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Home Based Businesses

REACH Center – San Leandro

April 28, 2017

Alameda County SBDC

Thank you to Our Sponsor

Local SBA Ecosystem

Partnership and Hosting

We are the premier provider of Business Advisory Services to

the small business community.

Our mission is to create economic opportunity by empowering

entrepreneurs.

Free & Low Cost

Seminars

Our Services

Free One-on-One

Consulting

Seminar ExamplesAccess to Capital Successful Business Plans

Starting a Business Meet the Lenders

Social Media Government Contracts

Marketing Law for Entrepreneurs

Worker Owned Businesses Buying a Business

Starting a Restaurant Crowdfunding and Alternatives

Starting a Food Business How to Pitch Your Company

Finding Your Core Customer Exporting

Website Development Home Based Businesses

ACSBDC Consultants

Ron Barrett

LoansFJ Cava

Generalist

David Bokash

Business Technology

Lee Lambert

Director

Deagon Williams

Food & Restaurants

Paula

Mattisonsierra

Retail

Mari Lovalvo

Human Resources

David Mitroff

Social Media

ACSBDC Consultants

Dorian Webb

Operations

Bob Komoto

Export/Import

Maria Mejia

Finance

Tom Camerato

Financial Modeling

Mary Passarella

Accounting

Tom Yeh

Strategy

Ed Duarte

Construction

Paul Bozzo

Equity Funding

How to register for services

www.acsbdc.org

Our Client Results

Presentation Download

www.acsbdc.org/handouts

Introductions

Paula Mattisonsierra

My Area of Expertise: • Retail and Wholesale

• Marketing and Operations

• Product Development & Production

• Entrepreneurship

About Me & My Business

12www.acsbdc.orgWritten & created by P. Mattisonsierra

http://www.acsbdc.org/

GETTING STARTED

: a feasibility plan

Assess your talents and skills.

Can you merge your talents and skills together,

in order to generate a business idea(s)?

SWOT Analysis of yourself.

Testing your business idea(s).

20 Questions before starting a business.



Assess your talents, skills and lifestyle

What are your personal traits?

Example: creative or detail

oriented or loves people

What makes you happy?

Family commitments?

Are you financially prepared?



Can we create a business idea:

from your talents & skills

List all your ideas at this stage.

Don't censor yourself as you list home

business ideas.

Crossing off choices comes later.



A SWOT Analysis Of Yourself

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

What are your

opportunities?

What are the threats to you

starting this business?



20 Questions Before

Starting a Business

1. Am I prepared to spend the time, money and resources

needed to get my business started?

2. What kind of business do I want?

3. What products/services will my business provide?

4. Why am I starting a business?

5. What is my target market?

6. Who is my competition?

7. What is unique about my business idea and the

products/services I will provide?

17

8. How soon will it take before my products/services are

available?

9. How much money do I need to get my business set up?

10. How long do I have to finance the company until I start

making a profit?

11. Will I need to get a loan?

12. How will I price my product compared to my

competition?

13. How will I market my business?

18

20 Questions Before

Starting a Business

14. How will I set up the legal structure of my business?

15. How will I manage my business?

16. Where will I house my business?

17. How many employees will I need to start up?

18. What types of suppliers do I need to contact?

19. What kind of insurance do I need to invest in?

20. What do I need to do to ensure I am paying my taxes

correctly?

19

20 Questions Before

Starting a Business

Testing your final business idea

Do your

research.

Volunteering.

Working part-

time.

Testing your

product (a test

group & then

customers).



Business Plan

All business plans will be different – customize

to the specific business.

It’s an oversized “TO DO” List.

Here are some DO(s) of a business plan:

– Gather Information

– Preparation

– Planning

These activities are crucial to success…

DO NOT AVOID THEM.



Creating your business plan

Executive Summary: snapshot of your plan

Company Description: who, what, where, when, why

Market Analysis: industry information

Organizational & Management: The people

Service or Product offering: what do you sell?

Marketing & Sales: what will set your offering apart?

Funding Request: are you seeking funding?

Financial Projections: expenses & revenue

Exit Strategy: what are your plans - stay or go?



The importance of the business plan

A personal business guide.

Help a business to structure for profitability.

And will help a business target the right

customers.

Growth.

Funding Assistance.



What plan is right?

One Page Plan

- Sometimes that is all you need to execute a vision

Lean Startup Plan

- Trial and error, feedback loops - set up at low cost to

find your market (best for products)

Comprehensive Plan

- Often required for lenders, investors, landlords at start-up

One Page Plan

Basic summary of all of the essential elements of a

business plan

Quickest way to get started

Can be converted into your “pitch” to potential investors,

customers, others

Lean Startup Plan

Essentially uses the one page model, but continuously

revises based on customer feedback loops

Experimental and iterative – “fail fast”

What is your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

What is the customer willing to pay for and how much

will they pay?

Creating your business plan

Build Your Business Plan

A free business plan tool - SBA

http://www.sba.gov/business-plan/1


http://www.sba.gov/business-plan/1


Starting your business legally

Check the zoning.

Choose a legal entity for your

protection.

Get license and permits.

Protect your intellectual

property.

Determine sign limitations.



Check the zoning

Working from home may not be legal for your

residence.

Municipal zoning laws limited activities from a

residence.

Consultants typically will have no problems.

It is more challenging for product based businesses

and other inventory based businesses.

Challenging if you have employees, customers, etc.

For coop or condo – check your board restrictions.



Choose a legal entity for your protection

Sole Proprietor

Incorporation

Partnership

Speak to an Accounting and Lawyer for the

best choice for your business.



Get license and permits

Operating from home does not eliminate your

federal, state or local licensing and permit

obligations.

Start with your city’s County Clerk office.

A resource recommendation

http://business.usa.gov/


http://business.usa.gov/


Protect your intellectual property

Before your invest time and money into the

business protect your assets.

No protection means that someone else can use

your name, invention or song without paying you.

US Patent & Trademark - http://www.uspto.gov/

Copyright Office - http://www.copyright.gov/


http://www.uspto.gov/

http://www.copyright.gov/


Signage limitation

Many cities will have limitations of signage

Are signs allowed in your residential zone?

Where and how can it be displayed?

Call your County Clerk’s office to find out.



Working from home – The Challenges

Balancing home/work.

Set office hours.

Self-discipline & isolation.

Not being taken professionally without a

traditional office.



Marketing your home based business

Marketing a home based business is

still marketing.

It will vary based on the type of

business.

Not a “plug and play concept”.



Marketing your home based business

Questions to ask as you plan your marketing:

Who are your customers? Example - age,

gender, income, geographic region, etc.

Who are your competitors?

What is your time allocation for marketing?

What is a realistic budget for you?



Why is MARKETING Important?

Why is Marketing

important?

To create revenue

To maintain existing

customer base.

To find news customers

To build the brand



Marketing: The Elements of Marketing

There are Four (4) elements which make up the study

of Marketing.

Important Definition: The 4Ps of Marketing



Marketing: The 4Ps Explained

The 4Ps of Marketing to examine as you create your

Marketing Strategy:

Product or Service: Whatever is being sold.

Price: The amount of money asked for, or given

in exchange for your product/service.

Place: Distribution channels (where will your

customers find the product/service).

Promotion: An activity designed to encourage

the purchase of a product.



Marketing: The 5th P …

The 5P of Marketing:

People: Your customer

Important Definition:

Target Audience /Customer

A unique groups of customers for your product and/or

service, who want and can afford your

product.



Marketing definition

Marketing is more than just placing an advertisement…

Developing the right product(s) or service(s), at the

right price, at the right place, in the right quantities at

the right time and offering it to the right customer.



The Big Question for Marketing is…

Who is your customer?

Also known as

YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

OR TARGET CUSTOMER



Marketing: Old Mediums of Marketing

Out

Bound

Messages

Only



Marketing: New Mediums of Marketing

There can

be an

Interactive

conversation



Marketing discussion

Business to Business (B2B)

Networking:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/223468

http://www.slideshare.net/bozward/business-

networking-basics


http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/223468

http://www.slideshare.net/bozward/business-networking-basics



There are 5 Types of promotion tools which can

be used for your marketing plan:

Advertising

Sales Promotion

Public Relations

Personal Selling

Direct Marketing

To create a marketing plan, you can use a

combination of these – A Promotional mix




An explanation of the 5 types of

promotion: Advertising: paid and to be effective it must be

repeated over a period of time

Sales Promotion: This is meant to be a short-term

incentive to motivate sales and to convert new

customers to try your product(s) or services(s)

Public Relations: Free, but time incentive is needed

to acquire these free write ups




Cont’d

An explanation of the 5 types of promotion:

Personal Selling: This involves Sales, directly selling

your product to your Customer.

Direct Marketing: Mailers and the shopping network.

Only effective if you have appropriately target the

right customer.




A promotional mix: It is a common mistake to believe that promotion by business

is all about advertising only. It isn’t.

Create a combination of the promotional elements above,

which is appropriate for your customers - is called a

promotional mix.

Promotion is all about communicating your

message. Why? Because promotion is the way a business

makes its products known to the customers, both current and

potential.

REMINDER: Be Consistent with your message.



Marketing: Create a strategy

A marketing plan should include 4

elements: Penetration strategy

Growth strategy.

Channel of Distribution strategy.

Communication strategy (promotional mix).



Next steps – when is it time to make a change?

Way outside of your zoning.

Your business has taken over your home.

Employees and customers

Trouble claiming the home office tax deduction

Family and Space



Way outside of your zoning

You know when it’s time to a space when…

You know your business is violating some zoning laws.

Small business owners get away with a lot, when we’re

working in the privacy of our own homes.

Most cities have fairly strict laws about what sorts of

businesses can operate – fines are severe.

Irritating your neighbors — the people who are most

likely to report any zoning violations.

BEWARE – fines are severe.



Your business has taken over your home

You know when it’s time to a space

when…

If you can walk into any room in

your home and find something

related to your business, you may

need to rein things in or move out.

You need to maintain some living

space

If your family feels things are getting

out of hand, take those concerns

seriously.



Employees and Customers

You know when it’s time to a space when…

You have employees or customers who need to come

to your place of business.

If the “people traffic” is exponentially increasing.

Parking challenges because of this flow - annoyed

neighbors are not a good thing.

Lack of a professional setting for customers.

Due to the clutter you are unable to maintain a serene

work environment.



Trouble claiming the home office tax deduction

Claiming the home office tax deduction is tricky,

especially since you have to be able to declare that a

given space is used only for your business and not for

anything else.

A percentage versus tax write off for the rent on a

space.

May not be enough to justify making the leap, but take

the time to run the numbers.



Family and Space

Major advantage from the point of view

of a parent: you can (theoretically)

reduce your childcare costs by multi-

tasking and you’re right there if you’re

needed.

But the reality is that running a business

in the same place your kids are playing is

incredibly tough, especially when they’re

too young to understand what’s going on.

Sound proofing from a child is difficult.

Even a small outside office might be a

resource.



SUMMARY

Be courageous. Do your research.

Understand your CUSTOMER. This will be the basis

of your entire business.

Budget money for marketing.

Allow yourself to grow

Have a plan for moving forward.



THANKS EVERYONE

CLOSING:Remember to sign up for Consultation with the organization that fits your needs

Complete the evaluation forms

Please like The Alameda County SBDC on Facebook

My name again is Paula Mattisonsierra

Thank You

www.acsbdc.orgWritten & created by P. Mattisonsierra


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