Top 5 Business Essentials For Your Home Business

Whether you are a work-at-home attorney, psychotherapist, or make T shirts at Cafepress, these home based businesses all have more in common than in difference. When starting out in self-employment, people get preoccupied with the trappings of their service - how to produce, how to find the right customers, and how to be a competitive, qualified service provider or shopkeeper. The list goes on.

Indeed, you might even consider several different businesses on the basis of how likely they are to pay off (sooner and not later). You might ask yourself, what can I provide, and would enjoy doing, and could actually succeed at doing? You then proceed to find any enterprise that fits the bill - only to discover that none of them pay off as much as you would like, at least not today, tomorrow, or even this year. Why not? Because of the essentials of success which they all share, which you must discover, and put into practice, before you see penny one.

So what are the secrets? The list could go on, but let's examine the top five business essentials for any successful home business.

1. Time Favors the Trees and Curses the Tumbleweeds

Or as the saying goes, Nothing good happens fast. If it were easy or possible to begin a profitable business today, especially from the comfort of your desk, you would probably already be doing that. The truth is, all profitable businesses resemble trees; a site is selected, the seed is planted, and with time, the conditions weathered, the business springs forth from its unique source.

Yes, it is possible to make something right now, and sell it right now. For example, design a t shirt for Zazzle. Put your old bicycle up for sale on ebay. Write an article for an internet marketer. This piecemeal income, though, is far from becoming a reliable stream. Unfortunately, customers have a real knack for not buying your goods! Waiting for a sale - is not the kind of business you will be in.

Success does not roll around like a tumbleweed. Or to use another metaphor, look at rabbit hunting. When rabbits see you coming, and scatter, you can chase them pell-mell, always changing your focus to the nearest rabbit. You will not catch one. Relatively, you can try many different business ideas on the hopes that one will pay off - "I tried wedding planning, but...so now I'll try photography" - until the inevitable "but" returns. "But there were too many competitors." "But I wasn't qualified or equipped enough". "But so many people tried it and failed before me." "But I don't have the time." "But it wouldn't pay enough, soon enough to solve my present problem." The problem is not the business idea. Almost any idea can be made to work! The problem is your shifting attention.

The seasoned rabbit hunter stays in one spot. The scattering rabbits will circle their familiar territory over hill and dale, especially if chased by a faithful well-trained hunting dog. Eventually that little rabbit will make its way right back to the hunter, and that's when the prepared hunter wins his supper. Apologies to vegetarians - who also know this lesson all too well - vegetables must be planted, not hunted! So choose your spot and stick to it!

Yes, it's possible to make a profitable business designing t shirts, or cutting grass, or cleaning public lavatories, with multi-level marketing, or by writing children's books. No, it will not happen today, this week, or maybe even this year. The lesson here is that it's probably a good idea to start any enterprise part time, and phase into it. Come on, take some of the pressure off. Just because you can't start it full time is no reason not to start it!

2. Niches, not Riches

Beware of any wealth "system" that promises easy profits. The substance they offer varies, from the very good to the very useless. But what they all have in common with each other, and with real world brick-and-mortar business, is clear: work. Energy expenditure. Profit is not in the system. Profit is not in the product. Profit is in the sale. For this to happen, the sale has to be earned. Whether it's through self-promotion on every knitting forum in cyberspace, or canvassing doors with promotional hangers, customers must see your business. You must put it out there to be seen. Almost any product can be sold. As the marketing axiom goes, don't sell the steak - sell the sizzle!

For this reason, it's better if your business has a readily identifiable service or product, and USA (Unique Selling Advantage). New, unfledged businesses should be competitively priced (cheaper than your competitors!), while more established businesses can move into value pricing for quality and custom service, or even premium pricing for an established brand.

Look at successful book authors in the very smart publishing industry. The bookstore is divided into genres. You will usually find a successful author's name in one section of the bookstore (or two, if it's featured near the entrance as well). You will usually not see the same author producing novels in different genres, unless they use a different nom-de-plume, or pen name. Why? Because their readers, though with love, come to expect a certain product from that name, and customers don't reward mistaken expectations with loyalty.

Or to make it clear, KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid! You ought to be able to tell people your business name, its service, and it's USA in a single sentence, and have the person walk away knowing exactly how to introduce you to their friend. So tell them with confidence and conviction, enthusiasm, and an amiable offer to assist them if and when they need it!

3. Satisfied Customers, not Satisfied Conditions

Business is not a sport. Deals aren't won on technicalities. If you and your customer deal in good faith, compromises can be given and taken when necessary. Of course, that also depends upon the amount of business a customer will give you. You can compromise a good deal more with the customer who provides a long-term, abundant source of revenue for your business.

However, if a customer is not a customer, but simply in it to win it, at any cost, even the truth, then they cease to be "always right", don't they? In business if one party only technically provides their end of the bargain, but violates the spirit of the agreement, they take on a calculated risk of losing the business altogether - or in being the one who is cheated the next time.

The main point here is that satisfied customers are return customers. So what they think matters - if success matters. It's far more efficient (i.e., profitable) to keep a customer than it is to a convert new one.

Essential customer service skills are: active listening, and consulting their requirements; anticipating needs that you, as a professional, are aware of, which they may not be. Telephone/email response and returning any messages. And importantly, never explaining to the customer why they are "wrong". If you must deny them, it's better to say "what if" than "no". For example:

"Can I have a 50% discount?"
"What if I offer you a sliding payment scale with the purchase of a block of three sessions?"

Finally, beware of customers who want to step outside your payment policies, to buy large quantities of your product with overseas cashier's checks and money orders, and other complicated payment rigmarole. Those banks will hold you responsible for any default. KISS. Find a payment system that works and stick with it.

4. Referrals, not Refusals

The other side of the satisfied customer coin is the referral. So many businesses and self-employed enterprises succeed almost exclusively on new business they acquire through the word of mouth of satisfied customers! This key simply cannot be overlooked. As you can see, time is a business essential in this regard. The referral network, like a tree, reaches fruition when it reaches fruition, and that is all there is to that.

Successful freelance copywriters earn a living largely through completed transactions and reliable service to the web marketers and publications that depend on them. This is especially true for internet commerce, where anyone can be anyone.

The other aspect of this is that ghost margin on every accounting ledger: the invisible column that describes business lost, and its further opportunity costs, from dissatisfied customers who simply "vote with their feet" and take their business elsewhere. It's very difficult to spot a missing person in a large group - until they are long gone!

When you realize this, you begin to see complaining customers not as nuisances, but as marketing angels, who take the trouble to communicate their dissatisfaction. This is a wonderful opportunity to improve your business! Thank them, for the alternative is just so much more devastating - the loss of a customer, a sale, their future sales, sales of the people they may have referred you to, their referrals, and also, the loss of profit that could be compounding in your bank account this very minute - with no idea of why. Unfortunately, most businesses blind themselves to customer attitudes with a layer of laissez-faire employees, self-serving management, and just plain meanness.

You're in business. Grow up and soften up. And for goodness' sake, put a stack of business cards in your pocket and talk to people.

Finally, ask your customers to give referrals. They will often comply!

5. Avocation, not Compromise

Now this one is both obvious and subtle. You know what business you want to go in, right? You majored in it, right? You did it for twenty years, right? It's not always so clear or simple. For example, a business might be a calling, for an artist - which brings with it all manner of "buyer's market" preconditions. Especially with the internet, there isn't exactly a dearth of creative content to be consumed out there.

People must be careful with the choice of vocation. Perhaps you would choose your work out of practicality; a cleaning business is more marketable in a recession than fiction writing. Isn't it? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The question is, how productive will you be? How competitive? How efficient? If you hate to clean, why do that to yourself?

Do you know what it's like to have a job you hate? Yet, you arrived there by choice. You chose to apply for it, to show up, and to keep it. You tell yourself you have no other options. In fact, you might embrace it because you want to avoid responsibility for yourself. It's easier to take a job you hate with a steady check, than to risk going freelance, and having to do all the marketing yourself. Ask yourself: at what point is that not enough any more? Perhaps sooner than you think. Ever lose a job you hated? What's worse, the job, or losing it? Or is losing a job the cosmic kick in the pants you needed to start you on the right path for once in your life?

As mentioned before, success doesn't rely on product. Success relies on the sale. There are customers willing to buy your product or service. You are exactly the solution they needed - professional, or cheap, or just in the right place at the right time. How much marketing are you willing to do to reach your targets? How much compromise are you willing to make, to adjust your business scope? How confident are you when you tell people what it is you do - so that they can help you by just knowing you, believing in you, and mentioning you to others? To quote the late great painter Bob Ross: you can do anything you want - if you're willing to put the effort into it.

Human beings are versatile, knowledgeable creatures. Multidimensional, facile doers. They are not specialized insects. They don't live in niches. They are highly adaptable, fast learning, visionary creators, with a multitude of interests and abilities. It's easy to get confused about career choices. It's easy to change your mind about services you could realistically provide. You can learn everything you need to know about many different types of home-based businesses. There is more than one possible answer.

So put yourself at the center of your choices. Your skills, interests, and values, should all align with your productivity and marketing, to create a powerful force. Think of it as an old galleon warship, with all of its cannons facing a single direction, for a single, devastating volley against its target. Sure, you can compromise, and do something you're only half-interested in; but will you be able to sustain the self-motivation necessary to grow a tree over the years? Is the choice to be self-employed really the time to choose - a compromise? Think again! Choose wisely and choose well!

We can lie to ourselves - but we can't maintain those lies. Time will root them out. Save yourself the trouble, and choose your home-based business by looking at what you are drawn to in your leisure; what you are naturally inclined to do. Play videogames? Make it work for you. Sing? Then by goodness, sing. Socialize? Then get yourself a network. Listen well? Learn how to counsel. Lift weights? People want your instruction. We each have strengths, and of those strengths, we have our truest desire. This is one of the most powerful forces we could ever marshal against the impoverishment of entropy.

Use your strengths. Get a handle on yourself so that others can too. Stop chasing rabbits and plant a seed.

Right Livelihood Is Possible For You

Your home business can succeed when you pay heed to the principles that are essential in any enterprise or endeavor. Don't listen to people who have sold their own souls, who believe that unless it's miserable and controlled by a boss, it's not real work. Listen to the people who have attained the success you seek. You will certainly find them.

Remember, refusing to choose is also a choice. Refusing responsibility over your own life is also a choice. Yes, people should be responsible to others, their families, their jobs, their friends - but they must also be responsible to themselves. They must know their strengths in order to utilize them. People are not all things to all people. They are not perfectly balanced, reasonable professionals who exist in neutrality and unbiased vacuum. They have limitations. Know them - and use them. They are reflections of your true power!

Committing to your home business doesn't mean you have to give up your other interests; it simply means, you will prioritize one, and cultivate it daily for the foreseeable future. When it's the right one, you will be aligned, with all your powers and desires functioning to their full potential, and you will live the kind of honesty displayed by the most powerful forces of nature.