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Arm Yourself With Information for Your Home Business

by Mary Emma on April 13th, 2007

Many people decide, “I’m going to open a business at home.  Or I’m going to start an online business.”

They get set up, organized, products made or purchased…and then wonder, “Where are my customers?”

If you already have begun to establish customers in your “hobby” business while you’re working at another job, you have a start.  However, if you plan to develop this into a full time, or even greater parttime, income you need to develop methods of acquiring more customers/clients, learn about record keeping, organizing your time, and other business matters.

So before you jump into your business full speed, arm yourself with some information.

*Talk with other business owners.  Those you’ll be in competition with may not be so willing to share…unless you have different talents or outlooks and can complement one another (send business to each other).

*Search the Internet for business information.  (You’ll find a great variety of business information at b5media’s Business Channel blogs.) 

Make sure, when searching the Internet, you’re gleaning useful information, not rantings from someone who has had a poor experience.  Yes, they might have warnings you can be aware of.  However, frequently they’re pointing blame at someone or some circumstance, instead of taking responsibility for mistakes they may have made.   

*Attend workshops.  The college in the town where I live often offers continuing education sessions on small business.  These might be a one-day workshop or consist of several evenings.  You also may find online classes on business development, especially in your field of endeavor.  Make sure the person teaching the class has had business experience and isn’t simply spouting theory to you.  Yes, theory is good, but to teach about operating a business, it’s a better idea for the instructor to have had some experience.

*Read books about business development.  Try to zero in on books that relate to the type of business you desire to operate, although some general business principles apply to many.

At some point you do have to jump in and start your business, then continue learning from others and from your mistakes…and successes.  If you spend your time collecting information, you may never take any action.  And continue to learn.  Today’s world is a changing one for business people, whether you’re operating a home business or one outside the home, so you continually need to keep informed.

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POSTED IN: HomeBiz/Misc, HomeBiz/General