8 Things You Should Be Doing As A Home-Based Business Owner

Being a home-based business owner comes with all kinds of perks. For example, the start-up costs are low, you can set your own hours, and of course there are the tax breaks.

But did you know that only 20% of new businesses survive past their first year anniversary?

One of the reasons that a home-based business fails is because it’s being run like a hobby. And that is easy to do when you’re running a business from home because the atmosphere is so laid back.

Oh, it can happen.

You can settle into the work from home life real fast and when you have no one to answer to, even faster than that.

In flash you can go from rising early in the morning to waking up after 9 am. You can also start off keeping track of all things business and later on put things off or even do away with altogether.

It happens to the best of us but it takes discipline. I can’t tell you how bad I want to hop into bed, cuddle with my dog and watch The Nanny reruns!

Things You Should Be Doing As A Home-Based Business Owner

If you want your home-based business to be a success, here are some things you should be doing for you and your business to make sure that it is.

#1 Keep Records

Hold on to your receipts and keep records of all your expenses such as software, office supplies, and computers. Instead of letting the receipts pile up in a shoe box, you can scan and export them to a folder on your computer.

Keep records of the money you make and when you do be sure you follow the who, what, when, where, why rule. Who paid you, when you were paid, where the money was sent (Paypal, direct deposit) and why you were paid (sponsored posts).

You also want to have a separate checking or savings account to keep your home-based business expenses separate from personal ones.

And if your home-based business requires you travel from time to time, you should also track your mileage and fuel expenses.

#2 Invest In Yourself

The best thing you can do for your business is to invest in yourself. Learn about the industry you’re in, improve your skills and become familiar with home-based business laws.

After all, the more you know the more you grow!

#3 Meet With Your Team

If you’re lucky enough to have a team help you with home-based business responsibilities be sure to meet with your team at least once a month.

You don’t want to just send them work and not communicate with them.

When you meet with your team it keeps up morale and it makes your team feel that what they do is just as important.

Not only that but it’s a good way to make sure everyone understands what their responsibilities are. And if they manage your social media pages – that they’re on the same page with your marketing plan.

Which brings me to my next tip.

#4 Tweak Your Marketing Plans As Needed

This is one item that should be on every home-based business owner to-do list.

Don’t follow the same business and social media plans every month. If you’re plan isn’t working with the same strategy, your business won’t grow.

Instead, you should tweak your marketing plan as you see fit. It can be every month, every three months, or every year. It’s up to you.

Look over your analytics reports to find out where you’re getting the most traffic from, who is visiting your website and when, along with what they’re reading.

If you haven’t set up Google Analytics, click here to get started.

#5 Review Your Revenue Goals

When I created my monthly plans, one of those goals was to make $1,000 in revenue. In hindsight, that was way too high. Shewt, I didn’t make a grand a month let alone that first year! LOL!

Anyway. There is no rule that says you can’t change your revenue goals.

So if you set the bar high and you’re not hitting your goal, why not change it to something more attainable?

And if you do, have your analytics reports available to set realistic goals based on your data. Don’t pull numbers out of the air. It won’t work that way.

#6 Update Your Product

Let’s say you wrote an eBook about blogging several years ago. Well, you know the blogging rules and trends have definitely changed since then. And you want your audience to know you are keeping up with the latest in the blogosphere, right?

If you want to your library to be current it makes sense to write a new eBook about the latest blogging trends. But if you can’t put the content together for a new eBook, you can always update your first one.

#7 Take Time Off

In between the hustle and bustle to get your home-based business up and running don’t forget to take time off.

If you work long hours all week long, you’ll be burnt out before your first year anniversary if there are no rest days somewhere in between. And because you’re at home it’s easy to get into the habit of working ten plus hours 7 days a week.

Make sure to pencil in some time off to be with your family, relax and read a book or just to decompress from the anxiety of getting a new home-based business off the ground.

Taking time off is not only beneficial for your health but it’s also good for business. Taking a vacation or just taking the weekend off will rest you up and re-energize you. And that makes for better productivity when you’re ready to get back to running your business.

# 8 Get Dressed

Forget about the ads you see with people working from home in their pajamas. Studies show the kind of clothes we wear change how we think and feel.

So ditch the PJ’s and get into something comfy that will boost your self-esteem.

Over To You

Those are just some of the things you should be doing as a home-based business owner. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I know it’s easy to get caught up in the work-from-home life.

But if you want a successful business you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to answer them for you.

8 Things You Should Be Doing As A Home-Based Business Owner