Questions to Ask Yourself When Starting a New Home Business

I love the excitement of starting up a new home based business. I enjoy trying out new ideas and approaches with the new venture. I dream the big dreams and hope to obtain some of them (if not all of them). I am sure you have those same feelings as well. Organization is imperative when starting any business. Some say that a well funded business has the best chance to sustain losses until it's profitable. However, if you are on a shoe string budget like me, money management is the key.

The place you need to start with your home business is with the pen and paper or word processing software and a PC. One thing I learned about starting businesses is there are so many variables involved it is not possible to "keep it simple" if you try to run the entire business without some type of plan. Not knowing or not being able to prioritize your needs with your business can result in bad money management and eventually failure.

Writing down what your business is about helps put your business into perspective and helps you define your immediate needs and hold off on spending on items you don't need right away. Most recommend you write a business plan. You can buy software to write a plan and go through a set of questions to write one. You could always research how to write a business plan online.

Whether you use software or not to write a business plan you could always ask yourself the basic questions. Getting to the basics means a lot to me. It provides a foundation to your ever evolving business plan.

If you are starting your own home business, try asking yourself these questions. They may help you in the same manner as they help me:

1. What is your business name?

2. Is your business registered as a "Doing Business As" (DBA) or Corporation? ? This is very important for tax purposes and banking.

2. Explain what you business does in one short paragraph. ? Describing your business in a few sentences helps define the main focus of your business.

3. What products does your business sell? ? List any product your business is selling and any variations of its availability.

4. Who does your business sell to? ? This will help you define your market (if any) Try to describe the personality of the market and why they would want to buy your product. It may provide a starting point for your business's marketing strategy.

5. How do you want prospects and customers to contact you in regards to the product your business is selling? ? You may decide that you don't want prospects to call your home number and you may need a separate phone line or a toll free number. This is part of defining your daily operations and costs.

6. Does your business need a web site? ? If the answer is "Yes", then you will want to think about what type of site you want and how you are going to build it.

7. How is the business to receive money? ? A very important question! Do you have a business checking account to receive checks? Does your business accept Credit Cards? Pay Pal?

8. How does your business make money? ? You should know how you can make a profit on the product you sell. You should know all of your costs to run the business. This way you know how much product you need to sell each month.

9. How much money are you going to spend on marketing? ? Marketing your business should be the priority and you should realize that you will need a budget to market your product. You cannot sell your product if your market does not know about it. Also, you may want to start out with a very small amount and try different methods until you learn how to market your product correctly.

Asking yourself these basic questions may help you shed light on areas of your business that you may have not taken into account. After all, it can be overwhelming running a home based business. Asking basic but tough questions about your business can help you identify the immediate and long term focus of your business and most of all sustain your business until it reaches profitability.

Topher John is a webmaster for http://www.mybenefitsavings.com and http://beinbusiness.net. He specializes in building internet small businesses. His interests are the healthcare industry, specifically how it relates to the family and physical fitness.

---

Is Plan B Ready?

Business owners and entrepreneurs are, by nature, risk takers and... Read More

Abstract Thought; Business Strategies and Biological Systems

To stop a computer virus you must understand how it... Read More

Six Key Areas For Evaluating A Strategic Alliance

Strategic alliances are increasing at a rapid rate. It is... Read More

Content Management: Wise Investment for Business Prosperity

The time when a website was just a simple set... Read More

Top Ten Traits of Strategic Thinkers

Want to become more strategic? Add these traits to your... Read More

Top Ten Reasons To Create A One Page Business Plan

There is a story, about a business owner who wasn't... Read More

How to Snuff Out the Competition Without Leaving a Mark

Does the competition drive you crazy?Are they relentless about taking... Read More

College Students and Graduates to Run Company Outlets or Franchises

Does your overall business strategy include the recruitment of college... Read More

Becoming Wise - Wild & Free - Writing A Successful Business Plan - Part 2 - Do It In Steps

So you've decided to write your own business plan because... Read More

Advice To Manufacturers Creating A Business Plan

If you are a manufacturer wanting to use your business... Read More

Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy

If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More

Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan

Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have... Read More

The Best Entity to Hold Real Estate

Possibly THE most frequently asked question of me is "What... Read More

Don?t Just Talk About the Weather, Use It to Advantage

A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain... Read More

3 Undercover Ways to Make Big Profits from Your Competition

You have heard that there is extra money on the... Read More

A Unique Joint Venture Twist: Make Huge Profits Even If You Have No Money, No Products, and No List

Would you like to jumpstart your online or offline business... Read More

Consolidation in the Software Industry is Hardly New: Obsess About It or Risk Losing it All

Some analysts credit [Larry] Ellison with anticipating the consolidation in... Read More

Dayton, OH; Why your Company needs to expand there

In Ohio: besides the 3-Cs you should look at Akron,... Read More

The Importance of Value Mix

( * - the word 'product' can be substituted to... Read More

Business Plan Financial Projections: Stop Worrying About Being Right...

Business plan financial projections seem daunting because they are so... Read More

Innovators Role at Hard Times

One Research Scientist at the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Imaging Systems laboratory... Read More

Insurance Requirements in Franchised Companies

Franchised companies often require what some believe to be excessive... Read More

The Impact of Price Popularity on Profits

The goal of almost every business owner is to generate... Read More

Sample Business Plan Outline

If you are looking for a partner, funding, angle investor... Read More

Home Improvement Construction Project Planning

The first task before hiring a contractor for home remodeling... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Advertising & Publishing ? implementation highlights

Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Dynamics is excellent fit... Read More

Will and Vision

Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by... Read More

I Always Play by the Rules and It Stinks!

This week I coached a wonderfully lovely woman I'll call... Read More

Business Disaster? Wont Happen to Me

As fast as you can say business disaster, your business... Read More

Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part II

Succession planning requires the owner of a small or medium-sized... Read More

Executive Summary for Business Plans of Franchisees

Writing a business plan for a franchised outlet of a... Read More

Corporate Contingency Planning

Part 1A few weeks ago I attended a seminar sponsored... Read More

The Magic Of Exponential Business Growth

Is there a 'magical' way to exponentially grow your business?It's... Read More