow you to learn about your profit and loss and analyze your income streams and spending patterns.Marketing skills include performing market research to identify the right product or service to sell, determining the right price for your product or service and promoting and selling your product or service.Communication skills include keeping an open line of communication with your clients or customers.
You can do this through e-mail marketing and social media communication.You need more than just a telephone and rudimentary computer skills to make your home business work.
The technology skills you need include being able to use Excel to create financial spreadsheets and being able to do basic HTML coding and use Word Press to build your website.
Also, you need to be familiar with SEO and know how to use Google Analytics to evaluate your customers’ behavior on your website.
If you’re going to accept credit cards, you’ll need to know how to use mobile payment processing systems.
Finally, learn how to use cloud-based telecommunications systems., Operating a home-based business has positives and negatives.
Evaluate the impact of this lifestyle change on your family and home life.
Decide if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.The advantages include flexible working hours, no commuting, free child care, and the satisfaction of being your own boss.
The disadvantages include stress from trying to balance work and family needs, limited space in your home, disruptions to your family’s schedule and lack of social interactions from co-workers. -
Step 3: Weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Detailed Guide
Many people want to work from home because they think it will be easier to balance work and family needs.
For example, mothers of your children may think working from home will make it easier to take care of their kids.
However, this is not necessarily true.
Working from home is very challenging, especially if you have young children competing for your attention.
It’s not for everybody.
Decide if you have the personality traits to make it work.You must be a self-starter.
Without a supervisor to keep you on task, you must be able to motivate yourself to focus on getting your work done.
You need critical thinking skills.
You have to be able to handle all of your responsibilities without direction or guidance from someone else.
You have to be organized and a good planner.
You need to be able to plan ahead to meet all of your work and home responsibilities.
You need to be comfortable with being alone.
You will not have your co-workers around for social interaction.
Decide how important this is to you.
To make your home business successful, you need basic business know-how.
The categories of business skills you need include financial, marketing, communication and technology.
You need to be willing to develop these skills in order to run your business.Financial skills include managing your accounts payable, collecting money from customers, managing your inventory and determining your profit margins.
Spend time playing around with your accounting software.
Many programs generate different kinds of reports that allow you to learn about your profit and loss and analyze your income streams and spending patterns.Marketing skills include performing market research to identify the right product or service to sell, determining the right price for your product or service and promoting and selling your product or service.Communication skills include keeping an open line of communication with your clients or customers.
You can do this through e-mail marketing and social media communication.You need more than just a telephone and rudimentary computer skills to make your home business work.
The technology skills you need include being able to use Excel to create financial spreadsheets and being able to do basic HTML coding and use Word Press to build your website.
Also, you need to be familiar with SEO and know how to use Google Analytics to evaluate your customers’ behavior on your website.
If you’re going to accept credit cards, you’ll need to know how to use mobile payment processing systems.
Finally, learn how to use cloud-based telecommunications systems., Operating a home-based business has positives and negatives.
Evaluate the impact of this lifestyle change on your family and home life.
Decide if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.The advantages include flexible working hours, no commuting, free child care, and the satisfaction of being your own boss.
The disadvantages include stress from trying to balance work and family needs, limited space in your home, disruptions to your family’s schedule and lack of social interactions from co-workers.
About the Author
Lori Webb
Specializes in breaking down complex crafts topics into simple steps.
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