Starting Your Own Home-Based Business

Did you ever dream of being your own boss? Taking time off whenever you want? Making your own schedule each week? Rubbing elbows with other entrepreneurs?

It’s easier than you think!

Since 2008, I’ve been running my own home-based business, which is not only surviving a very bad economy, but has survived Hurricane Sandy.

The luxury of running my home-based business agrees with me. I make my own hours, get to work with a variety of people, I can take off when I want and it's never boring.

So, how do you get started? First you have to decide what you love to do and what you are good at. What is your passion? What are your talents? What can you specialize in? What can you bring to the table for others?

For me, my major talents are: writing, editing, proofreading, personal assistance and marketing. From those five areas, I get most of my work. Sometimes for a change of pace, I'll try something different like last year when I modeled for a curtain company. When you're the boss, the possibilities are endless! I'm always open to new working experiences. And I've made more money working on my own than I ever have working for someone else.

What I love most about running my own business is the variety of people I get to work with over the years. I could start a joke about my business … “if three of my clients walked into a bar …” because my clients included: an Orthodox Jew, a Mark Twain impersonator, a rock star, a professional bank robber who found God in jail, a transsexual, an actress, several musicians and a few doctors.

Being your own boss makes every day an adventure.

Once you decide what your specialty is, get the word out. There are so many online social media sites these days you can create a presence for yourself. Also be sure to get business cards. My first client found my business card in a yoga studio and through her I gained another client.

My major marketing tool is my website/newsletter. Every month I send it out and without fail, I’ll either get a new client or a former one will come back. If done properly a website/newsletter is a powerful marketing tool.

Once you’re out there, it will snowball. People will recommend your services. You'll be getting unexpected phone calls and emails. And best of all, checks will be coming in from all over. Just don’t let the slow periods get you down. Save some money for a rainy day and you’ll do just fine.

Before you make anything official, put your feelers out. Maybe take some time off to see what you can come up with before you quit your day job. When I started my business, I worked part-time at a health food store as a safety net. Once I decided this is what I wanted to do, I quit the health food store, registered my business name and bought a new car to celebrate!

NEXT WEEK: Four different types of clients you’ll be doing business with. 

Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta is the proprietor of Pear Tree Enterprises. She can be reached at: maryannechristiano@gmail.com or (908) 276-1514.