With COVID-19 keeping everyone inside, it’s the perfect opportunity to finally tackle that goal you always set for yourself — starting your own business.
Even if you need the restrictions and panic to lift before you can open your store, you can do so much in terms of building up credibility and hype. Building your business model and having everything ready for launch is a great strategy to have, especially if you have additional free time or want to take on an extra project during the social distancing periods.
You will need to learn a lot along the way, but by following this guide you can direct your efforts and make the first step towards success:
Create Your Business Plan
To make a workable business plan, you need to know a lot. Business plans themselves are actually quite short — one or two pages at the most — but they need a lot of research to back them up.
Starting a business from home means you need to tackle so many different jobs, from marketer, to web designer, to salesman, to accountant. There are numerous roles you will need to handle and if you don’t know what to do that is okay. It is worthwhile to find online courses (often well within most budgets) and learn first-hand all the extra skills you need for your business to succeed.
You will also want to look into your competition. Learn all you can from them, either through research or by analyzing their website and marketing techniques. Where they have succeeded and failed are lessons you can use when creating your business plan.
From there you will want to work out your selling point, business model, income streams, costs, and so on. Taking your time with this step will pay off in the future.
Build Your Digital Presence
The second step you can take towards starting a business right at home is to build up your digital presence.
Website
In order to have the best website, you are going to want to avoid those free website builders and instead invest in web design Redditch services to get your site up and running beautifully. Your website needs to leave the impression that you are professional and know what you are doing, so a haphazard DIY website is not going to cut it.
Social Media
Start social media accounts, post either photos, quotes, facts, or anything else, and build your community. Accounts can succeed in all industries; you just need to figure out what aspect of your business is most interesting to the public. Focus your efforts where your customer base is for the best results.
Marketplaces
If you plan on selling products (and not just reselling others’ products) you will want to set up online. Etsy, eBay, and similar sites are all available and great resources to use.
Guest Posting
Build up your reputation and expand your customer base by guest posting on key websites, blogs, and even by collaborating on social media.
Tips to Grow from Home
Spend a few hours a day on your business and building up your skills. Growing organically before launch is a smart move, and it will also give you the opportunity to learn how to connect best with your customers. It will be a trial and error process, but not cutting corners is how you will succeed.
