Before contemplating starting up a business (home based or other) there are come critical questions that must be answered.
Do I have a good or a service that others need and will pay enough for?
Do I know WHO the customers who have this need are, and do I have A METHOD TO REACH THEM.
Do I have something that distinguishes my offering from all the others... in terms of quality, service, availability or price?
Unless you have well researched answers to all three questions, chances are your business will fail and lose money.
There are 1,000,000 inexperienced people looking for some way to make money from home with their computer. What makes you different from the 200 other people in your small town who say they can [design web sites, sell stuff on eBay, etc]? What distinctive thing can you bring your customers?
How will you get customers? Just hanging out a poster on the telephone pole outside your home will not do it. Neither, in most cases, will Yellow Pages, Radio or TV advertising. SOMETIMES, depending on the type of business, newspaper advertising can.
Do you know specifically who are your prospects (potential customers who have a need for your service and the ability to pay)? How will you reach them to convince them to pay you money? Do you know their names addresses and phone numbers? Can you call them and make an appointment to see them? If you don't/can't, then they are not a prospect for you (and you are nothing to them).
The first thing to look for is whether you have an 'in' with any prospects through groups, associations or contacts: You may be a member of a club, a religious group, a school, an industry sector, or your [relatives, friends] may be in tight with a group they can introduce you to. Do you have what these people need, such as a specific knowledge of their situation that an outsider would not have?
Do you have any track record or name recognition now? What would you have to do to demonstrate to a prospect that you can do the work and have a history of reliability?
Do I have a good or a service that others need and will pay enough for?
Do I know WHO the customers who have this need are, and do I have A METHOD TO REACH THEM.
Do I have something that distinguishes my offering from all the others... in terms of quality, service, availability or price?
Unless you have well researched answers to all three questions, chances are your business will fail and lose money.
There are 1,000,000 inexperienced people looking for some way to make money from home with their computer. What makes you different from the 200 other people in your small town who say they can [design web sites, sell stuff on eBay, etc]? What distinctive thing can you bring your customers?
How will you get customers? Just hanging out a poster on the telephone pole outside your home will not do it. Neither, in most cases, will Yellow Pages, Radio or TV advertising. SOMETIMES, depending on the type of business, newspaper advertising can.
Do you know specifically who are your prospects (potential customers who have a need for your service and the ability to pay)? How will you reach them to convince them to pay you money? Do you know their names addresses and phone numbers? Can you call them and make an appointment to see them? If you don't/can't, then they are not a prospect for you (and you are nothing to them).
The first thing to look for is whether you have an 'in' with any prospects through groups, associations or contacts: You may be a member of a club, a religious group, a school, an industry sector, or your [relatives, friends] may be in tight with a group they can introduce you to. Do you have what these people need, such as a specific knowledge of their situation that an outsider would not have?
Do you have any track record or name recognition now? What would you have to do to demonstrate to a prospect that you can do the work and have a history of reliability?
its a pain but my own fault. I used to love it years ago but now everyone has jobs and their own money its becoming a problem for me.