How to be a Successful Home Based Business Owner

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By kp3028
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Every business faces similar challenges. Finding prospects, making sure that every project is done profitably, building a client base that acts as a referral source for new business, minimizing turnover to reduce training time and increase customer and employee loyalty, while minimizing expenses. The home based business owner has to overcome these challenges differently than the mid to large size corporation that has a wide range of departments to utilize.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Make sure you have a clear vision and goal of why you went into a home based business. Every day you will need to motivate yourself to stay focused and keep your ‘eye focused’ on the target. Understand clearly what will happen if your business venture fails.
Step 2

As a home based business owner you often are the marketing and sales team as well as the service provider. Managing your time to assure you have the time to make cold calls, go to networking events, develop marketing campaigns and handle the implementation of orders is important. You need to be focusing on long and short range activities and goals all at the same time.
Step 3

As you schedule activities be working with a daily, weekly and monthly calendar. A software program like Microsoft Office, ACT or Goldmine will help you keep your daily, weekly, monthly appointments and tasks scheduled as well as three, six and nine month activities clearly marked. At the end of each day make sure to prioritize the next days activities. Be sure to schedule time to make new cold calls, follow-up calls and meetings with clients (if applicable) and prospects. Mark any activity that is a revenue generator in a bright GREEN. If you are not consistently building your prospecting pipeline, you may find that when a project completes you have no new revenue coming in.
Step 4

Depending on what you do, you may need to set aside time to work on existing client projects. Whether these are part of a contract based fixed price project or a time and material basis, mark these activities in a different shade of GREEN. To assess for the future whether you are billing or charging enough, you need to keep track of the time put into every project.
Step 5

Set aside time to create your future marketing strategies. Highlight this work time in your day in YELLOW. When a marketing campaign brings in a new business opportunity, mark that client folder in BLUE. Future time spent with that client will be marked in the color GREEN.
Step 6

It is very easy for a home based business owner to do non business activities. It is critical for a small home based business owner to be able to separate ‘home time from work time’. Mark down every activity you do during the day, that is not related to your business including personal phone calls and errands. At the end of the day, mark those items in RED.
Step 7

As a home based business owner you need to give yourself the best chance of success. Have a separate office area set aside that you can work in that is apart from the main part of your home. Try to set aside work hours and let those that are home with you, know that you are ‘at work’ to minimize interruptions.