A friend and I are thinking about creating a home business. After tips from anyone who has done this successfully in a bid to get some balance to their lives/families.
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A friend and I are thinking about creating a home business. After tips from anyone who has done this successfully in a bid to get some balance to their lives/families.
what sort of business?
I have had a main street business for 14 years... and with #2 on the way - I am moving into home based business.
Depending on what sort of business you are thinking about - there are things you need to be aware of.
We are thinking about some sort of web-based business
Sit down with your friend and brainstorm the perfect business - are you selling? What are you selling? What are you good at/like doing?
Don't hold back on the dreams, think of ALL the possibilities and everything you want to achieve, tehn work you way back.
Then think about the NEIS scheme, but you have to have a business plan for that so start dreaming!!!
We only started thinking about this yesterday so we haven't had a chance to get together to really brainstorm. We want to do something targeted at working mothers coz she has 2 young children and chooses to work full time and I am planning to go back to full time work when my bub to be is about 6 months old.
I was studying management (but have put it on hold for now) so I guess I'll have to re-read a few chapters in my text book about business plans etc.
As you are probably aware - there are so many women who become mothers & give up work and think "I'll set up an online store so I can work from home"... and then there is an influx of baby/maternity/gift type websites that are all competing against one another. Some work... but I imagine that a lot of them struggle. But then - you say you want to target "working mothers" - so I'm still not sure what you are offering... a product, a service ? Would you have a website that generates income from advertisers (very difficult) or sell a product (costs involved in buying the products before they are sold & marketing). or sell your own services (which is your time that you are selling)...
If selling products you have to pay for all the stock on hand - and you also have to think of the marketing - and the cost of marketing.
I guess the biggest expenses for an online store are buying the stock in advance - and the marketing and the cost of setting up and maintaining an online store. You have to pay the marketing - even if you don't sell any stock. You have to buy the stock - even if you don't sell it. You would also have to set up payment options. You could do 'paypal'... but a lot of people don't like using paypal (me included). I prefer to pay direct with credit card. To be a credit card merchant, you have to pay a monthly fee, and a % on each transaction to the bank. I wouldn't bother with Amex or Diners... too expensive.
I sell skincare products online. I have had the website for over 10 years... and selling stock for over 5 years. There are very few people in Australia that sell my products online... so not much competition. 99% of my customers come from interstate. For me, the online sales are a side-line to my salon business. It doesn't generate a huge income yet. But I am hoping to sell the salon soon - and put more focus and marketing on the web sales.
Luckily I don't have to import the products - as that would come with another huge batch of expenses. So if you are planning to import any sort of product - then be aware of the huge costs involved in importing items.
Take a look at this link: Starting up online business? Help! - BellyBelly Forums ~ Pregnancy, Birth & Baby where someone else was planning an online store.
Depending on the items you are selling - you may have to consider insurance.
You would have to consider the cost of setting up and running an online website. That alone can run into thousands of dollars each year.
Definately do a business plan... and be realistic about the costs you will incur - and the amount of hours you would have to put into it. Do research into the other similar stores/sites. Find out costs of setting up a website... and how much it would cost to host it every year... and if you have someone else design it - then you have to pay them to make changes (add products etc).
The idea of setting up a home based business can be exciting...
But realistically - it can be very expensive... very time consuming... and generate very little income. It's best to think about the 'worst case' scenario - rather then dreaming about becoming millionaire mums. The current affair programmes often show the millionaire mums - but for 1 of them - I bet there are a 1000 that have gone broke trying. Unless you can think of something totally unique... But as soon as you think of something unique... someone will come along and copy it.
Good luck with whatever you plan to do. The government business websites are really helpful in setting up a business... and you can phone them and they are very helpful with advice & information.
Top advice Jodie (as usual)!
Write down all the skills you already have - it would be way better to build something on that rather than having to learn a whole new skill set on top of starting up. Between the both of you, I'm sure you will have plenty to offer.
Don't get caught in the trap of dreaming of the "easy" stuff like advertising, business cards etc. If you are realistic from the start you can save yourself alot of stress. In fact many people do a business plan and realise it won't be viable before they start. Then go back and start again. It gives you great confidence having a solid business plan.
Obviously you aren't at that stage yet, but like I said before, have a lot of fun brainstorming and really shoot for the stars.
I had a home business for about 2 years, the benefits are terrific, but it doesn' t mean it will be easy. Then again it doesn't mean you won't have a great time. Having a partner can be a huge plus too!
Also check out the book "Show Mummy the Money", it goes through the whole process of seeing if a business idea will work or not, along with all other aspects to setting up and running a business. Yes it means spending money, but it is an investment that is well worth it in the long run.
WOW...........this sounded like me 8 months ago, now my business is nearly ready to launch. There is a lot of work in it. I would never have guessed how much time daily i need to spend on getting everything organised, and this is just the development phase, how much more work will it be when we actually start lol.
Very worth it in the long run, but its not as simple as saying lets start a home based business etc, because it definitely eats into a lot of your time, and what mothers have that in the first place. i'm lucky that ds is off to prep full time next year, and so only have my dd throughout the day, but working for yourself is about putting yourself out there, out of your comfort zone and time management.
good luck with whatever you decide to do, and jodi gave great advice to!