Starting a business is one of the most rewarding and challenging decisions you can make. Over the past two years in some industries, people seem to be getting comfortable with the idea of working from home and by extension starting a business from the comfort of home.
You don’t have to rent office space because there are many affordable and best quality equipment available. Business owners can even set up shop at home with their phone or laptop and the internet.
Being an independent business owner is one of the best ways to earn money during this pandemic. eBay and other online auctions are good options since they don’t require a lot of start-up money or physical inventory.
In this article, you’ll get answers to some common questions, learn how to start a business from home, and get some valuable resources that can help you get started with confidence. Here are a few things to consider when starting a home-based business:
What kind of business are you thinking of starting?
Remember that whatever you do, or whatever form your business takes, you should always follow the regulations of your country. There are specific areas of business that need to be considered when starting a home business. These can be tax liabilities as well as health and safety concerns.
9 indispensable factors to consider before starting a business
Even if you plan to work from home, it is necessary to set up a separate area for your business. During this brainstorming phase, ask yourself if the business idea is viable.
When you’re considering starting a business during the pandemic, there are things you should consider. Will you be able to acquire customers and get supplies? How much would you need for starting up your own business? The following will help you make the right decisions and provide more guidelines;
What type of product or service will you be offering?
If you are thinking of starting a business, your offer is one of the most important things you need to consider. Hence, before proceeding, who do you want to serve, and why is it important that you serve them?
This will greatly help in discovering and defining both your niche and target market. Once you have that covered, then it is time to think about branding.
BRANDING
Although this area can be further developed, at a later stage it is good to have a concept to start with. Branding is a perception of your product, service or organization.
The main goal of brand development is to influence people on their own to recognize and prefer your brand.
What are some great tips for branding a business?
Why it’s important to register your business name
Business Name
A brand name is a unique combination of branding, product, and service.
To safeguard your ownership, brand names are often registered with the Commerce and Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. To register your business name or brand, you may peruse their website http://cipo.gov.vc.
There are several types of names. Picking the right brand name for a product or service will determine your brand strategy.
There are seven different types of brand names listed below to provide you with some inspiration.
- Founder’s Name eg. Kencept Solutions or Lana’s Kitchen
- Descriptive Brand Name eg. Eyes R Us or MoneyGram
- Brand Aligns with Association eg. Amazon or Apple
- Inverted Brand Names eg. Google or Kodak
- Lexical Brand Names eg. Krazy Glue or Kreme Donuts
- Acronym Brand Names eg. KFC or BMW
- Geographical Brand Names eg. Caribbean Airlines or First Caribbean Central Bank
Business Plan
A person who wants to start a business needs skills and patience. This is so because entrepreneurship is about gaining trust and confidence in your products and services.
Additionally, there is uncertainty and volatility associated with starting a business. In order to minimize risk, a successful entrepreneur must develop risk tolerance.
A business plan describes what is provided, how it differs from others, and how you aim to develop it.
Brand Colours
When deciding on your brand logo and even the color of your business name you may want to consider integrating color psychology. Colors can create emotions in buyers while others are preferred in industries. This gives you a breakdown of the hex code for the exact color you wish to use.
Find the hex codes for your brand colour by signing in to Coolors, then look for “More” in the top tab bar, click on “Pick palette from photo” in the drop down menu then upload the image(s) from which you want to get your ideal color palette.
If you are confused about the importance of the color, take a look at this image.
Some of the most successful businesses are using selective colours to represent their brand image.
You can choose which color would be most suitable for your business or brand.
Brand Logo
After deciding on your business name and brand colors, you need to have your logo made. The branding component needs to be a thoughtful process that expresses your values. Copyright infringement is one issue we should avoid in the early stages of a business launch.
Brand Communication Strategy
Brand communication is a series of actions that consumers can take for their business to interact with them. This occurs when a consumer or client interacts with a brand. It might be anything as simple as viewing a logo online or subscribing to a newsletter.
An inexpensive and effective place to start is on social media with Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok being notable platforms.
Now that you have sorted your offer, niche/target market, business name, brand colors, and logo and registered your business, it’s now time to get your business off the ground. Introduce the world to your business or brand. You can start by using the following example; I help [the audience] with [problem] by [solution].
Launch your business
Let me be the first to congratulate you on your new venture and be reminded that starting a business from home is not as easy as it sounds. It takes hard work, dedication, and persistence to develop a successful business from the comfort of your own home. Starting a business can be overwhelming with all the intricacies but try your best not to overthink any of the above processes. For example, Google was once called ‘BackRub’ and Nike used to be called ‘Blue Ribbon Sports’. Your business name or brand colors could always be amended at a later stage. Just launch!
For more tips to help you on your entrepreneurial journey, feel free to subscribe.
As a ‘thank you’ for reading this article, kindly check my Brand Strategy Guide to help with defining a brand strategy for your business and to help you cross some t’s and dot some i’s.
A prolific content writer, Ken has more than a decade of experience in freelance writing and is the Founder at Kencept Solutions. He’s written for publications including Caribbean Charisma, Vincy eZine, and Metro Caribbean.
