Are you tired of the 9 to 5 grind? Is just a salary enough for you to be able to enjoy your life? Would you like to be your own boss? How about setting your own hours and where you work? If any of these situations apply to you, you are a candidate for starting your own small business. The question is; how to start your own small business at home?
Business startup ideas-How to start your own business
There are several competing ideas that can lead to a successful small business at home. Many people start out with a simple idea of selling things on the internet. There are several platforms that a home-based small business person can utilize.
Craig’s List
Many people have begun their small business by advertising on platforms such as Craig’s List. If you have lots of things that you have accumulated and need to get rid of, consider Craig’s List. Unless you have been a hoarder, this will not last indefinitely. But, it could be a good starter.
Offerup
A similar platform is one called Offerup. It works similar to Craig’s List but is not as diversified. Still, it can be a starter. It can be a way of making some money to apply toward a more permanent business platform.
Real internet based business
The two previous platforms are business ideas, but not really your business. They are avenues to begin making money but rarely to build growing businesses.
We are assuming that you have access to a computer and the internet. These are the two essential tools you will need to build a business at home.
Promote your products
You might think that you do not have any products to sell. You may not have any at your home, but there are millions that companies have to sell. And they would love for you to sell them for them.
The process is called “dropshipping”. You do not keep any of the products at your location. You act as a promoter for the product. The way you do that is by listing the product in a store or an auction site. You join the auction or sales site and advertise the product through them. I shall detail it a little more in a minute.
You list pictures and details about the product and then set a price for it. The price you charge should be enough to pay for the product, shipping, and all fees incurred. The fees include the platform percentage of cost and any Paypal or credit card fees and your profit. Depending on the product that markup may be from 25% to 100%.
Sales
When you make a sale, you receive the payment through your Paypal account. That payment is the cost you charge the customer. You then take part of that payment and pay the supplier(dropshipper) his price. The remaining amount after platform and Paypal fees is your profit.
After that, the dropshipper handles the rest. He will prepare and ship the product to the address that you give him, or her. All you need to do is inform the buyer and ask them to inform you when they receive it.
Dropshippers
There are literally thousands of dropshippers out there. Some charge a signup fee to join and others do not charge. You can find the ones that are best for you and fit the niche that you like.
You will usually need to have a credit card to register with the supplier. That way they know you are a viable entity and they can deal with you.
Small business best ideas for sales and auctions
The two strongest platforms for beginning an online sales business are Ebay and Bonanza. It used to be that Ebay was the giant and all others were the pions. But that has changed as Bonanza has begun to assert their presence.
Ebay
Ebay has been around the longest and has great notoriety. That can be good and it can be not so good. Because of their popularity, they charge higher fees for their service. Understand that their fees are only assessed when a sale is made. You can have a free membership, list a maximum number of products and never pay a fee unless you sell.
They subtract their fee from the sale price from your Paypal account. You will need a Paypal account. Those are easy to get if you have a credit card or a bank account.
Ebay and Paypal take between 13% and 15% of the sale price. So, make sure you mark up plenty to be able to make a profit.
If you decide to join one of there storefront memberships you will need to pay for it. That will save you a little on the percentage they take. But, for a beginner, the free membership will suffice.
Bonanza
Bonanza is very much like Ebay but they charge less percentage of the sale for their fee. They have developed into a full-blown competitor for Ebay. Their service is on a par with that of Ebay and ahead of most others.
Paypal is their goto pay method. So, you can expect to pay the normal Paypal fee. But, the fee is well worth it because you get your money almost immediately.
Most people who build a Bonanza or Ebay business are using dropshippers. All they have is a computer and an internet connection. That is basically all you need to start your online business if you like sales.
Shopify
Another sales platform is Shopify. This is basically a storefront sales business. It is still based on the dropshipping scenario. You decide the niche you want to promote and choose products accordingly. Then you find your suppliers and set up an account with them. Most of the time the supplier will have all that you need to set your shop up and launch.
Volusion
Similar to Shopify is Volusion. They have several platforms on which you can launch your storefront business. They can direct you and have upgrades to fit any need you have.
Startup best ideas
If you do not have any money or do not wish to spend money at first, think Ebay or Bonanza. As I stated above, you do not spend money until you get money. The Shopify and Volusion will cost you money up front. Any business worth building is going to take some money infusion at some point.
But, if you must begin with no money go Bonanza or Ebay. But, the time will come when you will want to grow beyond these. This is the program that I would like to address now.
Small business best idea
All of the beginner businesses I mentioned above will take a lot of your time. If you are retired and have nothing to do but sit around, these may be fine. But, if you would like to make money and have time to enjoy the fruits of your business, check this.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing does require a lot of money to begin your business. You can begin it for free but it will soon require a minimal amount of money investment. It will produce the most income for the time involved. The investment you make in money will be miniscule compared to the income you will make.
Though it will take a little while to get established, it will be more than worth it. It usually takes from six months to a year to begin to realize a good income.
Be alert
There are some promoters of affiliate marketing that are “scam” artists. They will promise that you will begin to make money almost immediately. That may be possible, but highly unlikely.
There are others who will offer you a ready-made website for a seemingly good price. But they do not provide the tools nor the knowledge for you to make it work. Support is non-existent.
There are still others who provide the website and “support”. But their support vanishes about a month into the process. Or, they recommend upgrades to the program so you can make the “big bucks”.
Any program that promises to make you rich quick should be suspect. The chances are the only ones getting rich quick are the scammers. Any product worth having is worth paying a fair price.
However, you should be able to expect a fair return on your investment. Whether that investment is time or money.
My recommendation for small business at home
Because of what I have experienced I believe that affiliate marketing is the best platform for small business at home. I am retired but enjoy working. Though I am regularly busy, I do have extra time on my hands. I do not like to sit around watching TV. So, I began to look for a way to start my own small business at home.
For about a year I made mistake after mistake. Thankfully, I learned from my mistakes. Finally, I settled on affiliate marketing. There were a couple of mistakes in that arena, too. I was taken advantage of by a couple of smooth-talking scammers. That cost me dearly.
But, Praise God, I finally found a program and platform that did just what it said. Yes, it costs me a regular membership fee(paid monthly or yearly). But with what I spent on a couple of the other “scams” I could pay for 6 years of membership. The tools and knowledge that I get with this program are really priceless.
With what I have learned in one year I could go on my own if I wished. But there is so much more that they have to offer, that I would be a fool to leave. The knowledge and the tools made available are far more valuable than the small yearly fee I pay. There is no program that compares with this program.
Are you ready to start your own business?
If your answer is, “Yes!”, then I want to recommend a program for you to consider. That program is Wealthy Affiliate. This program was established by the two young men who still run it. It is the platform on which they have built several income businesses of their own.
They were so successful that they decided to share their knowledge with others. For the past 14 years, they have been doing just that. Well over a million people have been helped to establish their own online business and prosper. The archives of the knowledge library continue to grow every day.
They do not promise any “get rich quick” schemes. But they do provide the tools that any person willing to invest the time can succeed to the level they wish. The biggest investment you can make in your business is your time.
Wealthy Affiliate
The cost in money for Wealthy Affiliate is $49 a month. You can save on that by purchasing a year membership. For that $49 a month you have access to everything that Wealthy Affiliate has to offer.
Let me list just a few, and it is just a few. There are thousands to be sure.
- Archives of lessons on how to do everything related to your business
- Tutorials for a wide range of subjects
- 24-hour support that gets answers in minutes, not hours or days
- Free websites- 25 free websites, yes I said FREE
- And Free hosting for your 25 free websites
- Free hosting for up to 25 websites you may own or purchase
- Lessons on how to do any phase of building a website or improving
- Weekly webinars on timely subjects
- A network of like-minded marketeers
- An endless number of videos and tutorials on any subject related to marketing
The list could go on and on. But I think you get the idea. You can find answers to any question you may have.
The invitation
Let me invite you to try Wealthy Affiliate for free. Yes, for free. It is really FREE! All you have to do is register an email address and you can receive a FREE membership. With that FREE membership, you will receive access to 10 free lesson tutorials. In those ten lessons, you will learn how to set up your website and begin to promote it.
Along with the FREE membership, you will receive two FREE websites and FREE hosting for those websites. You will establish your website and then launch it. All of this is FREE.
You will receive other benefits with the FREE membership, also. I shall leave you a chart below that compares the FREE membership to the PREMIUM membership. The PREMIUM membership is the highest there is. So, there is no pressure to upgrade.
Wealthy Affiliate is the best program for starting your own small business at home.
Only you can make the choice. Make the choice to succeed with Wealthy Affiliate.
