Selasa, 28 April 2009

5 Steps to Help You Decide What Home Based Business to Start

You know the time is right for you to start a home based business. Yet it’s often difficult to make the final decision about exactly what business will best suit you. One side of the equation includes the specific income, hours, and other needs you have. On the other side of the equation are many, many business options, all appearing to provide the perfect opportunity. Many potential entrepreneurs remain stuck in the middle of this equation and never take action to make their dream of self-employment a reality. You don’t need to have that problem. In this article I present 5 steps that will help you narrow down your search.

Step #1) Start the process by taking an inventory of your skills and strengths. Include everything such as hobbies, education, work experience, military, and other training and experience. Think about how each of these might be applied to a business.

Step #2) Create a list of your specific business interests. This is where you start to narrow down your search. Be very specific about the types of businesses you would consider as well as those you would not. Include reasons for these decisions. For example, you might be unwilling to be involved in a business requiring full-time effort because of family. Factor that into the process.

Step #3) Use the lists you have created using Step #1 and Step #2 to create a short list of possibilities. Your short list will include your training, strengths, interests and limitations. All of these combine to create a list of possible businesses. If you are unsure of business options, pick up 3 or 4 current business magazines specializing in home based businesses for ideas.

Step #4) Investigate your short list. Now’s the time to really examine the options. Look at everything required to achieve success with each. For example, what are the start-up costs? How about the costs to carry the business (Don’t forget to add your living expenses.) during the start-up and growth period before you reach profit? What gaps exist between your own training, education, and skills and the needs of each business? How would you fill those gaps? Don’t forget to examine the income of every opportunity you are considering.

Step #5) Objectively compare each of the final opportunities under consideration. This is where you need to start making some hard decisions. Develop a list of pros and cons for each idea. Then compare each list of pros and cons to the list you develop for the other ideas. Narrow down to the best-fit home based business for you.

Don’t forget to seek outside help when making the final decision about your home based business. Ask experts and others you trust for their inputs, ideas and thoughts about the opportunity you are planning to pursue. While the final decision can only be made by you, this is valuable information to have for that final decision.

source : Bob Hamilton, Articlecity.com

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