How To Avoid The Home-based Business Blues
By
The state of the global economy has provided a major boost to the home-based business industry as millions of people have turned to self employment, starting all sorts of businesses from their homes.
Millions of people remain out of work and more will join the ranks in the coming months, so this trend toward home-based businesses will continue.
But is this for any and everybody? Of course not, but that won’t stop many from jumping in without having done their due diligence and the all important self-examination required to arrive at the best decision.
The options for starting a home-based business are near limitless, so deciding which may be the best fit for you can be a difficult decision to make. If your email inbox is like most, you’ll find all sorts of spam offers promising the moon on a silver platter, for a small fee of course.
An incorrect decision to pursue the wrong business model can leave you worst off than when you began, costing you critical financial resources and time. This is soon followed by a case of the home-based business blues, a condition that can lead to an accelerated downward spiral, making a bad situation worse.
So what should someone do who needs to make their own employment opportunity and begin the process of stabilizing their home situation?
- Don’t pay for a job – If someone wants to “hire†you for a position working from home, no matter what the job is, do not pay a dime for the privilege of being selected for that job offer. This is a sure sign of a scam and usually turns out to be nothing more than a waste of your time and a loss of the fee. Move on to something else quickly.
- Determine your skills – You must perform that self-examination mentioned above and figure out just what skills you have that can be applied to making money. You may already know this, which makes the decision on which business to start easy, figure out how to use that skill from home and generate an income. You may have several or many skills, write them all down and figure out which presents your best opportunity for success.
- Evaluate the competition - Once you’ve decided a path to success, evaluate the competition, see what they are doing and determine a means of doing a better job or providing a higher level of service. You may find that the competition is too stiff, and it’s okay, go back to your list and select another skill and approach. Go in another direction if you must.
- Perform some internet research - Google is your friend, so use the search engine for “home-based business opportunities”. You will get pages and pages of data. Use this to gather additional ideas that you can start on your own. Do not pay for any information or business start-up kits, you’ll need those funds later. Besides, there are many sites on the internet that will provide “free” business startup information. The idea here is to gather information that will help you, not go out there and spend money on things that can be obtained free.
- No MLM - You are trying to start a home-based business because you need to start generating some income and the sooner the better. You’ll not have time to build down lines and go to meetings and hosting parties. Multi-level marketing businesses, while successful for some, generally don’t pan out for the larger percentage of those that get involved.
- Generate a business plan - Like any business, you will need a plan to follow to keep you on track. Build in some measurable goals to keep you moving forward. The plan does not need to be some fancy Wall Street model, just something relatively simple so that you are organized and not just shooting from the hip.
- Take action - Once you have determined your path, get busy and take action so you can move closer to that first pay check. Announce your business through friends and family. Distribute your business cards as you travel around and be certain to follow up with anyone who has expressed an interest in what you have to offer.
Be sure to keep your business launch as simple as possible so you can concentrate on providing the service or product you have chosen. Your time is valuable, so set up a time management system to avoid blocks of wasted time. You can find my 10 tips article here.
Like any business, adjustments will likely need to be made along the way, but be flexible and keep your main focus on performing the actions required to bring you success.
Continue to monitor what others in your industry are doing, which serves as a means of keeping yourself informed of the latest strategies and techniques being offered. Remember, you need to stand out from the rest so do something different than the others.
Staying focused and utilizing your best skills will keep you from getting a case of the home-based business blues.
You’ve now spent enough time reading this, so go get busy planning your path to success.
Wishing you all the best!
8 Comments
October 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
The thing I’d add is if the opportunity talks about earning lots of money for little or no effort, then move on!
October 19th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Great points Jimi. I agree with Mike too… anybody that tells you you can make a ton of money in a short time with hardly any work is probably trying to scam you.
People need to make sure and not to jump into anything too fast. They should do a lot of research to see what the best fit is for them.
October 19th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I feel I need to defend MLM. Multi-level-marketing (aka network marketing, direct sales) are all viable business models that have been around since the late 1800′s. Some of those companies are still around today like Watkins, Coke-Cola, and Heinz to name a few.
People have to understand that like any business, you have to work your business in order to be successful. Same goes for blogging. You can’t just put up a blog with banner ads and expect traffic and buyers to instantly appear. You have to work your blog.
And with that said, I am off to go work my blog and my direct sales business.
Wishing you a picture perfect day!
Patty
October 19th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
@Mike CJ
@ Doug Dillard
Thanks for your comments guys. Correct, those get-rich-quick pitches are usually scams & shams. That is a good one to have included here. There are times when you have to ask yourself why the guy with the driveway full of 6-figure cars needs your $39.00
October 19th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
@Patty Reiser
Thank you for your comment, Patty
In my second paragraph I mentioned that “Millions of people remain out of work and more will join the ranks in the coming months”.
With this as a backdrop, I don’t believe that MLM or blogging for that matter, is a viable pursuit for someone out of work and contemplating what they can do to generate a pay check relatively quickly. They’re in survival mode.
MLM and blogging both have long build up to payoff tracks that are better suited for someone with some means of income while they transition to these fields full time, in my opinion. Generating a sustainable income from either of these when you have nothing else to support you may be a tough sale (no pun intended).
October 21st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Jimi,
Thanks for offering the “truth” about home biz. There’s just too much hype these days associated with making money at home. There *are* great opportunities… just too bad you have to dig through so much junk.
Great info… thanks again.
Tim
October 21st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Thanks for your comment, Tim.
This is not what many want to hear about home-based biz, but it is what it is and people should not have a false impression of easy money.
October 24th, 2009 at 12:04 am
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