Most entrepreneurial journey starts at home. With limited financial resources, setting up a home-based business before expanding is a more practical way of starting up a business.
Level Up Your Security
Home-based businesses should not forget to look unto their security deeper. As a business, you need to level up your security and it requires more than your residential security. You need to start planning for a home-based business security system.
A study shows that burglary happens once every 15 seconds. This alarming fact is an indication that anyone can be a target of burglars, so don’t be complacent about your current security. Aside from the common Ip surveillance camera and burglar alarms, there are other security measures you need to install in your home-office. Here are some you should include in your list
- Basic Intercom – For clients visiting your place.
- Fire, water and other chemicals and toxic detectors.
- Remote security access to your system while you are away.
Additionally, you should also be concern about your network and data security, especially if you are relying most of your operation online. Try getting your business covered by insurance so you could protect your most valuable assets.
Minimize Expenses By Being Creative
As a startup home-based business, a capital is perhaps one of your toughest challenges. But with creativity, you can minimize expenses without compromising your business operation. For example, do you have an unused garage space? You can convert your garage into a home office so you don’t have to spend for expansion.
Aside from your garage, other unused materials in your home could be used for your home office supplies such as old shutters as mail and bills holder and old shoe storage as an organizer. If you are planning to remodel your garage to transform it into a home office, you need to be creative so you can achieve the home office that you want without breaking the bank.
Don’t Forget Your Branding
Building your brand is not as easy as it seems to be, especially for a home-based business like yours. Unlike the traditional brick and mortar store where you can easily post signages and ads about your business and where face-to-face interaction with customers is easier, home-based business’ brand awareness campaign are limited. That’s why it is very important that you should take advantage of brand identity strategies you can use.
While the basic in brand identity starts with a logo and a business name, you should focus on giving your customers positive experience to build your brand positively. According to a survey, more than 40% of B2B and B2C marketers believe that customer experience is the primary way for their business to differentiate itself from competitors.
So how will you improve customer experience as a home-based business? First and foremost, you need to have a constant communication with your clients. If you can’t meet them physically, make use of technology to stay consistent in your communication with them. With consistent communication, you can address concerns and issues as they arise.
Secondly, you need to keep your service personalized. A personalized marketing approach is one of your business competitive advantages. Make use of both offline and online approach to boost presence while integrating personalized service. And finally, your behavior as a business owner and marketer, as well as your employees’ behavior (if you have any) defines your brand so make sure that everyone involved in your brand is consistent all throughout your customer’s interaction.
Set Up A Holistic Marketing
A holistic marketing approach is a kind of marketing concept where a business is treated as a whole and not as a business with different entities. This marketing approach means that the business has one common goal regardless of the different function of each entity.
To set up a holistic marketing approach, your sales, marketing and other business operation should work as one to achieve one your ultimate goal. There are several advantages of holistic marketing. Among those are lead generation, improved productivity and smarter use of resources.
Start Investing For Your Long Term Goals
As a startup home-based business, for sure you have long-term goals set in your mind. You didn’t set up your business for nothing, right? So once you have settled in, you need to start investing for your long-term goals.
If you have plans of expanding your business, you need to start investing in having a commercial space in the near future. Your business cannot remain home-based if you have any plans of expanding it. Once you start hiring employees and building different teams, you home office cannot accommodate them all, so you should welcome the idea of owning or perhaps renting a commercial space for your business.
Additionally, you should start incorporating different marketing techniques to make your business grow. What are other things you want to achieve a few years from now? Here’s a quick tip; align you short term goals so when you attain them it can lead you to bigger success, thus, leading you to your long-term goals.
Conclusion
Thinking ahead is fundamental for your business to be on top for the next 12 months. You may have need different approach to compete in the industry as a home-based business but that doesn’t mean you can’t be on top. Do not underestimate the things you can do as a home-based business. You can be on top this 2017; you just need to be resourceful and proactive.
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