Working at a large company can have its benefits. In fact, it can be quite satisfactory to climb the corporate ladder. Still, it is rather stressful to always have someone looking over your shoulder controlling and criticizing what you do and how you are doing it. Consequently, it is no wonder that a large and growing number of people are deciding to start their own home business.
Working from home has many other benefits besides just being your own boss. You can save time, money, your nerves… plus you can make living doing things you love. If have an idea and want a piece of the cake too, but you are not sure where to start, here are some considerations.
1. Come Up With An Idea
Coming up with the idea is everything, especially when it comes to a DIY businesses. The perk here is that the ideas are all around you. You just need to see the need for something and decide to make it. Remember what was the last year’s kids’ favorite pastime? It was the Rainbow Loom (a plastic device and a bag of rubber bands which were used to make bracelets). It all started with a father who wanted to create something interesting to do with his daughters. Soon enough it took the world by storm, and kids all around the globe were playing with it.
2. Test The Idea
Now that you have a certain idea in your mind, the next step is to make a prototype and test it with unbiased users. You can start with your friends and family, and then move on to strangers in coffee shops, parks, etc., or you can organize a dedicated event. The internet has many doors open for this purpose too. Send out polls, surveys, article publications, and more to begin collecting feedback from various audiences. Make adjustments to your business based on the feedback.
3. Make A Plan
Since you are doing what you love without any annoying bosses around, you can easily forget that having a rock solid plan can make or break any business, even if it's more of an unorthodox business enterprise. Your plan should include the money invested in starting the business, the budget for the future, target market & niche, marketing actions, materials needed, and ideas for the future.
4. Have A Workspace
Working from home doesn’t mean you have to work from your living room. It can be difficult for some to stay on track without an office or a studio, but you can improvise. Create a corner office in one of your rooms or a small studio in your garage or basement, if you are doing some more demanding projects. For other businesses you might just need a frugal laptop and some free coffee shop WiFi (and maybe some of that coffee for extra entrepreneurial inspiration).
5. Be Active Online
Today, establishing yourself on social media and on the web in general is everything. In fact, accounts on social media have a great influence on Google search rankings, and more than 50 percent of Facebook and Twitter users are more likely to buy the products they are following online. Still, to make a sale, besides a website and social media profile, you will need your own online shop.
Being a small home-based startup or crypto security firm, you can benefit much more from selling on online marketplaces, such as Discovered. The fact that more than 60 percent of online sellers choose to sell exclusively on such websites should encourage you to try.
6. Network & Sell Offline
If you are one of those who opt for selling their products only online, keep in mind that you are depriving your business of potential customers and a great marketing strategy. You can organize different kind of garage sales to sell your products in the neighborhood, make arrangement with local stores to take a part of your handmade goods, etc. Another great way for arts and crafts business to gain some serious attention is to exhibit at a craft fair.
7. Tell A Good Story
For some businesses the very novelty of their product is marketing enough. In the DIY realm, the things are different, since there are so many sellers making similar items, and there is the competition in the form of less quality mass produce. You will need to inject your product with a personal twist to make it stand out from the crowd while staying on budget. The easiest way to tell a good story is to be really passionate about what you are doing.
The woman behind the popular brand Beluga Vodka attributes her gigantic success to deep-seated motivation, and it is no a fairytale. However, many of the self-made business successes sound like a fairytale, and that is what people love – when you start from scratch and build a path to success with your own hands. That makes them think that you are investing far more effort than some corporate giant – and you do, and you should always.
DIY home startups are simple and affordable at the beginning, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t constantly improve, for the good of your business and your customers. Shoot for long term business growth! It is a marathon not a spring, so don't get too burnt out too soon.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to succeed when starting your DIY home business startup.
Interested in more bootstrapping entrepreneurship articles?
Read My Related Posts:
– 5 Steps To Starting Your Entrepreneurial Journey
– How To Say NO To The Status Quo & YES To Success
Best Of Luck In Business To You!
