It’s the American dream. Be your own boss, own your own business. It’s really not all that hard. We live in the age of information. Open a window on your computer, type in a few keywords, and within a few seconds you will be rewarded with page after page of information. Unfortunately, with the widespread availability and popularity of the Internet comes opportunists who want to sell you anything and everything. If you type in the keywords “starting a home business” your search will return about 361,000,000 results on Google. It’s likely that nearly half of those results, if not more, are web sites that want to sell you this information, whether through a subscription service, a magazine, an e-zine, or an e-book. Don’t bother. That’s what I am here for.
Starting a business is just a matter of following a few simple steps. I will discuss these steps in more detail with a series of posts so that you may follow along as you grow your home business.
1. Create a Business Plan
2. Establish your business entity
3. Get the necessary license(s) for your area
4. Check with your local zoning commission
5. Purchase insurance for your home business
6. Organize your office
7. Purchase any necessary equipment
8. Set up your web site
9. Make your schedule
10. Organize inventory and shipping supplies
Following these simple steps will allow you to skip the hassle of wading through all of the millions of results on the internet for starting a home based business. No matter how you spin it, these steps are really all you need. Sure, the details may need to be adapted slightly for different types of business ventures, but the basics are all the same.
In the next few postings, I will go into more detail about each of these steps, so that you will have a comprehensive guide to follow!