Home-based businesses are great for many reasons. They can be started on a small budget, overhead expenses are low, and there’s no rent to pay for. However, like big enterprises, home-based businesses have their own set of unique challenges. Today, we’ll give you four tricks to help take your business to the next level.
Focus first on one product
You might get carried away and put all your ideas into action at once. However, since you’re just starting, you should focus on a single service or product and do everything you can to make a significant impact with that sole product or service. This way, you’ll have the best chance of finding a niche in the market.
For example, what started as a business run on a single sewing machine in 1974, Osprey has carved its niche in the outdoor sector. It’s now a globally-recognized brand for backpacks. Osprey’s marketing director, Gary Burnand, said to marketingweek.com that specializing in backpacks ensured the brand stuck to what its good at. He added that by continuously innovating and improving their products, they managed to maintain a strong market share up to this day.
Expand your product line to offer other products
Once you’ve established your footing in the market by hitting on a home business idea that consumers like, don’t miss on the chance to release related items to diversify your product range. Not only will your customers have a wider selection, but this will also make your products more appealing to retailers, who typically want to stock a line of products instead of a single item.
For example, Ohio-based startup, Contemporary Baby started off making colorful bibs for babies. Now, it’s expanded its line to include receiving blankets and gift baskets, giving their customers more gift options.
According to the Small Business Administration, home-based businesses account for over 50 percent of all small businesses. If you can stand out from this crowd with only one product, then you’re lucky. However, you can’t deny the importance of giving your customers a wider selection. It will help sustain your business in case your primary product becomes stale or too worn out.
Find ways to increase sales to your existing customers
You’ve established a niche; that’s great! But how can you make sure your customers will keep coming back?
You can offer discount promos. Say, two shirts for the price of one lets you ring up additional sales without compromising that much on profit. Another idea is rewarding loyal customers. For instance, give them a reward card that entitles them to a freebie for every ten purchases.
Create a website and sell products online
Growing your business also means expanding digitally. As of 2018, it was found that six out of ten businesses don’t have a website. Use this chance to gain more following by building a website. Nowadays, creating a website is cheap, with DIY sites available for less than $30 a month with no technical knowledge required.
Growing your business into an empire isn’t easy. For budding business owners, make sure to follow the steps above to make your home-based biz grow and become successful.