Working from home permanently? With the coronavirus pandemic forcing many of us to work from home, many of us are slowly beginning to adjust to this new working lifestyle. It’s not all too surprising that many of us are actually enjoying it and actively prefer this remote style of working to being in an office space. We don’t have to commute, stuck in traffic or packed into public transport with strangers. We don’t have to wear uncomfortable formal clothes. We get more time with our families, as we literally start at nine and finish at five. We can have healthier lunches, as we have our kitchens at hand on our lunch breaks. It really is a nice lifestyle! Many of us are consequently wondering whether we could work from home on a more permanent basis once the pandemic passes and people start to return to offices. This could involve a negotiation with your boss, but most will be unlikely to allow this. An alternative is becoming your own boss and running your own online business from home when the time comes. Here are a few things you will have to do and familiarise yourself with if you do decide to take this path!
Finding Something to Sell
You’re going to have to find something to sell to the market. This means one of two things. You either have to find a gap in the market and fill it, or you’re going to have to provide a better version of something that already exists. This can literally be anything. Try to make it something you’re genuinely interested in yourself, as this will make your day to day work more enjoyable.
SEO
There are many online businesses nowadays, so when you get up and going, you’re going to be facing a pretty saturated market. You’re going to have to work hard to help your company and brand stand out from the crowd and secure custom from your competitors. A key way to achieve this is to focus on SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimisation and will help your webpage to be one of the first links listed when potential customers search for products you’re selling. Most small business owners collaborate with professionals for the best results. A simple SEO audit can help you to get off to the best start!
Customer Service
Customers can’t just pop into your shop to check things out, try things out or ask questions when you operate online. So you’re going to have to make sure you still provide some sort of customer service. This can make or break sales. Have a business email address and social media profiles customers and potential customers can contact you through.
As you can see, there’s a lot to do when you run your own business. It’s by no means and easy feat and you’ll take on a lot of responsibility. But it could work out well and you could find yourself living a much preferable lifestyle to the one you’ve grown used to. Only you can decide if this will suit you well or not!
