Write a business plan for your home business

by Charles Roring

Many people seem to forget how important a business plan is. They usually think like this, "Well, I just started my home business with very small capital. I don't think I need a business plan. I will not be able to work from home if I have to spend more time writing my business plan." In my opinion, a business plan doesn't have to be a comprehensive book which explains how you run your business in every detail. What you need is a simple business plan which you can make it as a roap map to making money from home.

A good business plan must contain answers to the following questions:

What business are you in? Whether your business ideas are about designing a website, running a guitar course from your garage, or selling flower seeds through the internet. You must explain them on the first chapter of your business plan. Inside this chapter you need to give detail explanation about kinds of your products and services.

The next question which you have to answer is: who are my competitors? You need to know your competitior so that you can make some adjustments in the pricing, quality and marketing strategy.

How should you utilized your resources? This question will help you make list of your personal belongings which you still keep on the attic of your house and which can still be used for running your business. Resources are not limited to things in your home, it can be your backyard if you intend to sell flower seed.

The last but not the least is what is your business's profit potential. Know your potential markets. Write them in your business plan together with the projected profit. Make some pre-calculation about the cost of equipment, raw material (for instance if you are interested to make doll) and the advertisement. Make sure that your expenses should not be higher than your projected profit for any item that you intend to make. If the cost of production is higher then the selling price of your product will be expensive. Compare the price of your products with similar ones available on the market. Your products should be on the competitive price to sell well.

So, making money from home is a challenging experience. You become the boss. 

If you are still confused about writing a business plan for your home business, try to find some samples from the internet. There are many websites that provide sample business plans plus consulting services. You can also join list whose members are home business owners. You can share ideas, and information and if possible open more ways to cooperation.