Starting a successful home business isn’t easy, but it is possible. It takes a great deal of effort, perseverance, consistency and a steely determination to keep going when things don’t go as planned.
That’s the life of a home-based entrepreneur.
It’s a journey that Chris and Jordan Fischer have tons of experience with. They’re the entrepreneurs behind WALK-i-TASK and I recently had the opportunity to interview them and hear their inspiring story first hand.
This is the first installment in our article series on Backyardpreneurs working from home and building successful business ventures.
I know first hand that building your own business from home can be a bit overwhelming at times. Learning how real people have made it work can give us the motivation to keep going.
Great personal success stories can lift us at the right moments.
Chris and Jordan’s tale is a great case in point, so if you’re in need of a little inspiration to keep moving forward on your own home business, read on!
From Idea to Launch of An Innovative Treadmill Desk Attachment
The Fischer’s didn’t start their work from home journey as business owners. Both have a sales background and their positions allowed them to do most of their work from home.
Life was good. They were having fun, enjoying their work, they loved the freedom of being able to work out of their apartment, but it wasn’t all ideal.
They found they were spending way too much time sitting. With no commute, no trips to the local coffee shop for lunch and no need to venture out on sales calls, they were moving less and they felt their health was suffering.
That’s when inspiration hit — as it so often does. They wanted to move more during their day while working from home and they suspected other people did too.
The answer could be a combination of things, taking breaks to walk outside, switching to a standing desk or even splashing out the cash for a treadmill desk.
That led them to question if there was an opening for another less expensive alternative than a treadmill desk that could cost thousands of dollars.
This small spark of an idea took them down a path that would allow them to keep working from home while building their own business as well.
It was an opportunity to take that sales knowledge and use it to build something of their own.
Early Research and Social Outreach
As Chris and Jordan thought about what a less expensive option might look like, they noticed that there were a lot of people trying to create their own DIY setups to turn their existing treadmills into treadmill desks.
The problem with these self made options was that they consisted of a basic wooden board laid across the arms — they were unstable and you’d have to bend in unnatural positions to work.
They saw an opportunity to create a desktop attachment that was stable, height adjustable and angle adjustable. This would allow you to transform the treadmill you already own into a comfortable treadmill desk and avoid spending thousands of dollars on an all-in-one solution.
Identifying A Clear Need Before Starting A Home Based Business
The experience and approach of the Fischer’s hits upon a key point when you’re looking to start a home based business. Before committing time and money into any project, it’s important to do your homework and ask the right questions.
Is there a real demand for your product or service?
Do you have the skills, support network and resources to pursue the idea even when there is a demand?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then you’re ready to take the next steps.
They even went the extra step of creating a prototype and having a few people test it out before starting up full production.
The feedback they received was overwhelmingly positive and that convinced them to keep going.
Be Prepared for The Grind and Hard Work
There was a lot of effort that went into getting WALK-i-TASK off the ground.
When starting your own home business you have to be ready for this if you want to turn it into a full-time venture.
Creating a backyard business is hard work. At times you have to push through the grind, dealing with a lot of small details just to find out if the need you’ve identified has enough of a market to become a profitable business for you.
You have to have that entrepreneurial spirit, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn a lot of what you need to know along your journey.
As long as you’re willing to put in the hours and you’re able to use your existing skills and build upon them, you can start a successful work from home business just like Chris and Jordan.
Expect the Unexpected When Starting A Business From Home
WALK-i-TASK was well beyond the dream stage when the unexpected happened — the Covid Pandemic hit North American shores.
Chris and Jordan were already in contact with a design and engineering firm when the brakes were put on the world’s economy.
The video below demonstrates what they came up with as a finished product.
Lockdowns happened all over the globe, supply chains ground to a halt and an international shipping crisis became the norm. That made it even harder to get off the ground, but they didn’t quit.
They looked at the global situation as a setback — not the end of their idea. Their official launch was pushed back a few months, but they still pushed forward.
When starting any business there are going to be unexpected things that happen that are out of your control. The difference between success and failure is a willingness to keep going in the face of these challenges.
WALK-i-TASK’s Rocky Start Became An Opportunity
On the flipside, the pandemic may have helped Chris and Jordan with the launch of their treadmill desktop attachment in the long run.
It accelerated a trend towards working from home that was already starting. As more people began working remotely, that meant more potential customers for WALK-i-TASK.
This illustrates a key point. When building a business out of your garage, living room or anywhere in your home, you have to be ready to pivot as the market changes around you.
You might not be able to control the direction things are going, but you can take advantage of them to launch a successful venture.
There was already a trend towards working from home, as well as a switch to standing desks and treadmill desks — Chris and Jordan were just able to recognize a need rising out of these trends and capitalize on them.
Bringing Your Network Onboard to Help Start Your Business
When you’re building a business from scratch from your home, resources are limited. Chris and Jordan weren’t afraid to tap into their network of friends and family for help. That was a key part of their early success.
Jordan’s younger brother helped out with graphic design for the original concept drawings and Chris was able to connect with a friend to help set up warehousing for the launch in Michigan.
Chances are you won’t have large amounts of capital available if you’re trying to launch a new business from home. Being able to lean on your own network can make a big difference.
As WALK-i-TASK looks to expand from the US market into Canada, they’re again leaning on their existing network to set up warehousing in the Kitchener/Waterloo area.
They even have Chris’s mother helping by handling the return department for WALK-i-TASK from her own home in Atlanta.
When Starting A Home Business You Have to Wear Many Hats for Success
Hiring outside help to build an online presence can be expensive. These are the types of details that often stop people from launching a home business.
In the early stages of your business you have to be willing to take on a lot yourself. When starting WALK-i-TASK Jordan took on the task of building a website — an essential component in any product launch these days.
Whatever skills they didn’t have they set about learning as much as they could through Youtube videos and other similar resources.
They also handle the customer help and online assistant duties themselves. If you reach out to them online with a question about their product, it’s either Chris or Jordan answering on the other end — no robots.
Chris makes it clear that building a business from home means a lot of sacrifice. Wearing many hats means no holidays and no weekends for the first few years.
They’re often dealing with customer questions in the middle of dinner and separating work life from home life can be a real challenge.
As the business grows, they hope to be able to take on more employees that can take on more of the day to day tasks, but for now long hours are the norm.
The difference between a successful home based business and a failure largely comes down to the level of commitment you’re willing to put into your enterprise.
There Will Be Personal Challenges and Adjustments When Working From Home
It isn’t just business challenges you have to deal with when working from home, there are all kinds of personal challenges as well.
The WALK-i-TASK itself was designed because of one of them — the need to move more while working from home. The Fischer’s were inspired to create their treadmill desktop attachment because of their own real life experience.
Another big change they had to deal with was a lack of social contact with coworkers. There was no physical interaction or conversations at the water cooler.
Virtual meetings can help somewhat with loneliness and if you’re lucky enough to be building your business with your personal partner like them, that helps as well.
For solopreneurs, getting out of the house, even for a quick trip to the local coffee shop can be an important part of the daily routine when working from home.
Running A Business From Home Means More Flexibility in Your Schedule
As Chris and Jordan point out, there are a lot more positives than negatives when running a business from home. Your schedule is flexible and you can do tasks in the middle of the day that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
If you need to take a 5 minute break to throw in a load of laundry you can. You control your day and that’s what’s attracting more and more people to the work from home lifestyle.
Now that they have this flexibility they can’t imagine living any other way.
If you’d like to add a WALK-i-TASK of your own to your work from home setup, use the code REMOTEOFF and receive $50 off your purchase.
There’s no better way to keep motivated as you build your successful home business than to get up and move more throughout your day.
