Running a Successful Home Business by

1. Who should consider working from home;
2. Utilizing our strongest professional assets to maximize our asset base (i.e. deciding what type of business to operate);
3. Personal motivation and drive, and how to cope with the isolation of working alone at home;
4. Assessing start-up (or operational) costs;
5. Pricing your service (particularly if you are consulting rather than selling a concrete product);
6. Effective marketing tools;
7. Purchasing equipment (hardware and software) and making prudent initial purchasing decisions.

The question then is, as I presented it in my last article, who should consider operating a home business? Working alone at home offers special challenges that are often overlooked in the zeal to be self-employed. Are you a self-motivator? A perfectionist or procrastinator? Are you a people person, the type who thrives on the daily interaction with others? If so, unless your home business involves many contacts with the outside world, isolation may be your own worst enemy.

If you've taken the time to analyze your personality and you still feel that you have what it takes to work from home, the next step, of course, is determining what to do from home.

Many of us have professions that lend themselves well to home businesses. Hence, we don't need to toil over what TYPE of business best suits us. Many others, however, have less obvious talents and skills, yet no less obvious or realistic dreams of operating a home business. How do those people decide what type of business they should operate?

When our skills aren't readily apparent, how do we tap into them? It reminds me of the teenage years, the years when options were ahead of us, and we each had the challenge (or opportunity) of seizing our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We needed to know ourselves, our personality traits, our likes and dislikes. We needed to realistically and honestly look deep within ourselves and assess what areas of study would both intrigue us AND offer a viable profession/career. We asked ourselves: "who am I and what do I want to do with the rest of my life?" The irony in those years was that we were optimistic and starry-eyed, and yet, were too young to clearly be able to isolate our strengths and weaknesses.

If you are now grappling with turning a new leaf and wish to work from home, either as an extension to a conventional out-of-home office or in lieu thereof, isn't this the time to truly assess your strengths and weaknesses, your talents and skills? Isn't this a way of turning back the clock by taking the optimism of our teenage years and merging it with the wisdom of advanced age?

Take a piece of paper and divide it into two parts. On the left side, write down your strengths, your talents, your skills. This can include not only your professional experience, but also your hobbies and your talents (are you artistic, creative, well-read?). You can turn a hobby or talent into a home business (graphic designing, a gift basket business, a personal organizer/shopper). You can take your profession and become a consultant in your field (carpentry, plumbing, accounting, engineering, architecture).

Okay -- you've made your list of strengths. Now it's time to truly take the plunge and write down your list of weaknesses. Are you shy and reserved, and fear cold-calling as a means of soliciting new clients (not a great sign). Are you disorganized, lack motivation, fear success? Are some of your supposed weaknesses truly strengths? Do you view perfectionism as a weakness, for example?

Once you've complied your list, study it carefully. Ask your friends/colleagues/family for input. Add and delete from the list as necessary, and then, review it yet again. Make certain that you are entering this new field for the right reasons ... be it to make your millions, or make your mark on society. Your motivator for working at home is your motivator.

Your motivator will also be the topic of my next article!