Starting a home-based business in the sunshine state is a dream come true for everyone. You’re your own boss. You can make up all the rules (within reason). And you can earn yourself a much bigger income than you normally would if you had a bog-standard job (depending on how successful your business is). With that being said, owning and running a home-based business doesn’t come without its obstacles. You’ll not only need to be motivated and be willing to make sacrifices, but there are also several other things to consider.
1. Do You Have the Space?
If you’re only looking to start some sort of consultation service or similar, you’re only going to need a small office to work with. However, if you’re looking to start an e-commerce business that sells large physical products like bed mattresses, you’re going to need more space. Even if you’re going to have a small cell phone case inventory to start things off, you should still think of the future in terms of where you’re going to store your inventory as your customer base grows. In conclusion, if you don’t have the space to suit the needs of your business model, you may want to consider moving house. If you currently rent, don’t worry as becoming a first time Tampa home buyer isn’t as hard as it sounds. You can utilize a real estate agent to find a property that has all the space you need for your family and your new business.
2. Supporting Your Customers
Another thing that’s often overlooked by startup businesses from home: customer support. The chances are you’re not going to have the finances to hire employees to provide support, so you need to be available at all times. As well as being there for your customers, you also need to think of the support methods you’re going to provide. Therefore, there will be extra costs in implementing a business phone line and boosting internet speeds to make sure you’re always available. Also consider whether you will keep your customer support lines open purely during east coast hours, or whether you need to have customer support available to support central and west coast customers too.
3. Business Plan
Your business plan could well be the difference in your Florida home-based business being a success, so it’s worth having a look at professional services to ensure you have a solid foundation in place. Just because you are working in the sun, this doesn’t mean you can’t take it as seriously as some of the biggest businesses out there. Think of targets, product lines, employment, and expansion, and you’ll have a much better chance of survival in the future.
4. Do You Have the Finances?
The whole idea of starting a home-based business is that the costs are relatively low, especially if you’re dipping into the world of e-commerce. With that said, there are still multiple costs to consider before you dive in at the deep end. You’ll need to consider the costs of inventory, packaging, website running costs, and many other regular running expenses. It’s crucial you try to save money on startup costs but it’s just as important you don’t skimp on the costs that could prove to be important to the success of your business. If you are moving to Florida from out of state, you may also want to compare the price of things like food and gas as you may find there’s a big difference between the prices in Florida and what you’re used to.
The above is just some of the many things to consider before you put your money where your mouth is and start a business from home. As long as you’re willing to make a detailed business plan, stay motivated and make the necessary sacrifices, there’s no reason why your home-based business can’t be a huge success.
