Working from home can be the best way to work. There are no distractions, you don’t need to commute in the morning, and you’ll never have to make small talk by the coffee machine at 8am. It can allow you to work in your own environment, surrounded by the things you love and give you the creative licence to play around with your office. If you are working on your own business, you’ll know that it can be a long road to your first sale, and for the snowball effect to take hold. If you haven’t started your own business yet, here’s what you need to know:
Time Management
Before you start building up your empire, you must first be able to manage your time effectively. Running a business involves a huge juggling act of making sure you promote your business, trade, send things out, correspond with clients and handle your finances. Because of this you need to get in the habit of writing yourself to-do lists each day and staying on track of your work.
Register Your Business
Once you finally decide to go live with your business venture, you’ll need to register your business with the government. This will mean you have a business ID, tax ID and other necessary documents which prevent you from being prosecuted for illegal trading. Make sure you have all the information about your company, address, employees, profits and other things ready for the process.
Coordinate Your Finances
Now that you are the owner of a business, you will need to be able to manage your finances effectively. This might mean employing an accountant to help you or even just writing everything down as you go. You’ll want to make sure that at the end of each month, your incomings outweigh your expenditure.
Manage Your Mail
You might think that mail is the last thing you need o worry about when starting a business, but in fact, having the doorbell ringing several times a day and tonnes of letters at your door can be a big disturbance to your work. Consider opening a virtual mailbox with a company such as hoxtonmix.com to enable you to have your mail all in one place when you need it.
Social Media Strategy
Social media is arguably the most powerful form of communication and marketing in the world. This is why you want to make sure that you are able to use each platform with ease and you know how to create a promotion. Consider taking a social media course (well worth the investment) – there are lots available (online, classroom-based) – choose the right one for you. Online ones offer the greatest flexibility, such as on here: http://www.e-careers.com/Marketing/Digital-DMI to build your skills to create tailored content for your audience. Learn which platforms will fit your business: B2B businesses work well with LinkedIn, fashion brands do well on Instagram and food bloggers are very successful on Pinterest. Vamp up your photography skills and get creative with the content you share.If social media isn’t your forte, you can hire someone to take care of your social channels for you. ?
