Drive and inspiration
This perhaps is the number one requirement for starting any business. You will need to have drive and inspiration in an unending supply. Businesses of all kinds take time to get on their feet. Which means that from the time that you start a business until the time that it becomes a self-sustaining and profit-making enterprise there is lots to be done. The initial startup stages can be demanding on your time and endurance.
This is even more true for a home based business as these kind of startups are almost always a one person show. You have to be ready to act in all capacities from answering phone and emails to finding time to do some actual crafting work.
Therefore during this phase, you will need all the drive and motivation you can find. Of course you will need it later on as well because motivation is a key to success in any business.
Talent and craft
Take a look at your talent as well as your craft product. Both of them have to be something marketable. Being talented is of course required but so is the intrinsic value of your product. You can very often test the viability of your craft my taking the opinion of a few close family and friends. Choose people whose opinions you can trust.
What you need the feedback on is whether your craft is something that they would actually spend money for and buy. This information will not only tell you if you can make a business out of your crafting skills but come handy when have to decide how much to price your craft at.
A Plan, commonly known as a business plan.
As complicated as it may sound, making a business plan is in the natural order of things when starting a craft business. Once you sit down to make it you may be surprised at how easy it comes to. We have written several posts on this topic already. You can see them here.
Finance and capital
For a lot of people this might be the dealbreaker. A business requires a certain amount of investment. When it comes to starting a business from home you can often start with next to nothing.
However we do not advise that you take this route. We recommend arranging for financing the following aspects of the business start-up.
- Branding/Logo/company name.
- Completing legal formalities like registering company name etc.
- Seeking consultation from a business attorney/accountant to make sure you are in compliance with all laws and regulations
- Market research.
- Business stationery.
- Required office equipment like printers, phone, computers, furniture etc.
- Production/buying supplies. Advertising and marketing expense.
- Business management.
- Back-up capital.
These are the five major requirements that you need to fulfill in order to start a craft business. Complying with the above mentioned points will give you a much better chance of succeeding and in shorter span of time.
Providing for the few initial requirements of any business makes the journey that much more easier and helps you cross the common hurdles of starting a business.
We would like to hear from you what you think is required to be successfully start a business from home. Do post your comments and opinions in the comments section below.
