One of the hardest decisions to make once you have decided to start up your own home business is deciding what to do and how to fit it into an already busy life.
It really comes down to deciding what sort of home business best suits YOU!
With so many different types of home business to choose from where do you start?
Party Plan, Network Marketing, Sales, Arts and Crafts, Child Minding, Catering, Online Shop, Affiliate Marketing, Bookkeeping the list goes on and on….
One of the most popular home business types suited to busy people, especially if you are already working a job or are a busy stay at home mum are those within the Direct Selling Industry.
With almost half a million Australians and over 55 million people Worldwide already involved in the industry the best way to describe this type of home business is simply “the marketing of products and services directly to consumers in a ‘face to face’ or word of mouth manner”.
Direct selling organisations normally use one or more of the following methods:
- Network Marketing: involves building a business on duplication. Salespersons build their businesses through selling the products and recruiting new people to join their teams and can earn additional income based on the sales of their recruited downline.
- Party Plan: The salesperson earns money based on a percentage of the sales they make during their presentations.
- Door-to-door sales: Salespersons leave catalogues at their potential customer’s homes. They then return a few days later to collect the catalogue and any order.
These types of businesses are great as you can usually get started with minimal financial outlay, you will have someone to mentor you and in most cases with a bit of hard work you can soon be earning your products or demonstration kit for free on an ongoing basis!
A great way to start the decision making process in choosing a suitable home business to fit your busy lifestyle is to ask yourself the following
- What am I interested in? eg: Health, Beauty, Cleaning, Jewellery, Kitchenware, Children’s products, Clothing etc.
- Do I want to build an ongoing customer base with a consumable that people will need to buy on a regular basis (nutritional supplements, beauty products) or a one off sale (e.g. a piece of jewellery or cleaning cloth)
- What products do I already know, use or love?
- How much time do I have to spend working at my home business each week?
- What can I give up to find more time to work at my home business (i.e. watching TV)
- What times of the day/days of the week am I available
- Can I to get out of the house regularly at night to attend weekly meetings?
- Do I have a good support network to look after the kids, feed them, put them to bed if I need to go out at night often? ( Especially important if you are considering party plan)
- Do I want to pack my customers individual orders and be driving around delivering them or would I prefer they are delivered to my customer’s door for me?
- Am I comfortable getting up and demonstrating products in front of a group or do I prefer one on ones over the phone or a coffee.
My personal experience is that Network Marketing has more time flexibility than Party Plan, but everyone has different circumstances and both are fantastic ways to earn an income from home.
Only you can decide what type of home business and company best suits YOU!
With so much to consider a good place to get some ideas of the different reputable home businesses available to you is to check out the companies listed with DSAA (Direct Selling Association of Australia) or similar in your country.
Association members have rules and guidelines that must be followed which protect all parties and you will have peace of mind knowing that unlike a lot of the stuff out there on the internet that they are a legitimate good solid way to build a potentially lucrative home business.
If you would like to chat further about any of the ideas presented in this post or find out more about Agel Enterprises, the company Jane-Marie chooses to partner with, please watch our Cashflow Class video here or contact me via the contact tab, phone or at my personal Facebook profile.
Kind Regards
Jane-Marie