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Surviving Your First Year

Tips to Ensure Your Home Business Will Live to the Ripe Old Age of Two

Giving birth to a home business is nothing in comparison to the labor pains that can be involved with nurturing your new baby through its first year of existence. We're not trying to be grim, just realistic. It's simply better to be prepared than to find yourself in the situation of having to ask, "What went wrong?"

Instead of providing critical care to an unhealthy enterprise, these tips focus on preventative care and maintenance. Our prescriptions for increasing your company's longevity include the following suggestions.

• Anticipate hurdles - You don't need to smell smoke before you realize the risk associated with ignoring a match that's been thrown onto a pile of papers. If you have inklings that there might be trouble lurking on the path to becoming a successful home business owner, heed such warnings. It's all about keeping your feet planted firmly on the path below and your eyes focused on the bend in the path that lies ahead, as well as being prepared to "cross that bridge" long before you ever get there.
• Keep close track of your budget - Even if balancing a checkbook isn't your area of expertise, that's no excuse to not keep track of your business income and expenses. The bottom line in the ledger book is actually quite simple to understand…while money supposedly can't buy happiness, it's an absolute necessity to keep your business alive. Even if you're using the services of an accountant or you have an employee to take care of financial matters, it's still your responsibility to manage your money. Whether you approve every single expense or simply compare your bank account balance with your business plan cash-flow projections on a monthly basis, you should be vigilant and plug any leakages of funds long before they drain your financial reservoir.
• Pace yourself - Regardless of the challenges that you face, burying yourself in your home business, while potentially a lifesaver to your company, will eventually result in your own demise and need for resuscitation. Accept the fact that there will always be matters that require your attention. Your inbox will simply never be empty. Set guidelines for yourself and stick with them…in good times and in bad. It's the best way to ensure the survival of both you and your business.
• Rely on your support network - Support, while sometimes unnoticed and/or under-appreciated, is always present. Without it, all good things can come to an end. If you have a support system, don't hesitate to rely on its strength. Don't just turn to your family, friends, business associates, life coach, etc when the going gets tough. Rely on their different perspective and unique insight to keep things flowing smoothly, as well as to help carry you over any hurdles that arise.
• Routinely compare your progress with your original business plan - This goes beyond our previous discussion about keeping track on your budget. We're talking about such tasks as evaluating whether your customer base is comprised of the individuals that you expected, determining if your market area covers the region that you anticipated, and evaluating if your niche truly does exist sufficiently to support your business goals. Perhaps you'll be in even better business shape than you originally estimated. If not, it's better to know what areas need "tweaking" and to quickly take care of those items that you have some control over.
• Stay focused, but never be afraid to admit the need to make changes - Regardless of what difficulties arise, it's important to stay focused on the business goals that you've set. Don't change the direction of your company every time a new trend appears on the horizon or as soon as there's the slightest hint of trouble ahead. At the same time, it's also important to remain flexible enough to be ready, willing, and able to alter your course as necessary, whether it's a simple matter of deciding to no longer carry a certain product or it's making the difficult decision to fire an employee. A healthy company not only has a firm foundation, but can also tolerate the occasional shift under such a foundation.

It's possible that even the best laid business plans might fail to accomplish what you had envisioned, perhaps due to a downswing in the market or other such factors, many of which are out of your control. However, by following these simple guidelines and taking control of the issues that you can, you'll likely increase the chances that your home business baby will survive its first year and continue to grow strong for many years to come.

Good luck finding the perfect home business opportunity!

PS - We'd like to hear from you!
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