Starting a small business takes a
lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be
successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a
combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck.
Some things you need to consider:
- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?"
- "What are my abilities?"
- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?"
- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?"
In terms of choosing the business, the best business will depend on what you want, how you define to be interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than take care of dogs.
The key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources.
Dan Ramsey in his book "101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:
1. List 5 things you do best
2. List how others would benefit from what you do best
3. Find out how to give people what they want
4. Learn the value of your services to others
5. Find out who else offers similar services
6. Learn from the successes of others
7. Learn from the failures of others
8. Plan your own success
9. Make low cost mistakes
10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it
He then made suggestions on the best home businesses according to type. Here are a few of them:
Best Businesses Using Craft or Physical Skills
- antique restoration
- auto detail service
- carpet cleaning business
- errand/delivery service
- housecleaning business
Best Service Businesses
- bed and breakfast operator
- caregiver
- catering service
- senior day care center
- tutoring service
Best Professional Businesses
- desktop publisher
- magazine writer
- import/export service
- income tax preparation service
- event planner
Some other home business ideas:
Top 10 Home Businesses with Rapid Break-Even Time http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol33/breake...
10 Profitable “Go-Out" Home Businesses http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol31/goout....
Low Cost Startup Businesses http://www.entrepreneur.com/lowcostbusin...
6 Hottest Businesses on the Web http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/web.h...
You can also check out the following books:
Turn Your Talents into Profits: 100+ Terrific Ideas for Starting Your Own Home-Based Microbusiness
The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century
121 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home
The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start
101 Ways to Make Money at Home
It may help you if you could talk with a small business expert or free mentors to give you ideas on how to make your dream of starting a business come true even without money. Here are some places where you can find a mentor:
- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_...
- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs
- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs... , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org
- Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.h...
- Industry and trade associations
- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce
- Local chapters of business groups
There is so much to learn about starting a business that it is hard to put everything here. I suggest that /,m check out the following websites and learn from their content:
Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com
Inc.com http://www.inc.com
SBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/...
Some things you need to consider:
- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?"
- "What are my abilities?"
- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?"
- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?"
In terms of choosing the business, the best business will depend on what you want, how you define to be interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than take care of dogs.
The key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources.
Dan Ramsey in his book "101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:
1. List 5 things you do best
2. List how others would benefit from what you do best
3. Find out how to give people what they want
4. Learn the value of your services to others
5. Find out who else offers similar services
6. Learn from the successes of others
7. Learn from the failures of others
8. Plan your own success
9. Make low cost mistakes
10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it
He then made suggestions on the best home businesses according to type. Here are a few of them:
Best Businesses Using Craft or Physical Skills
- antique restoration
- auto detail service
- carpet cleaning business
- errand/delivery service
- housecleaning business
Best Service Businesses
- bed and breakfast operator
- caregiver
- catering service
- senior day care center
- tutoring service
Best Professional Businesses
- desktop publisher
- magazine writer
- import/export service
- income tax preparation service
- event planner
Some other home business ideas:
Top 10 Home Businesses with Rapid Break-Even Time http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol33/breake...
10 Profitable “Go-Out" Home Businesses http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol31/goout....
Low Cost Startup Businesses http://www.entrepreneur.com/lowcostbusin...
6 Hottest Businesses on the Web http://www.powerhomebiz.com/052006/web.h...
You can also check out the following books:
Turn Your Talents into Profits: 100+ Terrific Ideas for Starting Your Own Home-Based Microbusiness
The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century
121 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home
The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start
101 Ways to Make Money at Home
It may help you if you could talk with a small business expert or free mentors to give you ideas on how to make your dream of starting a business come true even without money. Here are some places where you can find a mentor:
- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_...
- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs
- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs... , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org
- Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.h...
- Industry and trade associations
- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce
- Local chapters of business groups
There is so much to learn about starting a business that it is hard to put everything here. I suggest that /,m check out the following websites and learn from their content:
Entrepreneur http://www.entrepreneur.com
Inc.com http://www.inc.com
SBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/...
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