It is not uncommon for people who have started out in one type of home business to make changes—either by taking on another home business or revenue stream, or by changing courses all together and doing a different sort of work. The supplier or company you do business with may no longer require your services, or you might find a type of business that interests you more. Often people morph into a new job without really knowing exactly how they got there.
While there is no law that says you have to stick with the original business you start, it is a good idea to put some thought and planning into how, when and why you are making changes. One mistake people make is assuming that just because they’ve been talented and successful at one home business, they will naturally be talented and successful at another. Some skills may transfer, but you will likely have to learn a whole new market and new details and techniques. You’ll have to evaluate if you’re up for that and for making the changes necessary to accommodate a different type of business.
Another thing to look for is any conflict of interest that could arise. If you are working solely for yourself, this might not be such an issue—but, if you are working on contract or in a freelance position for one company, taking on work with a competing company can cause problems. Make sure you read the fine print of any contracts and keep an eye open for situations for conflict of interest might arise. You’ll also want to be careful how you work with clients—you’ll want to be careful not to confuse them or cause them to think you are flighty or flaky for changing businesses.
Finally, make sure your bookkeeping is clean as you change to a new business. It might be best to open a completely different bank account and make sure that if you are wrapping up things from the old business, you don’t commingle money and records from one business to the next. This can just make things incredibly messy. See your financial consultant or tax professional to help you make a clean break from the old business and establishment of records and bookkeeping for the new one.
See Also: Admitting to Being a Beginner and So, You Have an Idea for a Business–Now What? and Can You Handle More Than One Home Business?