User:Vtaylor/SCORE/Home business/ask

ASK

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-start-a-home-based-business-that-will-succeed-2948192

The best home-based business is the one you start because you are passionate about the work and interested in the process involved

Starting a home-based business can create flexibility in how you spend your time and make your money. But it isn't a quick process or a guarantee of financial success. It requires a long-term commitment and a clear understanding of the work involved.

Critical success factors - Startup businesses that are successful share a number of common critical success factors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06WwH9D_ZCw

Well thought-out idea Realistic expectations Demonstrated customer need Comprehensive overview of entire business operation Money enough to start, emergency fund Record keeping, cash flow, taxes, withholding, sales tax

To create a home-based business with a solid foundation and earning potential, you'll need to invest time and resources into identifying the right business for you and creating a plan.

Assess Your Talents - Are you: .  Creative? .  Detail-oriented? .  A strong communicator? .  Persistent? .  A quick learner?

Are you suited for self-employment. Common traits for successful business owners are: . Openness to experience .  Self-reliance .  Motivation toward achievement .  Self-efficacy .  Comfort with risk2

Be honest as you assess your talents and personality to determine whether a home-based business is the right path for you.

Examine Your Skills - Running a successful business often requires learning new skills, such as marketing or cold-calling. But when it comes to developing a business idea, start with the skills you already have. They will often indicate where you are best suited to use your natural talents.

Generate Business Ideas - As you brainstorm, you get a sense for which business ideas are a good fit for your personality, skill set, and interests. This will allow you to narrow down your options to businesses that you are genuinely interested in pursuing.

Home-Based Business - Starting a business out of your home requires considering a variety of factors, including your location, zoning, legal restrictions, licensing, work style, personality, and your family's needs.

Determine the Likely Profit - .  How much are people willing to pay me for this product or service? .   Can I make a sufficient income from that?

Determine what your minimum income requirements are per month and only consider business ideas that have a real chance of generating that level of profit. Most businesses need time to start generating a profit. Take this into consideration

These are some of the important questions to ASK.

ASK . yourself . your family and friends . people who would be your ideal customers . trade organization . competition for your product or services . your SCORE mentor

First of all It's about you. We'll start with you. What do you want? Why? What are you prepared to do to make it happen? What do you know? Who can help you? How?

What business are you starting? How is it different from your competitors? Who’s your ideal customer? What problems are you trying to solve? How are you going to get the message out?

ASK passion interests requirements skills time place family support experience expectations financial

thebalancesmb.com/how-to-start-a-home-based-business-that-will-succeed-2948192.

More than just the money. Time - 2 full time jobs - 3 if you are the primary caregiver too Life - Family commitments, vacations

Why? Why do you want to start a business? Why do you think now is the time to do it? Why do you want to pursue your specific idea?

inforgraphic 40.2%: Passionate for the product/service I provide

16%: Wanted the flexibility of self-employment 15.1%: Saw a gap in the marketplace that I wanted to fill 14.6%: Unemployment or underemployment at my previous job 13.9%: Wanted to be my own boss

https://www.score.org/resource/infographic/megaphone-main-street-startups-finding-customers

slides . 13 Do You Have What it Takes? Critical Success Factors . 14 Do You Have the Financial Resources? . 17 new business . 18 buying and existing business . 19 buying s franchise . 20 home based / remote business . 22 online business . 24 How Many Hats Will You Wear? . 28 Do You Have the Skills?

Not Home Business

Your company idea might not be suitable to be a home business for many reasons - zoning, location, equipment, products, volumes. One more thing to think about. Perhaps you can start at your home and once you get the business launched and growing, you can transition to a more appropriate space or location.


 * Ed has and industrial quality machine shop at home on several acres in a semi-rural area. As his business grew, he hired employees, needed space for works in progress, and benefited from the visibility from being small industrial park by a major road.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-episode-walker-company-tristan-walker/id1150510297?i=1000451714484
 * Tristan Walker's goal initially was to be wealth (not same as rich). So he need to have a business that would be scale to a major company. This was not going to be a home business from the outset. Along the way he found that he had plenty of money and his goal became to build a company that would still be in business in 100 years. His name is on the company because he felt that that like other family name companies, this was a connection and a responsibility to customers.

NEXT : IMAGINE what your home business will be like in more detail.


 * Solve a problem - preferably a really big annoying problem. Tristan Walker is a black guy with a shaving problem. All the new fangled multi-blade razors made his face breakout in bumps. This problem is shared by billions of black men worldwide and ? black men in the US alone. Selling specialty razors may not seem like a terrific business idea but the problem was very real and nobody else seemed interested in solving it. And it was... The company was bought by the 150+ year old Proctor & Gamble company. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-episode-walker-company-tristan-walker/id1150510297?i=1000451714484

Create a Business Plan - Find out if your idea has a chance of becoming successful.

Once you've chosen a home-based business idea you're passionate about, write a business plan, including: . summary of your business idea .   Research into your target market and competition5 .   A description of your ideal customer .   Your marketing strategy .  Financial planning .  Your operating plan

The research and thinking that you do as you work through the business plan will help you refine your business idea and plan for how you will successfully launch yourself into your market without costly real-world trial and error. If your business plan shows you that your idea isn't viable, don't be afraid to shelve it, choose another home-based business idea, and go through the process again.