One thing that it is important to keep in mind when you start your own, home – based business is that timeless phrase, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”. When you work outside of the home, chances are that someone else is responsible for providing a job for you to do. When you have your own business, you are responsible for making sure that you have enough work to keep yourself busy (and fed, and clothed).
The best way for a home – based professional to ensure that he or she always has enough work is to avoid getting all of his or her income (the “eggs”) from one client (the “basket). By taking on multiple clients with a variety of projects or selling your products through multiple avenues, you are building a secure foundation for your home – based business. Since each client or location where you sell your products accounts for a portion of your income, changes are much easier to weather than if you were working exclusively for one client or selling your items at only one store.
For example, if you make your own beeswax candles and you sell them at a gift shop in town, you may do quite well for yourself. However, if that gift shop goes out of business, you will not make any money while you go through the process of locating another location where you can sell your candles. If you sell your candles at that same gift shop, as well as two other shops in neighboring towns and online through your own Etsy shop, the closure of the gift shop in town will not bring your business to a standstill. You will still be able to sell candles at the other two locations and your Etsy shop while you look for another location to replace the one that was lost, if you decide that it needs to be replaced.
The same holds true for service – based businesses. Having a mix of clients and projects can ensure that whenever the needs of one of those clients changes, you still have work to do as you look for other potential clients that can fill your schedule. Working for yourself can seem risky and scary, but when you make sure that you have several “baskets” for your “eggs”, you create stability for your home – based business and for yourself.
Photo by anon on morguefile.com.