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You have your funds, your business plan, your company name and the time to work from home. Whether it is a side hustle or a full-time venture you are committed to setting up your home business and getting it rolling. Below are five essential tips to ensure that you cover all the bases:
Create an Office
Chances are good that you don’t want your home address out on the internet. A P.O. Box might seem like a tempting option, but it doesn’t project the kind of credibility that you want with customers. If you want to set your new home business up for success early while protecting your home address, setting up virtual offices in your target regions is a perfect strategy. For a reasonable fee, you can rent an office address and a professional receptionist for your new venture, lending immediate respectability to your business with future customers.
Do the Paperwork
There is no way around it, paperwork is a substantial piece of setting up your home business. You have to address business structure, taxes, insurance, and contracts. It’s essential to make sure that you set your business up to have the support and the security it needs now, with the room and flexibility to grow in the future. If any of these tasks feel overwhelming to you, you may want to seek out a professional to help you or seek counselling from the Small Business Administration. Here is a checklist of all the paperwork you need to think about when setting up your business.
Decide on Bookkeeping
You have done the paperwork and established the structure of your new business, and how it will pay taxes, now you need to decide on how you will invoice your customers and track their payments. What kind of functionality will your business need and in what depth? At the outset, you are most likely going to be able to track everything yourself. As business picks up, however, you may need to consider outsourcing your invoicing and accounting. Think through the various needs of your business to select a small business accountant that meets your requirements.
Set up the appropriate IT Support
Think through all the functionality of your business. Does it live online? Will you need apps or services to help your customers purchase your product or services? Will you need business IT support? How much security will you require? You will most likely need a website, as increasingly few businesses can function without one. Make a list of all of your IT needs both now and in the future, and decide if it makes sense to outsource any of that work now or plan for it down the line.
Involve Your Family
Treat your family like investors in your new business, because they will be. They will play a crucial role in supporting you in your new endeavor emotionally, if not financially. Present your business plan to them, ask for their feedback, address their concerns, and explain why this new venture is important to you and ask for their commitment to be a part of your team. Treating them like partners and involving them up front will have far-reaching positive results.
You are ready. It is time to take all the energy and time you have invested in creating your business and open up your home business. Set yourself up for immediate success by establishing a virtual office, getting your paperwork in place and preparing adequately for your bookkeeping and IT needs. And don’t forget to involve your family as you make your dream a reality.
