Starting a home business is a lot of fun, it’s also a good way to get some extra cash!. Due to the recession there’s a lot of people that have to fear for their occupations. Not having job security is very stressful, especially if you have a family that’s counting on you.

Would you like to know more about starting a business from home? You might be thinking: “I have no experience with starting a business , how will I be succesful?”. The answer is pretty simple: it totally depends on your approach, motivation and ability to take action.

I’m not going to say that having a business is simple. You’ve probably read a lot of other articles where you’ll be promised to have a business that makes thousands of bucks within a month. I’m sure you’ve found out that things are a bit more complex. It is nonetheless, very feasible to start an own business that returns a reasonable amount of residual income at first.. with the potency to generate a few thousand dollars a month.

I’ve managed to create a home business myself. Needless to say I didn’t succeed right away, but I never gave up. After a month or two I already had an idea that worked out really well for my project. Soon after that, my business started to make a lot of money. I liked what I saw and put in more effort. Soon after that my project made me more than $350 a day. Being a sceptical person myself, I was totally blown away by the potential. At this time I took a massive risk and quit my day-time job, so I could focus on my home business. This is when matters really took off.. together with some good friends (who just started their own projects) we worked out four more plans.

At the moment each of us are making a six figure income.. through our projects alone. Awesome isn’t it?

Well, I didn’t write this article to brag about my own success. I want to share 10 very valuable lessons I’ve learned in the process of creating my home business.

I’m sure these ten lessons will help YOU to be succesfull. It’s not necesary to dive in straight away and take huge risks.. there is nothing wrong with starting something on the side and see how things work out.
These are the 10 lessons that will help you with your home business:

10. Start your home business while still employed
It would be a very bad idea to put everything on the line. Never quit your day-time job until you are entirely sure you want to concentrate everything on your project. Of course it’s not easy to start a project while still being employed. Chances are, that you have a thousand other things on your mind. But if you really want it, everyone can pull it off. It’s actually not that hard to free up 2 hours a day for your project. It’s a matter of getting the priorities straight.

9. Don’t try and be an expert at everything
This is a common mistake a lot of people make, including myself. I wanted to know everything, be able to do everything and do everything myself. Face it.. you can’t be an expert at everything. It’s hardly ever a good idea to start your project all by yourself. It’s good to be able to do most of it yourself, but for some things you’ll be better off outsourcing it or get someone to help you out. This can cost you a bit money, but it gives you the ability to focus on the more important projects. Carefully think about your strengths and weaknesses, this will give you a strong idea on what you need.

8. Think long term
A lot of people start in an spontaneous mood. This isn’t a bad thing, seeing as how these ideas commonly work out pretty well. Just remember that it’s always good to think long-term. There are enough ways to make some quick profit.. unfortunately it barely ever lasts. Make sure you have an idea on how to keep the business running. How do you keep customers, where does the profit come from, what do you do if x happens? If you can answer such questions you’re good to go!

7. Get your marketing skills up-to-par
Well, this might be a contradiction because I’ve just said you don’t need to be an expert at everything. Marketing skills however, are essential for having succes. If you don’t have a background in (internet) marketing, I recommend you to read some blogs or books. This will benefit you with your home business!

6. Device a plan of attack for the home business
Don’t start just yet! It’s good to have a bit of a plan of attack. Don’t write a huge business plan or try and cover everything you can possibly think off.. it usually doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. But you should at least have a strong idea of what you’re going to do and keep doing. Create goals, set priorities, write down some essential steps and have a broad draft of what you’re home business is going to look like.

5. Don’t look back
It doesn’t matter how amazing you are: you will make slips. I don’t think there’s anyone that started a home business without setbacks. Of course it’s not easy to deal with setbacks and failure.. but please, continue with what you’re doing and learn from your mistakes. Too many people get frustrated, insecure or unmotivated when things aren’t going according to plan. This is a shame because making mistakes will benefit your home business in the end.

4. Market research
There’s probably a few people cringing right now. If you don’t know who your competitors are and what the odds of your home business are like, you are very vulnerable. Before you head into any (niche) market it is important to know what the strong and weak points of your competition are. You might also come across things you didn’t know about, which can be used for your home business.

3. Focus
Focus is very important if you’re creating a home business. All too often people will find themselves doing twenty tasks at once. The result: neither task gets completed or the quality is lacking. If you’re working on your home business, make a to-do list and prioritize. Always finish something before you move forward. This might be/seem difficult at first, but you’ll be a lot more productive later on!

2. Do what you love
Doing something that you love is the biggest motivation you’ll ever have. Make sure that you do something you enjoy when you’re starting your home business. If you’re starting a home business in something you’re not really fanatic about.. you’ll soon notice that it’s harder to stay motivated, especially when things are a bit rough.

1. Take action
On to the most important lessons: take action. This is where most people fail.You can read, learn, plan everything you want for your home business.. but if you’re not taking action you’ll never get anywhere.

So, if you’re about to start your own home business.. don’t begin totally unprepared and be willing to put time in learning how to do stuff.. but NEVER forget to actually TAKE ACTION. The worst thing that can happen is that things don’t work out and you end up having to start your home business all over again.. so what? At least you had the balls to take action.

I hope you can put these lessons to work! If you want to know more about starting a home business, or if you’re interested in a clear newbies guide, check out my home business blog!

James Grizzly is the author of Home Business – Earn Money, a blog seeking to help out others!