According to a recent Harris poll, 72% of American households are thinking about starting a small business, home based.

This statistic left me wondering if they have what it takes? So I quickly ran through one or two questions in my mind and decided to set them down. Hopefully you will find some positives.

Which business is right for you? Do you have a real idea of what you want your business to be or are you just seeking a business as an escape from employment?

A vital question which needs positive response.

Capitalising on your natural talents! You are going to use your talents and experience so where ever possible stay with what you know. You will know more than you think!

Right off, how about these business ideas?

Work from home on contract with you previous employer(s). Go on to cultivate new clients using your skills. Acquire additional skills. Cultivate more clients usng these new skills. Bingo you’ve got your business!

Use your home PC as a profit generator. You can do this part time, acquire new skills and reach your target market. Hard copy or electronically.

Create a business around a;

Craft, say woodworking, there is great market for traditional rocking horses and they sell at premium prices.

Hobby, flower arranging, I have two friends who are in constant demand for weddings, parties etc.

Vocation, I have friend who is very un-happily employed. He is a superb model maker, e.g. scale models of steam locomotives, and he has all of necessary equipment. He could offer a range of manufacturing services. Despite his employment situation he will not go it alone – nor should he if it’s not right for him. Nevertheless you get my point? Profession. If you have a profession what is it? Can you offer products or services? Yes if you think about it and you want to.

Decide clearly and without emotion what it is you want to do and do it, focus on it and provided there is a market use innovative methods to bring your goods/services to market. If there isn’t a market do not become a missionary. It won’t work – no matter how much you would like it to and no matter how hard you try.

That part is only start!

You will have issues;

Setting Up Your Home Based Small Business, have you got room? I have come across an addition to SOHO (small office, home office). How about SOGO – small office, garden office. Apparently there is strong demand for garden offices.

I love it, another innovative market opening up; it’s all around us. The knack is to see it.

What's in a NAME?

Don’t try to flatter yourself by using your name. Your business name should wherever possible describe what your business does because you need your client targets to know with minimum of effort. You only use your name if you have a particular reputation well known in your market. It’s best to be as descriptive as you can.

Creating a budget you can live with.

You won’t start earning immediately so you will need reserves and a Business Plan to project cash demand on your business. This is a big issue and a vital topic.

Carving your NICHE.

You will also need a sales and marketing plan to ensure a steady stream of customers/clients. When you are busy operationally you will be in danger of not marketing and selling. This is real dilemma for all small business owners, so really work out where your regular stream of business will come from and make it a priority. No clients/customers, no business.

Running Your Business.

A greeting card home business opportunity can have you doing only one part, such as drawing or writing. This same business can be selling e-cards or cards sold in stores. It could also entail purchasing a territory from a larger card distributor.

The first step in how to start a greeting card company is to decide what part of greeting card business you want to focus on. As a freelance greeting card artist, you would focus only on designing cards for other companies. There are costs associated with this option and could include purchase of a computer and graphic art software if you don’t already have these items.

If you decide to be a freelance greeting card writer, your home based greeting card business would focus on only writing phrases to be used on greeting cards. For this, you only need a computer and quick turn around time.

Of course, you can always freelance as both a writer and artist. To get jobs you must contact companies to see if they are in need of freelancers. They pay from $50 an assignment to several hundred dollars per assignment. However, until you build up a portfolio of samples, and sometimes even after, jobs can be hard to find.

Another option is to purchase a vending route from a larger greeting card company. This route becomes your way of starting a greeting card company. You are required to keep current clients stocked in cards, replace old cards with new ones and get new clients to build your income. You have start up costs that can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars in inventory. However, when you take cards to clients, you receive your payments right then.