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Starting a home business might seem like a great way of redressing the dreaded work-life balance when it’s gotten out of whack, so you can spend more time with your family and not have to worry about stressful things like the commute and annoying colleagues. All of that stuff may be true, but it doesn’t mean that starting your own business from home is a breeze – it isn’t.

 

There are lots of practicalities that you will need to think about when considering a home-based business if you want it to be a success. Here are some of the most important:

 

Funding

 

Just because you have a laptop and access to the internet, doesn’t mean you can just set up business right now, no money required. Sure, you might be able to do that if you want to start a blogging business or something, but even then, it’s better to have some capital so you can invest in better website designs and do a little marketing, and for everything else, well it’s pretty impossible.

 

So, you need to find a source of funding. Luckily, there are lots of options open to even small home-based businesses. You could try for a traditional bank loan for a small business, try your hand at crowdfunding, get an angel investor onboard or even use your savings. Your job is to identify your best bet, create a compelling business plan and go in armed with the knowledge and drive to secure funding.

 

Workspace

 

It’s tough enough to start a business in normal circumstances, let alone when you’re working from home around family life, That’s why it’s pretty important that you can create your own working space within your home. If you don’t have a spare room that you can convert into an office, then you might want to think about building an office in the garden. If you’re going to be selling goods, then you’ll probably need some storage space too. A garage or spare room might suffice in the early days. But what about when your company really takes off?. What will you do then? It’s better to work the workspace issue out sooner rather than later.

 

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The Legalities

 

You might think that it’s your home so you can do whatever you want with it, but you’ll probably find that there are various local rules and regulations about what you can and cannot do in the home. For example, if you plan to bake cookies at home and sell them online, it is likely that you will need to have your kitchen assessed for suitability and to ensure that you meet certain standards. You need to check out what you can and cannot do so that you don’t fall foul of the law and potentially get into a lot of trouble.

 

Your Routine

 

When you work from home, it can be hard to get motivated and easy for you to fall into a pattern of doing the chores or taking care of the kids when you should be working. It’s important, then that you work out how you’re going to structure your routine to keep work and life as separate as possible so that you can give each your full potential.

 

I hope working from home works out well for you.