Redundancy – A New Beginning
Redundancy is not the end of life. It can be a new beginning. A doorway to a new world!
When I was ‘retired’ from the work force I was just short of retirement age and there were not very many employers willing to take on an aged individual on the verge of retirement. So I had to consider other options. I decided to take matters into my own hands and start my own home business.
Since then I have never looked back.
Working from home alone has proved to be much more interesting than working for an employer as I am now doing what I have chosen to do. Something that interests ME. I now decide what work I do and when I do it. I have control over how much I earn and, importantly, there is nothing as satisfying as being independent and your own master.
So here are some tips that you can use to help yourself get a new start in life. Working from home alone!
Purposes and Goals
You have to have a goal and purpose. What do you want to achieve?
A business plan and goals outline is a very useful and vital tool to help you set out your goals and aims and how you are going to achieve them. As well as the possibility of seeking loans or investment it also helps to clarify in your mind what you are setting out to achieve and how you can actually achieve it. It is an outline of the route or track you are going to take to accomplish your goals. A home business plan should include then.
An Executive Summary of the important points of the business plan. This is like a synopsis. It gives a basic outline of the business and what you want to do. A good starting point!
A Business Overview giving a description of the business including how the business is constructed, the history of the business and the location. Also how is the business to be conducted, Internet, storefront operation, mail order for example.
An Operations Plan that describes how the business is going to function. Who will be doing what and where.
A Market Analysis is important. It should include an overall view of the market in which you will be operating. Specific information about the market including competitors and potential customers is very useful and helps you to plan your promotional strategy to attract specific customers.
Products and Services. What products will you product or what service will you perform? A good description of the products and or services you intend to provide and sell is important. Classifying the different types of products or services helps to clarifying them in your own mind and plan out their manufacture or provisioning and how much to charge for them. So how will you promote yourself? Here are some ways to promote your business.
- Advertising
- Radio
- TV
- Newspaper
- Classifieds
- Word of Mouth
- Internet
- Blogs and Bloggers
- YouTube, Pintrest and similar auction sites if selling a product.
Sales and Marketing
Some products and services may sell better than others. A good Outline of your pricing and sales information should be included here with information on why you think people will buy your product or service. How does it help your potential client base to want your product. How will you reach them? What sort of promotional activities will you employ and how are they effective.
Competitive Analysis
It is vital to have some idea of what your competitors do and how much they charge. How do they get customers? How can you better that?
Management Team
This may be a new area for you so a management course at a local TAFE can help enormously to help you manage your business. If you intend employing anyone else in your business some information about them and their expertise should be noted here.
Financial Plan
Of course there needs to be a sound financial plan. All the financial information including costs for setting up the business as well as existing and future running costs should be included. You might want to get the assistance of an accountant with this. Information should include:
- The amount needed to start up the business.
- How much you think it will cost to maintain the business. This should include such things as office space, equipment, basic utilities as well as promotion and manufacturing or service provisioning costs.
- How much you think you will need over the next two, three and five years.
- Any plans to use additional funds.
- Any plans to acquire loans and how you expect these to be paid back.
- The amount needed over the next two, three, and even five years.
- Plans to use such funds.
- Anticipated need for additional funding.
- Ongoing business expenses, including salaries, insurance costs, promotional expenses, etc.
Projections
It is a good idea to provide some projected income statements and balance sheets for at least two or three years. This will enable you to not just see where the business is going but also help you to strive to achieve your goals with the business.
Discipline & Work
When you work from home, you are doing the sort of work that YOU like to do. Not something someone else is ordering you to do. Consequently you enjoy your work (of course many people enjoyed their work as an employee and probably still do) much more.
Plan out your work. What types of work do you have to do. Is writing, making products, talking to people. Do you have to make appointments, plan out promotion, make heaps of phone calls, set up appointments and spend a lot of time on blogs or writing material or content?
What ever it is plan out in sequence the cycles of action you need to do to accomplish the various products of your business.
Discipline is a work horse, a tool you can use to ensure your business stays on track. Discipline is a case of, whatever happens, do it anyway.
Financials
Keep a record of everything you buy or spend. Keep all receipts and mark on them what the product or service is that you bought. Keep a tax record. Consult with your accountant or financial advisor about if you should form a company and if so what type. Should you pay GST? Should you be able to claim GST on material you buy to run your business? Do you need to get a business loan? Again a consultation with your financial advisor may help in this direction.
Basically if you do not need a loan I recommend you do not get one. The less you owe the better.
Time
Set out a specific time to do your work. This is where discipline comes in. Set a certain time each day in which you will work. It might be mornings, I prefer to work early in the day as soon as I arise. I will work for around 4 or 5 hours then take a break and then resume for a couple of hours before I call it a day. Some people tend to like working at night and will start as soon as the sun goes down or even at midnight. What ever time of the day you prefer to work and work best, stick to it, consistency make the difference here.
Conclusion
Following the above steps will help a long way to getting your home business set up and operating as a profitable business.
Redundancy can indeed be the doorway to a new world!