Clyde Klauss, Negosentro | Although a dream of many, the road to starting a home business is paved with many difficulties, mainly because the cash flow is tight in the beginning and because you likely have no particular idea how to do business from home. Despite the fact that things are going to be difficult in the beginning, the mistakes that you happen to make are much more forgiving at this point, so learning from them as soon as possible (preferably here) is your best bet for survival.
The lack of space
You might think that you will have all the space in the world for starting a home business, but in truth, you’re going to end up establishing your office in a corner of the living room, which is a terrible idea, even if you live alone. Without a dedicated space for your filing cabinets, desk and other things that are commonly found in an office, you’ll end up constantly feeling cramped. This is especially true if you’re selling products from your home – your inventory will pile up quicker than you might think. It is important, therefore, that you set aside or come up with a room that has a unique purpose of being your home office.
Time management
Thinking that you now have all the time in the world for work is yet another pitfall of home businesses. A home business owner needs to master time management. Why? Well, it’s quite simple: you’re going to be merging your life at home with your business life and, since family is always more important than business, all sorts of problems will start popping up if you’re physically available at home.
On the other hand, don’t think that you’re in the clear if you happen to live alone, because time management is equally as important in these instances and this is simply because coming up with your own working hours is a slippery slope, plus it’s easy to start compromising, which may result in less work done.
Work stuff
When it comes to personal items in your home, you are probably relaxed – they aren’t going anywhere, after all, are they? Of course, when your home is also your office, the work paraphernalia, such as papers and documents (even virtual ones) will tend to get lost (deleted) more easily (especially if you have children running about). You’re probably going to need those documents to be at your disposal, for when their use is required and, if you can’t happen to find them for hours on end, this means wasted time at work. This is yet another reason why a home office should be a separate room.
Financial issues
When running a personal business, you somehow tend to keep work and personal life separate – you have your working hours, and you probably don’t engage in too much work past that. Additionally, you are likely going to be running your home business alone, perhaps with a partner or two, which means that your finances might get extremely hectic if you don’t pay enough attention to them. Given the fact that dealing with finances is difficult, don’t think that being a home business owner is an excuse for avoiding professional accounting help. This is especially true when it comes to fraud and financial crime issues, which is why hiring forensic accountants from Sydney is considered a regular thing.
These four problems are common for most home businesses and need to be taken care of as early as possible – in a business’s inception. An office goes without saying, for a multitude of reasons and so does proper time management. Keep your work stuff in your home office and keep the office off-limits. Finally, always have a financial safety cushion to fall back on.
