How to Start a Home Business in 9 Steps

So, if you’re looking to start a home-based business, you’ll need to make sure you’re prepared. This means doing your research, preparing a business plan, and filing the necessary paperwork.

When you’re starting a business, it’s important to take things one step at a time. This will help the process seem more manageable and less overwhelming. There are also a number of details you don’t have to worry about when you’re running a business from home, like finding an office or retail space.

When you’re starting and running a business from home, you don’t have to worry about things like finding an office or retail space. This can be really helpful because it saves you time and money.

How to Start a Home-Based Business

First, you need to determine the type of business you want to start. This will help you determine the steps you need to take to get started.

There is a myriad of home business ideas out there, and while some are more popular than others, some businesses can be run from home.

If you’re looking for home business ideas that have a high chance of being home-based, the SBA reports that businesses in the information industry have a 70% chance of being home-based, closely followed by businesses in the construction industry at 68.2%.

So, how do you come up with the PERFECT idea for a home-based business idea?

Essentially, this process involves a lot of planning. After all, deciding what kind of business you want to start will heavily influence the rest of the process.

When making an important decision, it can be helpful to consider the following:

What are your goals? What do you hope to achieve by starting a business? Do you want to make a difference in the world? Do you want to be your own boss? Do you want to make a lot of money? Once you know what your goals are, it will be easier for you to narrow down your list of potential home business ideas.

What is the market like? It’s important to consider the needs of your potential customers when choosing a business idea. For example, if you’re passionate about environmental issues, you might consider starting a green cleaning company. Or, if you’re interested in fashion, you might start an online clothing boutique.

What are your resources? When starting a business, it’s important to consider the resources you have available. For example, if you have a lot of money saved up, you might consider starting a franchise. Or, if you have a lot of time but not much money, you might start an online business. By considering your skills, talents, passions, goals, and resources, you can narrow down your list of potential business ideas and choose the one that’s right for you.

What skills and talent do you have? Think about the hobbies, interests, and activities you already enjoy. This is a great place to start when thinking about business ideas!

If you’re good at sewing, starting a seamstress business could be a great option for you. Alternatively, you could also consider making and selling your own apparel. Both options could be great ways to use your skills and talents to create a successful business.

Not every talent and ability will translate directly into a business opportunity.

Just because you love playing soccer, doesn’t mean you should necessarily start a soccer team.

It’s important to make sure that your business idea can actually be run from home before you get started. There are a lot of factors to consider, such as whether or not the business plays to your strengths and if it can comply with any state regulations that may be in place.

Once you’ve decided on an idea, you’ll want to make sure that it’s worth the investment. To do this, you’ll first want to:

Create a business plan: This will be your roadmap for success, so you’ll want to make sure it’s well thought out. In your business plan, you’ll want to include your business model, niche marketing strategy, financial projections, and operational details.

Get feedback from others: Before you move forward with your home-based business idea, it’s important to get feedback from others. This could include family members and friends, potential customers, mentors, or even online forums. Once you have a good understanding of the above three things, you’ll be in a much better position to decide if starting a home-based business is right for you.

There are a variety of ways to determine whether your business idea is worth investing in. You might offer your services for free to test the market.

If you’re planning on selling a product, you can test it out with a select group of people or advertise it on a crowdfunding platform to gather responses before moving forward. This will help you determine whether your idea is worth pursuing.

Many business owners, like Scottsdale, AZ resident, Scott, started their home businesses after getting laid off from their jobs.

After working in television, he decided to start his own clothing line called Height, which designs clothes for tall men.

“Once I started working from home, it made me realize how much I hated going into an office every day. I love the freedom and flexibility that working remotely gives me.”

Office politics and drama are a thing of the past for me.

2. Write a business plan

Once you’ve decided which profitable business to start, the next step is to write your business plan.

A business plan can be one of the most difficult aspects of starting a home business, but it’s vital to the growth of your business. Although there are different methods for writing a business plan, generally, you’ll want your business plan to include:

• An executive summary.
• A description of your business.
• Your business goals and objectives.
• A market analysis.
• A description of your target market.
• Your marketing and sales strategy.
• Your financial projections.
• The products or services you offer.

3. Choose a name and business entity

After you have written your business plan, you need to choose a business name.

You’ll want to choose a name for your business that is both memorable and makes it clear what your business does.

After you have chosen a name for your business, you will want to make sure that it is available to use. You can check this in a few different places, such as your state’s secretary of state website or business bureau website, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or even by doing a simple Google search.

This is why it’s important to extend your search beyond your state when you’re launching an online home business. You want to make sure that your potential domain name is available for your website.

You’ll need to choose a business entity type to define your business structure, in addition to deciding on a name.

The business entity you choose for your home business will affect how your business is taxed, the legal risk you’re exposed to, and whether or not you need to officially register your business with the state.

Type of business

Single-person business

Some benefits of forming an LLC in Nevada include the following: it is easy to start your LLC without having to register with the state, tax filing is simple, and there are no corporate formalities or paperwork requirements.

As the owner of a business, you are personally responsible for any business debts and liabilities. There is no separation between you and the business, making it harder to build business credit.

Joint venture

Start up costs are low

Profits are split with your partner

You can write off most of your business expenses on your personal tax return

Each owner is responsible for all business debts and liabilities.

Issues between partners can damage the business.

Harder to build business credit.

LLC

An LLC is not responsible for all business debts and liabilities. An LLC can choose to be taxed in different ways and has fewer formalities than other corporation types.

A limited liability company is more expensive to start up than a sole proprietorship or general partnership, and it must be registered with the state.

Corporation

If you’re looking to establish your business with personal liability protection and a variety of tax deductions, then you’ll want to consider forming an LLC. Limited liability companies offer their owners flexibility when it comes to how the business is taxed and can help save on self-employment taxes.

While a C corporation may be more expensive to create than other business entity types, the benefits of double taxation and the ability to deduct business losses on personal tax returns may make it the best choice for your home business.

If you choose to structure your home business as a sole proprietorship or general partnership, you may not need to register your business with the state. This could save you time and money in the long run.

If you choose not to register your business with the state, your business name will default to your legal name. You can file a DBA, or “doing business as,” with your state in order to operate under a different name.

If you would like to start your home business under a different name, you can file for a DBA, or “doing business as,” with your state. This will allow you to operate your business under the desired name.

4. Register your home business

If you decide to form your business as an LLC or C corporation, you’ll need to register with your state to ensure that your business is legal.

The process for registering your business will vary depending on your state. To ensure you complete the registration correctly, consult your local Secretary of State or business bureau for specific instructions.

This being said, it is beneficial to register your business with the federal government by applying for an employer identification number. This will help you stay organized and compliant with any future filings or tax requirements.

An EIN, or Employer Identification Number, is a number that’s used to identify your business. It can help you obtain business credit, open a business bank account, and file business taxes.

An EIN is a useful tool for businesses in a number of ways. It can be used for hiring employees, opening a business bank account, and filing business taxes. Applying for an EIN is easy to do online with the IRS.

5. Get a business license

The next step in learning how to start a home business is getting a business license. This will allow you to operate your business legally and avoid any potential penalties. You can usually obtain a business license from your local city or county government office.

When starting a small business from home, you’ll want to look into the following types of business licenses:

1. A business license from your city or county
2. A state business license
3. An Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS
4. Any permits required by your city or county

When starting a business, you’ll need to research what type of license you need. Typically, small businesses need a business tax registration certificate, a seller’s permit, and a state employer identification number.

Professional license: If you’re starting a business that requires a specific skill set, such as accounting or cosmetology, you’ll need to get a professional license from your state. Generally speaking, when you are starting a small business from home, you will want to look into getting the following types of business licenses:

Home occupation permit – Most home-based businesses will require some sort of permit to operate legally. A home occupation permit essentially shows that by running your business out of your home, you are not adding significant traffic, noise, or harmful environmental conditions to your area.

To be sure you’re covered, check with your local or city government office to find out what state regulations might apply to you and your home-based business.

6. Separate your business and personal finances

Although you may be a one-person operation, it’s essential to separate your business and personal finances, especially when you’re just starting out.

As a one-person operation, it is essential to keep your business and personal finances separate, especially when you are just starting out. This will help you to avoid any personal liability for your business debts and liabilities.

Open a business bank account

Opening a business account is another way you can separate your business finances from your personal ones.

You’ll want to open a business bank account to manage any money coming into your business, as well as for paying suppliers, services, or employees. This will help you keep track of your finances and ensure that your business is running smoothly.

There are a variety of business bank accounts available, and it might be a good idea to start with the bank where you have your personal account. Alternatively, you could look for a free business checking account. Whichever option you choose, make sure that the account offers features like online and mobile banking, mobile check deposit, and free ACH payments.

When you’re running a business from home, it’s important to have a bank account that offers online and mobile banking, mobile check deposit, and free ACH payments. This will make it easier for you to manage your finances and keep track of your spending.

Apply for a business credit card

If you’ve just opened a business bank account, the next step you can take to start managing your finances is to get a business credit card. This will help you to keep your finances separate and organized.

A business credit card can help you establish business credit, which can come in handy when filing taxes. Additionally, a business credit card can be used for any transactions related to your business.

There are a variety of business credit cards available, so you may want to start by looking at the bank where you opened your checking account. You can also narrow down your options by choosing a card that offers rewards such as cashback or travel points.

Choose accounting software

You should choose accounting software in order to manage your finances when you have a home-based business.

If you’re running a home business, you may want to consider using an accounting software platform. These automated systems can make bookkeeping and taxes much easier.

If you’re worried about the cost of accounting software, there are plenty of free options available as well as software designed specifically for home-based businesses.

7. Secure funding

One of the benefits of starting a business from home is that you can reduce your overhead costs by eliminating the need to rent an office space or open a brick-and-mortar location. This can be a significant advantage, especially for businesses just starting out.

Alexis Haselberger, a time-management and productivity coach, had no business startup costs when she launched her business. This was a surprise to her, as it is not often the case that starting a business has virtually no costs associated with it.

What I found most surprising was how easy it was to get started. As a service-based business working from my home, I had virtually no startup costs.

Even though she didn’t have any money to invest in her business when she started, Haselberger was still able to gain clients from big-name companies like Google, Lyft, San Francisco State University, and more.

Depending on the type of business you’re launching, you may need to secure financing to help cover some of your startup costs. If you’re starting a business that requires a lot of inventory or equipment, you will definitely have some initial costs. However, about 44% of home-based business owners are able to start their businesses with less than $5,000. So if your home business requires more capital, you’ll want to explore your financing options.

If you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to access traditional financing methods. However, there are a few options available to you. You could start with a business credit card or line of credit. You could also consider more creative forms of financing, such as working with friends or family or starting a crowdfunding campaign. Whatever route you decide to take, make sure you do your research so that you can make the best decision for your business.

8. Set up your office

Now that you’ve started your home-based business and gotten it off the ground, it’s time to start running it.

The first step to setting yourself up for success in this regard is to set up your home office. This will provide you with a designated space to work in, which can help increase your productivity.

The benefits of starting a business from home include having more control over your time and avoiding the costs of renting or leasing office space. However, there are some drawbacks, chief among them being that you’ll be working in the same place you live.

To maximize your productivity, it’s crucial to designate a specific area of your home as your office.

It can be easy to get distracted by other things when you work from home. You’ll need to be disciplined in order to make a success of your home business since there won’t be anyone monitoring your work. It’s up to you to stay on track.

But once you successfully make the shift, there are many more benefits that can come from it.

Setting up a home-based business requires more than just having a desk and computer. You’ll need to do other things like:

Make sure you have the proper equipment and supplies. Ensure you have a comfortable chair. Set up a filing system. You’ll want to choose a designated space, make sure you have the proper equipment and supplies, ensure you have a comfortable chair and set up a filing system.

Pick a location.

Select an area for your designated space.

Create a storage system. Make sure your office is comfortable. Your office should be a space where you can be productive and efficient. Choose a designated space in your home that you can make into your own personal work area. Invest in the right furniture, tools, and technology to make your office a comfortable and functional space. Create a storage system to keep your office organized and tidy. By making your office a place where you can focus and get work done, you will be more productive and efficient in your business endeavors.

Make sure you invest in the right tools and technology.

Personalize your workspace so that it’s comfortable for you.

Invest in a comfortable chair. Your office should be a place where you can focus on your work and be productive. To that end, take steps to make sure it is decorated in a way that works for you and minimizes distractions. Invest in a comfortable chair so you can sit comfortably while you work.

Try to eliminate any unnecessary noise or interruptions.

Once you have a space to work from, it will be much easier to run your home business from there.

9. Set up tax accounts and learn about deductions

Tax obligations for home-based businesses can be complex and difficult to navigate. It’s important to understand the different ways your business may be taxed, as well as any deductions you may be eligible for.

You will need to file quarterly taxes if you are self-employed. This means you will need to pay both federal and state taxes.

If you have employees who work for you, you’ll need to set up a payroll tax account. If you sell products, you’ll also need to set yourself up for collecting sales taxes.

You’ll also want to be aware of some tax benefits you can claim when operating a home-based office. If you operate out of your home on a regular basis and exclusively for your business, you can usually deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, and depreciation.

You can claim the home office deduction by calculating your square footage or by calculating specific home office expenses on Form 8829.

If you are eligible for the deduction, you can save money on your taxes.

Conclusion

If you’re thinking of how to start a small business at home, then this guide has shown you how to get started, step by step. From choosing a name and business entity to getting a license and setting up your office. So what are you waiting for? Get started.