Before you proceed further ask yourself the following questions: Why do you want to start a home based business Do you see any advantages What are your disadvantages Do you have any entrepreneurial qualities that help you succeed in your own home based business What is your plan Can you market a product or service Who are your customers When will you give up your regular job Are you thinking about this because you are unemployed at the moment. A home based business is most definitely NOT for everyone and it's certainly not a solution to unemployment per se.

Obviously, there are financial considerations to think about. How will you support yourself and your family until you generate a profit Where will you obtain funds to start your home based business

Assuming you have answers to all these questions, only then you should ask, "How do I start a home based business"

There are as many answers to this question. However, there is no one answer that fits all sizes. The process of starting one's own home based business can be broken down into seven broad steps.

Identify your passions

If you are starting at ground level, then your first step is to decide as to what it is you would like to do as your home based business .

Believe in your passion. If it is gardening (start an herb and spice business or cultivate cuttings for distribution via mail order), lead-lighting (design and create stained glass lampshades), accounting (run a home-based small business accountancy service) or website design. In other words, do something you love.

Identify a niche market

If you want to turn your passion into a truly profitable business venture, then identifying your niche is a pretty straightforward process:

1. Identify your general category (e.g. gardening) and sub-category (e.g. growing herbs)
2. Interact with people interested in your sub-category
3. Identify unmet or under-met needs in your sub-category
4. Inventory your experience, interests and competencies
5. Fill the unmet or under-met need

Survey the market and competition

At this stage, you need to survey your niche market and your competition. If you have competition, find out how you can be better. If you find big players in the business, then see where you can fit in, high end or lower end markets. If you believe you can be the best in your niche proceed with your home based business. If not, keep looking until you find a niche perfectly suited to your experience, interests and competencies.

Plan your business

Now that you are confident of starting your home based business , it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty of the business. This is where you take your business idea and shape it into a battle plan.

Put your tasks and goals into action to achieve your objectives. Prepare your year-wise objectives and goals for a successful business. The end result should be a daily to-do list of things that will directly lead you closer to the achievement of your goals and objectives.

Action Then put your plan into action

Transition

If you're currently in a paid job, stay there and run your home based business part-time, until you can be confident success.

Making the leap

Finally, make the leap with faith and courage. You may have some moments of self-doubt, but don't succumb to them. When the time comes to make the leap, do it and hold nothing back. Your success or failure is up to you alone. There are no excuses.

Why many fail while some succeed

My friend B V Rao is a very successful individual in the home based business sector. He sells textile material from home. I have been observing him for a number of years and I have also seen people come and go in this home based business sector. They come from literally all walks of life, education levels, and backgrounds. I met several of these people and they include medical doctors, engineers, scientists and people who were only a step above being illiterate.

Skills sets for a home based business activity

Though certain skills are useful and advantageous, none can forecast a success. It is difficult to say that certain sets of skills are must for succeeding in a home based business activity. Also, it's not advisable to predict the skills for success. If I could make a 100 per cent prediction, I wouldn't be here, I would be investing all my money in the stock market and earning in billions or trillions.

However, since I have consulted a number of successful home based business persons, I can tell you what the biggest predictor of success is. I can also tell you what makes many people quit their home based business on initial failures.

Secret of success in home based business

What I am about to tell you is true in almost all the cases. It not only applies to people in home based business activity but also to successful people in any sector or industry. The secret of success is simply this: Successful people simply figure out a way to make their home based business work.

But, more importantly, they believe they will be successful in the home based business.

They never accept no for an answer. No matter how many rejections they face, they never give up and keep going. They are determined to learn from the rejections, gain more experience in their home based business and are determined to persist with their dream and work more hard to succeed. They simply weren't going to fail. Failure is never an option for them. If one method did not work, then they would try something else.

Inspiration for home based business

This means, all this boils down to your heart. And it was his heart what kept the great Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan going after being ditched and deceived to the tune of Rs 100 crores by his younger brother and officials of his company. Heart is what kept Dhirubhai Ambani going after being flat broke during his pre-Reliance times. All great men and women have the heart it takes to just try again one more time.

Eight keys to success in home based business So the key to success in home based business lies in

• Successful people simply figure out a way to succeed

• They believe they will be successful

• They never give up

• They are determined and persist with their dream

• They work hard

• Failure is never an option for them

• If one method fails, they try another

• And it is a question of strong will and a determined heart

A major advantage for people today, I feel, is that they can rely on our experience so they need not repeat our mistakes. There are many more tools available today to help people to succeed than ever before.

Home based business needs small investments only

Further, one main reason why other businesses are so successful today is because of the large investment involved. First the entry price commitment of Rs 500,000 or more weeds out all the non-serious people. Second, with that kind of investment people are not going to give up easily.

Therefore, what I feel is that for the right person a home based business is so much more superior to a big business, its not even funny. The investment is peanuts compared to a big business and you are not tied down to your business such that you cannot take a vacation. If need be, you can just take your business with you to whatever hotel you are staying in whichever part of the country or world.

Need for desire to succeed in home based business

Plus, for the same amount of work you can easily earn more than you do in a big business please keep in mind that you normally spend 80 -100 hours per week working your big business the first year or so. And you may need two stores to make a good living. The point is anybody, no matter what their background can succeed in the right home based business, provided they have the desire and good mentors.

Getting fresh ideas

Getting fresh and new ideas to run a successful home based business is vital in todays instant age. Right from the germination stage to the implementation stage you need ideas for a home based business. You need ideas to prepare project proposals, develop, market and advertise your products or services. You also need ideas to face challenges and difficult situations you encounter while running your home based business.

If you are in a jam, you can consider applying the four ways given below to come up with new ideas that can bale you out and help improve your home based business.

Talk to the customers

Your home based business is stagnating. You dont know how to pull your business out of the rut. And your ideas tap has gone dry. The best persons to talk to are your customers. They may have key ideas that could help revive your stagnating home based business. They may tell you how to improve your product offering, or give you a tip on redesigning you product, or may even suggest on how to improve the quality of the content on your information-based website.

Big companies generally tap their customers for new ideas. And the customer feedback survey is one of the techniques adopted by big companies to seek fresh ideas for their businesses.

Two heads are better than one

Yes, it is true that sometimes two heads are better than one. Get in touch with like-minded entrepreneurs for either in collaborating in new projects or joining them on their existing ventures, or simply to seek feedback about the challenges you are facing in running the home based business.

These interactions with other entrepreneurs will not only get you new ideas to improve your home based business but will help you to network for eventually launching joint ventures that will result in additional revenue stream.

Keep an eye on the competitors:

Generally, several home based business owners like you are focused only on their own operations. They ignore their competitors and dont know what they are up to. You could be missing out on some great business opportunities, while your competitors could push you into the dust. It, therefore, makes business sense to keep an eye on your competitors for new ideas.

Your competitors can give you a fresh perspective to your business. Also, they can show you different ways of doing things to improve your home based business.

With internet access, you can easily keep a tab on your competitors operations and improve on their new business ideas and offer better prices, and add special features to boost your home based business. Better still create your own product or service instead of copying or improving on your competitors ideas.

Read for ideas:

There is nothing better than reading to get brilliant ideas to improve your home based business. And there is plenty of reading material out there in the open world. Some of the sources to get ideas are books, magazines, websites, newspapers, and e-books. They all contain tips that you can use for your home based business. Hence, it is important to make a habit of reading something everyday.

Inspiration and ideas can come to you from anywhere: customers, competitors, and printed literature. It is, therefore, up to you to grab and use them!