Every day thousands of Americans decide that it is time to go into business for themselves. Whether the reason is a need for greater income, a desire to be their own boss, an escape from the grind of a corporate office and a commute, or simply because they are ready to be at the top of an org chart, there is a great push in America to run a small business. Today many of those small businesses are run via the internet and can be home-based businesses. It's important to be cautious however and there are five common mistakes that home business owners often make when starting to work at home for the first time.

#1 The "Field of Dreams" Mistake.

Unless your idea of the perfect small business plan is to run a baseball park for ghosts that appear in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa; the ominously whispered advice "if you build it, they will come" should probably be ignored. The big mistake that many franchise and small business owners make when starting their new businesses is to assume that customers and clients will seek out your product, find your website, and beat a path to your door to make your business a success. Running a business is hard work and the majority of that work is advertising and making your product or service known. While the franchise market help significantly in this area by providing a franchise owner an opportunity to sell a product that is sometimes nationally advertised, and usually recognizable, the problem still exists. You must make yourself known. There are a variety of networking solutions that make this possible. If advertising your new business and creating a market and network of clients is overwhelming to you there are several small businesses that provide coaching, training, and assistance in these areas such as OneCoach, FocalPoint and 360 Solutions, which are also franchise business opportunities as well as small business services.

#2 The "how did I end up in a John Grisham novel?" Mistake.

This simply refers to the legal lawsuits that can blindside a small business owner who experiences rapid success, or even marginal success, without first examining the current legality of their franchise or small business and their employees. Many corporations and jobs require their employees to sign some sort of non-compete clause when they are hired. The law is clear that if you are currently working for a company, especially in a key role, that you cannot operate a competing business. It is critical, if considering a business opportunity that would allow you to work form home and maintain your current job, that you first go to your current employer and either resign or tell them what you are doing and ask if they are interested in investing. Make sure that there is no misrepresentation of what the business is, what it will provide, and whether or not you can legally hire employees who have signed similar clauses without violating your non-disclosure. Many states vary in terms of how broadly these laws are enforced and it is important to do all of the proper research before you incorporate or begin your small business opportunity.

#3 The "Why is my veterinarian allergic to my cat?" Mistake

Often times when starting a business or franchise many would be business owners decide to go for the easy business rather than the right business. There are obviously many factors that go into what type of business you can run successfully, but there is no substitute for a business that is run by an owner that is passionate, competent, and capable. While there are some business that seem like they are attractive, low cost, and easy to get up and running, in the long run if you choose a franchise or small business that you are not passionate or competent to run you will find yourself as burnt out and frustrated as you were before you became your own boss. Know what you want, know what you are good at, know how much the right business will cost and go for it. If you find the right business even though it may be harder or more expensive up front, you can soon find yourself in a rewarding and profitable dream job that fulfills all the things you were looking for in a work from home business opportunity.

#4 The "www.giantemailserviceprovider/givespeoplefreewebsites/buthidesthem" Mistake

Many internet service providers and email account providers offer their subscribers free web services. Do not use them as the website for your small business. Purchasing your own website domain and operating a website that is easy to find and has a url that makes sense for your business provides legitimacy and credibility to your franchise or small business. When your customers try to find your website to get information about your products and to purchase your services there is a certain amount of trust and reliability that is generated from a website that they perceive as being legitimate. A www.myhomebusiness.com style website will generate much more creativity than a www.googlepages/myhomebusiness.com because it looks like the business is not run from a garage by a college student using their parents email account. Even if you are a college student running your work from home business out of your parents garage, you should try to avoid advertising that in your website url. There are several sites that will help you to find a url and design an effective and professional website for your small business such as ORCA pages which provides small business website creation, content management, and maintenance for websites.

#5 The "I can sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves" Mistake

It could be that you are the world's greatest salesman or woman. Just because someone is interested in doing business with you doesn't mean you should accept. While sales are important to the survival of any business, you don't need to push your product on everyone you meet. This includes family, friends, golf partners, and the traffic officer who just pulled you over for speeding. Sell your product or service to the right people. Many business owners will make the mistake of trying to sell their product to everyone all the time. Unless you really do have a miracle product that is perfect for everyone at every stage in life, which you don't, you should focus on marketing to the right group of people and avoiding the wrong group of people. The more selective you are with who you spend your time and energy marketing to the more effectively you will spend your time, and the more people will respect and value your small business. If you seem desperate to sell at any time to anyone, rather than being selective in which you market to, your business will lose credibility. If your work at home franchise is higher scale than a 2 a.m. infomercial, then the time and energy of researching your target market will make it more profitable and longer lasting than one too.

As part of the human race there is a desire and drive to be successful. There is also a knack and unavoidable pattern of making mistakes. Know that in your franchises and small business opportunities you will make mistakes. You will have failures. You will at times lose money. Now relax. The more you look ahead and see the mistakes others have made the more you can see those mistakes coming and take measures to avoid them. Learn from your mistakes, learn from other business owners mistakes, and in the end if you are doing something you believe in at that you love you will find a way to make your customers believe in and love it too. That's the recipe for success, work hard, pay attention, make mistakes, learn from them, and at the end of the day sleep well knowing you will do it all again tomorrow.

March 12, 2008