Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Home-Based Business
Questions Related to Your Entrepreneurial IdeasWhat kind of business do you plan to get involved in? Writing? Editing? Marketing? Catering? Child care? Accounting? Real estate? Engineering? Wedding planning? Photography? Landscaping?Is there a need in your city or town or in the online community for your business? Would customers be interested in buying your product or using your service?What is your target market? Seniors? Business professionals? College or university students? Stay at home mothers? Single parents? Established corporations?What are the demographics of your target market? What is their average income? What are their interests? What are their business and personal needs? What is their culture and religion? What is their age range? What products do they usually buy? What services do they typically use?What will you name your business? Brainstorm possible names and write them in a notebook or type them in a word processing document. Talk to your trusted family members and friends to get their creative ideas, too.Questions Related to Personal InterestsWhat hobbies and activities do you like to participate in during your free time?What professional and technical skills have you learned or developed?Think about your favorite pastimes. Do you have any personal interests or hobbies that could translate into a successful home based business?Questions Related to Your Personality TypeAre you an extrovert or an introvert? Take one or two professionally developed personality tests to discover the ins and outs about your personality. Consider taking the popular Myers-Briggs personality inventory, based on the ideas of pioneering psychologist Carl Jung.Do you like working indoors or outdoors?Do you enjoy working with many new and different people or with a limited number of well-known people?Are you more productive working alone or should you eventually hire one or two employees to work with you and give you support?Questions Related to The Logistics of Building a Home Based BusinessWhat room will you convert into your home office?How will you design, decorate and furnish your home office? Plenty of insightful and interesting articles are available for you to read online about setting up your home office.Are you interested in creating an online company where your contact with customers will be either on the telephone or through email or are you planning on having a client-based company with customers meeting with you at your home office? If you are planning on having clients meet with you at home, ensure that you have adequate space and proper furniture and office design to accommodate them.What will be the brand and logo for your business? Consider hiring a professional graphics designer to create your logo for you.How are you planning on advertising your new home based business? Are you going to place advertisements in local and state newspapers? Are you going to purchase advertisements online, through Google, business forums and online journals and blogs?Are you going to set up a Twitter account and Facebook profile page promoting your business? Both Twitter and Facebook can be used very effectively in generating customers for your company.
