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My day kicks off at about eight in the morning when my family leaves for work and school. First, I have devotions, then I'm off for a half-hour walk. Once home, I straighten up a bit and tackle the laundry. It's not until around ten that I walk down the hall to my office and start my workday.
Like a growing number of women, I have a home business—mine as a Christian mystery writer. A recent study commissioned by the U. S. National Foundation for Women Business Owners estimates that more than 14 percent of all businesses in the United States are run by women right out of home sweet home.
Maybe running a home-based business appeals to you. You like the idea of being your own boss, or being there when your kids get home from school. Or maybe you just want to leave the nine-to-five rat race behind or need some extra cash your regular job doesn't bring in. How and where do you begin?
Pick Your ProfessionDo you bake a positively-out-of-this-world cheesecake that disappears even before it hits the potluck table? Do friends call you when they can't figure out what their computer's doing? Perhaps you can turn your hobby, skill, or talent into a profitable business. First, take a long look at your skills, hobbies, and interests. If you're willing to let your imagination run wild, the business possibilities are endless.
Home-based businesses fall loosely into three categories: service, manufacturing, and direct market sales. Perhaps you prepare tax returns or design the church newsletter in your spare time. These fall into the service industry, which also includes consulting, daycare, catering, freelance writing, desktop publishing, and house and apartment cleaning.
Manufacturing includes products you make yourself: country crafts, draperies, food items such as homemade bread and jams, or your own line of watercolor-printed greeting cards. You can commission others to sell your product for you, sell on consignment, take your items to craft and trade fairs, or set up a mail order catalog service.
In direct market sales you're hired, usually on commission, to sell products manufactured by someone else. The products range from gourmet cookware and cosmetics to vitamins and children's clothing. How you sell—by house party or door-to-door—is usually determined by company policy.
Work HardIf you go into business for yourself at home, be prepared to work incredibly hard. You'll probably work harder than you ever worked for an employer—for less pay and fewer benefits. Now, if the prospect of working at home still appeals to you, read on.
It takes hard work, commitment, family support, and a whole lot of dedication to be willing to work long hours day after day, usually alone, without seeing a whole lot of results for four or five years (unfortunately, in most cases, that's how long it takes). But if this is your dream, you've prayed about it, and are willing to sacrifice, then keep going!
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