Top Tips for Starting a Home Business

Is it time to give up the day job and search for pastures new? Thanks to the Covid pandemic and the rise of home working, there are now more opportunities than ever for us to start a business in our own home. We have the whole world at our fingertips and an increasing amount of people have decided to pack in the 9-5 and start their own businesses.

Your Home Office

If you have a spare room, it’s time to make use of it properly and invest in your own little home office. It may be tempting to recreate spaces you have seen in your favourite interior design magazine, but remember it needs to be functional! Make sure you have enough room to store all your documents and have a suitable working space that will accommodate a 30-hour working week.

If you have capital behind you, buy the latest computer, printer, trackpad and whatever you need. Entering the business world can be scary, but if you have all the right equipment you will feel the part immediately.

Read Up

Learn from the best! When considering starting your own home business, do as much research as you possibly can. Watch documentaries, read books, listen to podcasts and speak to people who have already done it themselves.

Websites like Entrepreneur can provide a great resource to approaching business plans and how to get in the headspace of someone who is already a successful business owner.

Meeting Rooms

The biggest drawback to working from home is the lack of meeting spaces. Sometimes a conference call just isn’t enough and you need to meet face to face with a potential client, and as impressive as your new home office is it isn’t quite the place to have a business meeting.

Usually things are casual enough today that you can get away with meeting in a quiet Starbucks. However, if the industry your looking to go into is a bit more formal it’s time to start researching the available spaces to hire in your area. There are various websites that offer this service, where you can hire meeting rooms or conference venues, for as little or long as you like. Thanks to the increased commonality of home working, it’s easier than ever to chat to people over video calling tools like Teams, Zoom, or Skype!

Hire an Intern

While getting your business off the ground might seem like something you have to handle on your own, you might find there is help at hand. Early on, it can be daunting to bring on a full-time staff member, so you can always share the work-load by reaching an agreement with an intern who can help out part time.

The relationship is mutually beneficial as the intern is gaining valuable work experience, and you’re getting an extra pair of hands to help balance the overall workload. There are some very useful guides online that can help you with this.

Childcare

Not always a necessity, but it’s always good to know your options if business really takes off or you have a busy spell. Using a relative is usually the first port of call, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have non-working family members at their disposal.

Probably the best option is to have a babysitter that can work sporadically and come over to your home to watch the kids. That way you still get to take part in their childhood but can also take some refuge when you are feeling swamped. The best of both worlds.

Enjoy Yourself

The final tip. Working from home is supposed to be fun! Indulge in the new-found freedom running a business gives you, enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and truly be in charge of your own destiny. Enjoy every moment with your kids – do the school run if you can, go to every musical recital and spend as much time in the summer holidays with them as possible.

It’s your time to shine!