Finance

How To Start A Business From Home From Scratch

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Australian media reports that the Australian entrepreneur scene is booming, with 35% of Australia’s startups based in Sydney. In the UK, 660,000 companies were established in 2017, which reaches a new record for most companies started in a year. In America, over 6% of Americans own a business as their main income, and America ranks 1st for providing the best environment for cultivating entrepreneurs.

Business From Home

That is a lot of worldwide creativity, which is incredible for the economy and general life satisfaction. People are truly living their dreams and making their fortunes. Starting a business does not mean an office, warehouse, and income suddenly falls into your lap. There is much more meat to the entrepreneurial bone than just starting a business; the story often begins at home.

Setting Up A Business From Home

When you set up a business, one of the easiest ways to start without worrying about additional costs is to set it up from home. According to statistics, startups can take approximately three years to generate income, which is a long time to pay out overheads for office space, warehouse space, and other costs you don’t have if you work from home. You have a lot of control when you set up a business from home, and there is also something to say about taking a business call in your pajamas while you pet your cat!

Are you thinking about setting up a business from home?

Consider these important points before you commit:

Is Your Family On Board?

If you have a business idea and a plan, you have to discuss it with any family affected by your decision, dependents, or partners with a say in your financial decisions. It would help if you had their support, but you also need to know they are happy to take the risk. Who knows, they might even want to go into business with you. You can’t just drop your job and start a business on a whim when you don’t have savings, especially if your family depends on you.

Are You Prepared?

Starting a business from home needs a lot of preparation. It would help if you thought about logistics, finances, timing, storage – all kinds of things that you perhaps didn’t have to think about when it comes to your home. Ideally, you will still have your job and prepare for at least six months before going into everything fully. That is an ideal scenario if you can start your business and build it until it covers your job’s wages. If you must take some leap, save at least six months’ salary by knowing you are safe for that period. You may also want a cut-off point to look into paid work if the business isn’t working or growing. Look into planning and organization tools to turn your startup into a project, and you will have an idea of exactly which goals you should meet and when. Of course, unexpected things will crop up, but you can add them to your app or program as they happen. Keeping on top of it all is the priority.   

Where Will You Work?

Where will you work when you work from home? If you live alone, you could live anywhere, but you may find it tricky to take conference calls and speak to suppliers in your living room if you live with others. Working in Starbucks isn’t ideal when a huge family with children has decided to sit next to you, just like potential clients call. The frappuccinos are nice, but don’t justify unreliable WiFi and coffee shop customers who care more about the latest celebrity gossip than your business succeeding. So, where do you work?

If you can, a garden office is ideal for you to work. If your business has stock, it just needs to be a comfortable, quiet space with the right amenities and possibly even additional storage space. You’re still at home but separate enough to avoid noises from your house. You can set up the internet and add lighting, and if it is a workshop, a diesel generator is ideal for your power needs if you don’t want to add wiring from your home. You can easily find well-priced generators for sale that fit your needs. This YouTube video is a great starting point for garden office inspiration.

Property Law

It is important to check if there are legal restrictions on using your home as your business base. You may feel it is your home to do with as you please, but laws in some countries dictate you cannot use a home for business or certain types of business. Your property title deeds should explain any restrictions that you do have. At the very least, any company that creates a lot of noise and mess may cause issues for the neighbors, who are within their rights to report you.

It may be that the lease of the property has some restrictions, or if you rent, you may need to gain some authorization from your landlord. Some mortgages, insurance companies, and local council authorities may also restrict the use of a property for business. It is always worth checking before you commit to anything, as fines can be chunky, and you may even end up losing the roof over your head, depending on the situation you find yourself in. If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done – Thomas Jefferson.

Starting a business anywhere is pretty scary but also extremely exciting. Starting a business from home can be rewarding and help support your new venture without adding risk from property commitments and contracts. Just make sure you plan, plan again, and then schedule a third time to ensure you’re prepared for your new start. Starting a business is always a risk, but it will be a measured risk, hopefully reaping plenty of rewards if you’re sensible.

Carol P. Middleton
Student. Alcohol ninja. Entrepreneur. Professional travel enthusiast. Zombie fan. Practiced in the art of donating rocking horses for the underprivileged. Crossed the country researching hula hoops in Deltona, FL. Won several awards for supervising the production of etch-a-sketches in Nigeria. Uniquely-equipped for investing in bathtub gin in the financial sector. Spent a year building g.i. joes worldwide. Earned praise for deploying childrens books in Africa.