Starting a business out of your home has its perks, but it can also come with a whole host of problems as well.
Before you know it you’re spinning your wheels spending too much time on the wrong things, not enough time on the right ones and losing track of your end goals.
Mistakes are bound to happen along the way when starting a business from home. That just goes with the territory. But how you go about correcting them and moving forward can be the difference between ultimate success and failure.
Every one of the mistakes we’re going to explore I’ve been guilty of at some point or another — I’ve definitely learned these ones from experience!
Here are 7 mistakes people make when starting a business from home and how to fix them.
If you’d prefer to watch a video version of this post follow the link below. Otherwise read on!
1| The First Mistake People Make When Starting A Business from Home is Not Having Office Space
When I first started working from home my office was wherever my seat was planted. Sometimes I worked from the kitchen table, sometimes in my living room recliner and other times on the front porch.
I had no separation between business space and family space. There were no boundaries, lots of interruptions and my business suffered as a result.
The Fix:
When starting out as a Backyardpreneur it’s not always going to be easy to create a private space to work, so you have to be willing to think differently.
We didn’t have a spare room available for an office when I was getting started with my home business so I had to look for somewhere else that I could have the privacy I needed to work.
I came up with a hybrid solution that works for me.
In the spring and summer I work in a converted office shed or under my gazebo when the weather’s nice and there aren’t too many noise distractions outside.
In the fall and winter I move my office into a garage space I’ve set up. This is where I keep my permanent files as well so I don’t have to constantly move them from office to office.
The key is to find a space for you that’s available and that has privacy.
2| People Try to Do too Much At Once When Starting A Home Business
When you make the leap and decide to start on a home business project it’s exciting. If you’re anything like I was you’ll be chomping at the bit to get to the end goal.
That’s where mistakes happen. New business owners try to do too many things at once instead of concentrating on one thing at a time.
When it comes to mistakes people make when starting a business from home, this is a biggie!
Instead of launching their business quicker, they end up getting further and further away from the finish line. Many will feel it’s all a bit too overwhelming and give up before they ever really get off the ground.
The Fix:
The answer to this one might seem simple, but it’s often overlooked. I had a couple of failures to launch before I really got any traction in my home business — all because I was trying to do too much at once.
When I settled down and started looking at things one at a time, success started to follow. I set about one task at a time, before moving on to another. It looked something like this for me, but of course it might be a lot different for you depending on your type of business:
- Online learning — blogs, Youtube, podcasts and books
- Some Freelance Writing Work on the side to get my feet wet
- Developed a Buyer persona for my target audience
- Launched a website and started promotion
- More promotion and networking
- A Constant focus on next steps
My business is a content business and so it’s purely an online service. The same applies to product centric businesses as well though. Start with one thing at a time — don’t do everything at once.
3| Home Based Businesses Often Fail Because They Have No Clear Game Plan
A formal business plan isn’t always necessary, although it’s never a bad idea. More than 70% of first time businesses fail and it’s usually because they had no real plan or direction.
If you think a business plan is a bit over the top at least sit down and develop some overall goals. Think about how you’ll get started. Do you need financing? Education? What tools do you need to start your business?
The Fix:
It’s best to have some kind of record to look back on. Don’t just plan in your head. It may be as simple as creating a Microsoft Word File or a Google Doc. Whatever works for you, but make sure you have a clear game plan in place before you get started.
4| Not Knowing Your Customer Profile
You might think you have a great idea for a business, but you need to have customers or loyal followers depending on your business type.
If you have no idea what the needs of your target audience are it’s hard to create a successful business that they’ll support.
You might be one of the few to succeed by blind luck, but most businesses that don’t understand their customers fail in the first year.
The Fix:
There are many online tools that can help you develop a customer profile and it’s something every home business owner should do. Hubspot has a great platform and here’s a quick list of the top five options available:
- Hubspot’s Make My Persona
- Digital Marketer’s Customer Avatar Worksheet
- File Stage’s Effective Buyer Persona
- CXL’s Customer Persona Guide
- Moz’s Persona Guide
5| Many Home Business Owners Make the Mistake of Not Organizing Their Day
It isn’t just your business that needs a plan. In my first year of business I had no real plan. I was building a freelance writing business and basically I was just working project to project. When it was finished, I’d just head online to search for another.
I did okay, but I didn’t make any serious traction using this method. Certainly not enough to start working as a freelancer full time from home.
The Fix:
When I started to set weekly goals and to map out what each day would like I began to make real strides towards taking my business full time.
I started to set daily routines as well. The first part of the morning was for catching up on client emails and prospecting.
In the second half of the morning I would work on my current project.
Afternoons were reserved for editing, proofreading and communication with clients. As all of this became routine it became easier to keep up and make real traction.
I always had another project ready to launch, instead of waiting until the latest one was finished.
6| Home Business Owners Fail Because They Don’t Set Limits
Even with a separate backyard office, a clear business plan and a daily routine organized, you can still veer off the rails by not setting limits.
I found myself working 70 to 80 hours a week at one point. Instead of moving my business ahead, I was just setting myself up for burnout. By the end of every week I was exhausted!
The Fix:
The standard work week in the corporate world is usually somewhere between 40 and 50 hours a week or even slightly less. That’s a good target for your home based business as well.
You might need to put in a bit more time at launch, but you should always be aiming to reduce those hours over time if you want to achieve true work/life balance.
Working from home can be great for your personal and family life, but not if you spend all of your time working on your business.
7| Owning A Home Business Can Be Lonely
If you’ve made the decision to start a home business you’re probably bubbling with enthusiasm and you should be! Going into business for yourself can be life changing.
What you may not be counting on is the loneliness that comes with working from home on your own business. There won’t be any more water cooler chats, no more office pools and no more lunch with coworkers.
When you first start on your business you might be too busy to work on these things but it will take its toll eventually.
Working on your own also means no one to collaborate with and no networking opportunities. That can mean missed opportunities and a failure to notice an error until it’s too late.
The Fix:
Obviously your spouse can be a good sounding board, but you should also seek to meet up with others and discuss ideas either in person or in virtual settings.
There are all kinds of social media forums, groups and platforms you can use. You might find some great face to face groups in your area as well.
Meet up with old friends for a daily coffee and to bounce ideas off them if that makes you more comfortable. The key is to make sure you have real contact with real people. Otherwise you’ll find the loneliness catching up on you and getting in the way of your business goals.
Next Steps
Now that you have a better picture of some of the common mistakes people make when starting a business from home, you’ll have a much easier time avoiding them or at least have a plan to fix them when they happen.
The next step is to keep moving forward, deal with the growing pains as they happen and don’t be afraid to modify your plan as your business grows!
