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101 Survival Tips for Home Business Owners Page 2

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Starting a home business is an exciting time. But, it can also be a time of stress and frustration

as you learn how to navigate the industry you’ve chosen to take part in. Each day you have to

know what you’re going to do to make it a successful day.

Every business, regardless of what industry, has six basic functional areas: strategy, marketing,

finance, human resources, technology and operations. These 101 survival tips will help ensure

that you not only survive but thrive as a home business owner in all of these areas.

Strategy

Business strategy involves the long-term planning necessary to own a business. The strategy

that you develop will depend on your goals and objectives. Sometimes you’ll have long-term

strategies five or more years into your business; other times the strategy will be about a

particular campaign happening right now.

1. Develop a Mission Statement

A mission statement will help you with every aspect of your business. Make it short so that you

can post it where you can see it and even put it on your website for others to see. When you,

those you hire, and your customers know your mission statement, it makes it easier to develop

a strategy for success.

2. Know Your Audience

You really can’t develop strategy if you don’t even know who your audience is. Most of the time,

you should figure out who your audience is before creating the solution. When you know your

audience inside and out, you’ll be able to develop multiple solutions to their problems without

even trying.

3. Study Your Competition

You may not realize how much your competition matters to your success, but they do. If you

study what they do for your audience, you can learn how to do it just a little bit better or

completely differently so that you can attract the right audience to you.

4. Understand Your Products or Services

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In addition to learning about the competition, you need to also understand your own products

and services backwards and forwards. It’s the only way you can explain to potential customers

what it is that you do that’s better than anyone else.

5. Write Down Your Strengths

Writing down your strengths is a good way to figure out what you’re good at doing. Because

remember - you don’t have to do everything yourself even though you own your own home

business. You can outsource your weaknesses.

6. Write Down Your Weaknesses

Make a list of the things you either don’t do well, or hate doing. If you hate doing those things or

you’re bad at them, as mentioned above you can outsource them. But, if you can’t be honest

about what your weaknesses are, then it will be difficult. This is the time to really be truthful with

yourself about what you can and can’t do.

7. Note Current Opportunities

Take a look at your business right this moment to identify any current opportunities for your

business to jump right in and make money. Starting with one thing is usually the best thing to

do, but you have to identify it.

8. Note Budding Future Opportunities

Look down the line a few months to see if you can identify any potential budding opportunities in

the future. For example, let’s say the current opportunity is to promote an eBook that you wrote.

In the future, perhaps you can turn the eBook into a course to teach on Udemy.com. Always

keep looking ahead to where you want to go.

9. Identify Potential Threats

Outside of your competition, what are some things that can stand in your way to realizing the

success you want to have?

10. List What Makes You Different







Compared to your competition, why is your work or product better or different from theirs, and

why should someone choose you over them?

11. Develop Audience Personas

One of the best ways to keep your mind on serving the right audience is to develop different

audience personas. Take that a step further and create personas for each stage of the buying

cycle.

12. Write a Detailed Business Plan

A business plan doesn’t have to be long to be detailed. You can actually write a plan in one

page if you want to. The important part is that you have a business plan to look to for guidance.

13. Have a Plan B

No matter how hard you plan, sometimes things go wrong. You can count on that in business.

That’s why you should always have a Plan B. Know that if A happens, then B happens and so

forth.

14. Assume This Is the Hardest Thing You’ve Ever Done

Starting a business isn’t for sissies. It can be the best of times, and the worst of times. Make an

assumption now that it’s hard. That way you'll take it seriously and not put off things that need to

be done.

15. Read “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy

This is one of the best books you can read for your business and your life. You can count on it

being useful and helpful.

16. Start with One Thing

Remember, when you are starting a business you want to start with one thing and then add

things on as your business grows. All you need is one service or one product, and you’re in

business.







Marketing

Marketing is anything that involves getting the word out about your business. However, it also

has to do with the feeling people get when they think of your business. With a planned-out

marketing system, you can ensure that your audience feels the way you want them to and acts

in accordance with your wishes most of the time.

17. Write a Detailed Marketing Plan

A marketing plan should be detailed enough that you can look at today’s date and know exactly

what you need to do to market a particular aspect of your business.

18. Develop a Well-Made Website

Don’t just throw up any old page of code and call it your website. Take the time to have a

website made that you can be proud to promote. After all, as a home business owner your

website is your store front.

19. Create Social Media Profiles

Figure out which social media your audience spends time on and develop full profiles and

regular activity on each.

20. Fully Develop Your LinkedIn Profile

One of the most important and professional social media networks is LinkedIn. Ensure that you

focus on building your LinkedIn profile before you build the others. This is especially true if you

are selling services or consulting.

21. Keep Your Personal Social Media and Business Social Media Separate

Do not be tempted to mix business and pleasure when it comes to social media. The colleagues

you work with don’t want or need to know about what’s inside your baby’s diaper.

22. Blog Regularly

One of the most important marketing methods you can use is blogging. Blogging can help you

educate, inform and engage your audience in a way that most other forms of marketing can’t.







23. Use Multiple Types of Content for Marketing

Don’t just put up text blogs, or text posts on social media. Instead use images, video, audio, and

a combination of all of them on a regular basis to truly realize your content marketing goals.

24. Update Social Media Daily

Each social media type requires a different schedule for updating, but all of them should be

updated at least once a day.

25. Guest Post Regularly

A great way to get links back to your website or blog is to guest blog post. Don’t guest blog for

just anyone, though. Place guest blog posts for people who service your audience and who are

known authorities within your niche.

26. Conduct Interviews of Experts

Get known as an expert by interviewing experts, just like Oprah.

27. Be Interviewed by Peers

Seek out interviews so you can be interviewed as an expert in your niche. This is great way to

get the word out about your business.

28. Participate in Forums

There are likely many types of forums within your niche that you can participate in. Any groups

you join that have discussions are fair game. But, the key is to participate.

29. Go to Online Events

Today, events aren’t just relegated to Las Vegas hotels. Instead, there are plenty of webinars,

teleseminars, and Google Hangouts that you can attend online from home. These events are

great ways to network.

30. Go to Offline Events







Don’t discount offline events, regardless of your products and or services. It doesn’t matter if

you have a fully digital business; offline events are a great way to network.

31. Host Online Events

Better than attending an online event is to host one. Have your own seminar online with people

that you invite to attend.

32. Host Offline Events

It’s not that hard to host an offline event. Just find a venue, then post an advertisement in the

paper or on an online location like Meetup.com.

33. Sponsor Online Events

Even if you cannot attend an online event, you can pay for a sponsorship. This usually entitles

you to be involved in a giveaway of some kind, or have your name mentioned during breaks or

during events.

34. Sponsor Offline Events

Often, sponsoring an offline event means paying for some aspects of the event in exchange for

signs that mention your sponsorship.

35. Design Business Cards and Use Them

A beautiful business card does no good for anyone if it’s not used. Take them with you and give

them out.

36. Join Business Associations

There are many different types of association that you can join for your industry. Study them

and choose one or two to join and fully participate in.

37. Write and Publish a Book







A Kindle book is a great way to promote your business. But, a physical book is even better.

Then you can take it to events and promote it and yourself as an expert.

38. Create Awesome Sales Pages

A sales page is a specialized page that promotes your products and services in a special way.

Usually you need the help of a copywriter to ensure that you use the right words.

39. Use the Right Technology

There are a lot of different types of technology to help you make marketing your business

easier, such as Latergram.me, Hootsuite.com, and more.

40. Build an Email List

No matter what anyone else says, the money is still in the email list. It doesn’t even matter what

type of business you have - if you develop a list, you’ll get to the point where you can give

yourself a raise whenever you want just by promoting something to your list.

41. Participate on Social Media

It’s not enough to set up profiles on social media, as already mentioned; you must actually

engage with others. Comment on threads, start threads, and share updates about your

business, products and services.

42. Understand the Importance of Branding

How people feel about your business when they see your logo or hear your name, is as

important as the reality of your product. Branding happens over time, and you must learn as

much about it as possible.

43. Host a Google Hangout

A great way to market your business is to host a Google Hangout. You can do a Q & A with the

audience, record the whole thing, and then use it as a product later.

44. Start a Referral Program







When you give out your business card, give each person two. Tell them to sign the back of the

second one before giving it away, and you’ll give them a referral fee for a paying customer.

45. Send Out Press Releases

Press releases aren’t dead; they are still excellent ways to get the word out about a new product

or another leading story about your business.

46. Learn Copywriting

While you’ll still want to hire someone to help you with copywriting, it’s good to learn about it so

that you are up to date on popular trends and don’t hire the wrong person.

Finance

Every type of business has to figure out how they’ll handle finances. Will you run on a cash

basis, what type of business entity will you become, and who will figure out all this legal stuff?

47. Develop a Working Budget

When you first start a business, it can be hard to develop a budget. But, you can start with what

you need to earn, plus the cost of doing business. That’s your break-even point and what you

need to support your business right now.

48. Determine How Much You Want to Earn

Do you know how much money you want to or need to earn? This is an important number to

figure out. Don’t make this number too low. You need to cover all expenses and the lifestyle you

want. This is the best way to then price your products and services in a manner that helps you

reach your goals.

49. Develop a Plan to Earn What You Want

Once you know how much you want to earn, figure out a plan of action. For example, if you’ve

determined you need to earn $180K a year in order to pay expenses and life the lifestyle you

want, what will it take to get there? How many widgets do you need to sell to get there?







50. Get a Separate Checking Account

Don’t mix your personal money with your business money. One of the biggest reasons a lot of

businesses fail is owners not understanding the importance of separating the money. You must

know what is coming and what is going out, and why.

51. Visit Your Local Small Business Center for Information

Almost every area of the country and world has small business centers that you can visit for

information. You can either call them, or go in, and talk to someone about starting a small home

business in your area.

52. Use the Right Bookkeeping Software

The type of bookkeeping software you use depends on whether or not you hire a CPA. If you

choose to do so, you will want to use the software they recommend. If not, you can try using Go

Daddy Bookkeeping, QuickBooks Small Business or Wave Accounting.

Links:

Go Daddy Bookkeeping - https://bookkeeping.godaddy.com/

QuickBooks Small Business - http://www.intuit.com/

Wave Accounting - https://www.waveapps.com/

53. Keep Track of What Comes In and What Goes Out

Whether you use accounting software or a spreadsheet or a piece of paper, it’s imperative that

you keep track of what is coming in and what is going out. What’s more is that it’s important to

know where the money is coming from and how it’s going out.

54. Keep Your Fingers Out of the Till

Stores with locations have a cash register. Yours may not, but it still has money in an account

that you can easily spend if you’re not thinking. Set up a certain amount to pay toward bills and

a certain amount to pay yourself, and don’t deviate from that.

55. Spend Money to Make Money







You can’t expect to make money if you’re afraid to spend any. Your budget might be small, but

you can’t build a free website, use all free software and expect anyone to take you seriously as

a business owner.

56. Hire an Expert When Needed

You can’t always do everything - sometimes you may need to hire an expert. For example, a

copywriter, a CPA, a graphic designer or some other expert that works outside of your

wheelhouse.

57. Read Small Business Taxes Made Easy by Eva Rosenberg

Even if you hire someone to do your taxes, it’s important to understand how taxes work so that

you don’t accidentally get into trouble. Even when you hire someone, you’re responsible for

everything you're using them for. Learn enough that you won’t be taken advantage of or hire the

wrong person.

58. Understand Pricing Strategies

Study your industry so that you know how things are priced and what is industry standard. You

don’t want your price to be so wrong and off the mark that no one buys, and this can happen

with prices that are either too high or too low.

Human Resources

How you deal with yourself, your family, friends and contractors can be seen as HR for your

small business. While it’s not all actually business related, it’s important to think of all these

aspects of running a home business so that you can be successful.

59. Get Training for Yourself

If you realize you’re deficient in one or more areas that are important for your business, it will

help to pay for and attend training. You can learn a lot of things online today, or you can even

take local courses.

60. Offer Training for Others







If you hire people, offer a good training program so that they know what’s expected of them and

what your standard operating procedures are. You can create videos so that it doesn’t take

much time, and use the same ones over again for new people.

61. Outsource When Necessary

When you really don’t have a desire to learn something new, learn enough to hire a person to

do it for you. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do. Plus, why learn to do something if you can

still earn money when you outsource it?

62. Communicate with Your Family

Sometimes it can be a hard transition for your family to get used to your new business. If you

keep the lines of communication open, you can ensure that you always have time to get your

work done, and that they understand how serious you are about your business.

63. Communicate with Your Contractors

When you hire a contractor, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open. If they ask

you a question, get back to them as soon as possible so that you don’t cause undue delays.

64. Joint Venture with Others

A great way to get the word out about your business is to join forces with others. However, you

need to understand how it affects your business and make sure you create a contract to follow.

65. Treat Contractors Fairly

As they say, “you get what you pay for” – nothing can be truer than that. If you expect high

quality work, pay for high quality work. Don’t pay for cheap, untrained labor and expect miracles

to be performed.

66. Recommend Others When Appropriate

Always be kind and recommend other people you know for positions that you don’t want or

need. They will do the favor for you too.

67. Know about Tax Consequences of Help







When you hire an employee, contractor, or even when you barter, there are tax consequences.

It’s important to understand everything that goes around paying someone for help in your

business, so you don’t make costly tax mistakes.

68. Hire Your Kids

A great way to save money is to hire your children. You can deduct the money you pay them,

unlike allowance, and you can also put a portion of it in savings for college.

69. Hire Your Spouse

Hire your spouse and you don’t have to pay social security taxes on them (in the USA). Plus,

you keep the money in the family.

Technology

A home business has a lot of technology available to it today - technology that will ensure the

outstanding delivery of products and services that your audience expects, along with the proper

accounting of the same.

70. Use the Best Systems You Can Afford

Skimping on technology will slow down the progress of your business. Whether you don’t want

to pay for hosting for a self-hosted website, or whether it’s the unwillingness to pay for proper

bookkeeping software, not paying for the right tools can be detrimental. If you really want to

survive in business, remember that getting the right tools pays off.

71. Don’t Cheap Out on a Good Website

Having a good store front is going to make a big difference in whether other people take your

business seriously or not. If you don’t build or have built a good website, you’re making a huge

mistake.

72. Use Cloud-Based Software







If you want to be able to access your information with any device and work from anyplace so

that you’re not locked at home, use as much cloud-based software that you can to run your

business.

73. Always Back Everything Up

Use an off-site backup system so that you don’t lose your information if something should

happen to your hardware. Even an external hard drive is not as safe as an off-site cloud-based

file backup and storage system.

74. Invest in Good Project Management Software

If you plan to manage a team of contractors or you will be working with multiple clients, spend

some money to get a good project management system and software. You’ll be glad you started

off right.

75. Try Out Software before You Buy It

Most cloud-based software allows you to try it before you buy it. Don’t be afraid of trying it, or

getting a free tour of the software. You don’t have to say yes just because you try it, but it’s the

best way to figure out which type of software you like best. What works for you may not be for

someone else and vice versa.

76. Get Training When Appropriate

If you don’t know how to use the software, most companies provide some form of training. Take

some time out to learn each new piece of software you implement. That way you’ll get the most

out of it.

77. Stay Up-to-Date on What’s Common in Your Industry

Each industry has different types of software and technology that is popular or trending at

different times. Knowing what is trending will help you choose what your audience expects you

to have in place.

78. Study Your Audience to Determine What Technology They Value







Some audiences respond well to automation and some do not. Test out different forms of

automation for social media, email, and other functions on your audience to help determine

what they like most.

Operations

Running your business requires knowledge of organization and planning. You can learn how to

run your business through books, and through trial and error, but you can avoid the most basic

problems by staying organized and doing everything legally.

79. Buy a Business License When Necessary

Each state and even city has different rules when it comes to proper licensing and registration

for your business. The best way to find out is check on your city website for the business license

department. Call them and ask them for assistance. Better to ask than not to ask, because

mistakes can be costly.

80. Choose a Good Business Name

When you pick the name of your business, you want to consider both today and the future.

Does the name stand the test of time? For example, remember that they do not make VHS

tapes anymore (you may not even know what that means). You want your business to move

with the times, so give it a name that can.

81. Get an EIN (Employer ID Number)

In different countries it may be called something else. However, in the USA there is an

Employer ID Number that all small businesses should have. It’s not only for people who will

employ others, but also for contractors who don’t want to have to give out their social security

number. The EIN is free.

82. Be Organized According to Your Personality

Everyone has different personality traits. None or bad or good; they just are. Some people think

in a linear fashion while others think in pictures. Some people are right brained, and some are

left. All of that is fine, but you can take advantage of your personality type (and other people's) if

you know what it is. Then you can work with your strengths to get organized.







83. Use Google Calendar Synced to Your Phone

Google Calendar can sync to every phone you can get; therefore, putting all your work

information into Google Calendar and having it sync together will help you avoid missing

appointments or forgetting work.

84. Set Office Hours and Try to Stick to Them

A real danger for people who work from home is that they can start working all the time, never

taking time off for themselves and their family. Choose the working hours that are best for your

business and realistic, and don’t deviate from it unless it’s an emergency.

85. Budget Your Time Well between Work and Pleasure

Further to the above, no one can work all the time and produce good results. People need to

have a balance between work and home. But balance is likely a bad word to use for this

because sometimes you’re going to be needed more at work, and sometimes you’re going to be

needed more at home. Working for home enables you to do this.

86. Sleep Regularly

When you work from home, time sometimes seems to have no meaning. But, if you don’t sleep

regularly, and at night most of the time, you can mess up your hormones and make yourself

sick.

87. Exercise Regularly - Especially If You Sit a Lot

Sitting for more than four hours a day can be life threatening, and is thought to be even

unhealthier than smoking. It’s important if your work-at-home business involves a lot of sitting to

get up and move a little every day. You can do short bursts of moving every 90 minutes to avoid

problems.

88. Eat Right for Your Needs

Everyone has a diet that they know makes them feel the best. For the most part, it likely

involves eating a low-fat whole food diet. But, each of us are different, so figure out what diet

works best for you and try to stick to it.







89. Invest in the Right Software

To fully operate your business instead of having your business operate you, using

organizational software like Basecamp or Teamwork will make your business run like a well-

oiled machine. You can work as if you’re much bigger than you are if you use the right software.

90. Under Promise and Over Deliver

As a small business owner, you have to be extra careful about blowing smoke, or making

yourself seem better than you are. You have a much smaller client base than a huge business

does, so you have fewer windows of opportunity to mess up and recover.

91. Remember: Your Business Is NOT a Hobby

If you want people to take your home business seriously, you need to ensure that you treat it as

a business and not a hobby. When you set a deadline to do something, unless someone’s on

fire you need to meet your deadlines.

92. Find a Dedicated Office Space Where You Can Work Comfortably

You don’t have to set up an entire room as your home office just because you have a home

business. Plenty of people run a home business with a laptop in the living room on the lazy boy,

but you do need to have a place and time of day that people know not to bother you as you are

working. Not only should it be a signal to others, it will be one to you as well.

93. Purchase Business Insurance

When your family counts on your income, you may want to purchase insurance to cover you in a

short- or long-term disability situation. The insurance can be the thing that saves your family and

your business if something should go wrong with your health.

94. Understand Time Zones

When you work from home, you often work with people from other parts of the country. It’s good

to learn about the different time zones because other people won’t learn it. And, it’s just better if

you know how it works so you’re in control of your time.







95. Get a Dedicated Phone Line / Ring

Whether it’s a specialized ring or a whole other dedicated line, it’s good to have that

differentiation so that you can know when a work call or a personal call is coming through. That

way you can choose to answer or let it go to voicemail.

96. Establish Guidelines with Friends and Family

Have a meeting with your friends and family to set guidelines about your work. When you work

from home it can be confusing for some people who think you’re still as available to them as you

always were. Let your friends and family know what times you’re working, and what times you’re

free to do personal things.

97. Be Honest about Your Personality

Know exactly what type of person you are. If you’re typically late, acknowledge that and find

ways to build in extra time so that you’re not late with your clients or with important tax

paperwork.

98. Be Responsive to Customers

Your customers are your most important asset. Therefore, always find a way to communicate

with your audience more, and ways to respond even faster to their needs. Customers like

businesses that care about them, as so many today don’t.

99. Hire Someone to Help at Home

Now that you have a home business, you’re likely going to find yourself really tired, and

sometimes household chores either fall to the wayside or interfere in fun family time. Hire

someone to clean your house or take care of the kids a couple of hours a day.

100. Follow Up

Always follow up with your customers, whether they bought a digital or physical item or a

service. Check up with them to find out how satisfied they are with what you provided. The more

feedback you can get, the better you can make your products and services in the future.

101. Get Started







The most important thing you can do for your home business for its very survival is to get

started right now. If you don’t get started and move forward with your ideas, then you’ll never be

successful.

Having a business is an important step for any person. Having a home business can sometimes

be more challenging because you have to stand out from the crowd, build your own confidence,

and teach yourself how to do everything from A to Z for your business. You are the finance

department, the HR department, along with sales and marketing too. But, if you take the time to

do the steps necessary to get started on the right foot, you can survive and thrive as a home

business owner.

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