Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2013. The claim that “the two biggest companies around today were born in a garage” reflects 2013, and rankings have changed since. The social networks mentioned (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are those of 2013; Twitter is now X.
Many people dream of having their own business without ever leaving home, but the truth is that it doesn’t suit everyone. I know plenty of people who started a business from home and, a few months later, even though they didn’t need to, decided to rent an office simply because they felt the walls were closing in on them. They had a physical need for contact with people on the way to the office, for the obligation of set hours, and so on.
So home-based businesses aren’t for everyone. Before you start, ask yourself whether you could really stand it, or whether you plan to do it temporarily until you can make the leap to an office outside your home. Without a doubt, if we want to start a business with no money, doing it from home is the best way to begin.
1. Be patient, and be ready to be consistent and persistent
When we start a business from home, we do it knowing we’re going to make a minimal investment, and as a rule, businesses in which we don’t invest much, or which we start with very limited financial resources, tend to take a little longer to get going (there are exceptions). You won’t see results overnight, so patience, consistency and persistence will be your best weapons for succeeding at this “job”.
2. Don’t hide the fact that you work from home
For some reason, running a business from home is still, for many people, synonymous with being unemployed, doing odd jobs and trying your luck. That’s why many people lie about where their business is located, as if they’d be ashamed for a client to find out that their office isn’t in a business building. You don’t have to go around announcing to potential clients that your office is at home, but if they ask, tell them the truth.
There’s nothing wrong with it as long as you are a serious and honest entrepreneur. Besides, the two biggest companies around today were born in a garage. I know, that example has been done to death, so if it’s any consolation, hundreds of doctors, financial advisers and lawyers who spend their summers in the Cayman Islands run their profitable businesses from their own homes. Just make sure your company’s website is as professional as those of the “premier league” companies.
3. Be disciplined so you don’t fall into the trap of working from home
What is the curse of the person with a home business? Quite simply… that people know you’re at home, because you run the risk of becoming the errand boy and, in some cases, the neighbourhood caretaker. It all starts with “Since you’re not going anywhere, could you pick up some milk at the supermarket?” Another day your neighbour will say: “Since you’re at home, I’ll leave you my keys in case the electrician comes. I have to go to work, you see.” Before you know it, you’re doing everything except working, and unproductive hours are just that: unproductive hours.
4. Properly separate the space where you’ll work from the rest of the house
Don’t make the mistake of working in the living room or just anywhere. Try to set up an office in the basement or a spare bedroom, and perhaps you should invest in partitioning off part of the house, where you can have your computer, a printer and some quiet, and where, if need be, you can receive a client in that makeshift office without having to do business while the client watches your children play or your partner do the dishes.
5. Know which tools to use to speed up your business’s growth
Before you launch into this adventure, you need a concrete strategy. That’s no different from any other kind of business. In this case you need to know which free or low-cost tools can help you accelerate your business’s growth. To that end, we offered some advice and a few low-budget marketing tools.
6. Even more discipline
Having your office at home has other drawbacks: it would be very easy to slide into sloppiness, laziness and a sedentary lifestyle. Set schedules both for attending to the business and for exercising or going out for a coffee. You could burn out sooner than you think.
7. Watch out for social media addiction
We know that social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…) are essential marketing tools for a business, but there may come a point when we overdo the time we spend with people on social media, and time flies when we’re having fun. At the end of the day you may find yourself wondering whether you’ve done anything besides being on Facebook and Twitter, or who knows what other sites.
8. Learn to switch off
You run the risk of working seven days a week, 16 hours a day, even if not all of that time is productive. Set yourself a day when, as a rule, you don’t turn on the computer and don’t go on Facebook or Twitter. Letting your mind rest and disconnecting for at least 24 full hours is the best way I know to improve productivity. If you can’t give it up even for 24 hours, my friend, you don’t have a home business, you have an addiction :). Seriously, switch off.
Further reading
- 9 marketing strategies for small businesses on a low budget
- 9 home business ideas that don’t need commercial premises, part 2
Featured image: Ryan Finnie, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
