Even if you are operating from home, run your business like a true professional and deliver the goods or your services consistently well. Although the people that you will be dealing with- your customers and suppliers- generally won’t mind or won’t be able to tell whether you are a ‘regular’ business or a home-based business. Here are helpful tips on how you run a home-based business efficiently:

 

Professionalism and Credibility. Cultivate an image that will enhance your credibility and self-esteem even if you are working from home. A professional entrepreneur runs an enterprise professionally. Make sure that you are dressed neat and appropriately when expecting clients and suppliers to come over. Also make sure that your home office is neat and organized as well.

Proper Management of Time. Working from home doesn’t mean that you can be as freewheeling as you want to be with regard to your schedule. The time you will need to devote to your business everyday will depend on many factors, some of the most crucial are: 1.Your role in the business- are you in it full-time or part-time? 2. Your other responsibilities- perhaps you decided to set up your business at home so you can spend more time with your family; and 3. Is your business a startup requiring a lot of time, or is it something that needs a little attention?

Basic Fiscal Discipline. Practice good habits on financial practices of your business and keep it distinct and separate from personal and household bills. Remember that the money of your home-based business belongs to the enterprise and never use the funds of the business for personal needs.

Below-the-line marketing or simply BTL is the marketing mode of choice for businesses that don’t have a lot of money but are desirous of making a meaningful connection with their customers. BTL has also been used by big companies as well like McDonald’s and Nike. Now that technology is shifting power away from the mainstream media, people are taking control. Customers have a powerful voice, and the Internet and social media are their amplifier- the largest distribution channel of communication in the world.

BTL enables companies to deliver a highly targeted, personal message to consumers. Among the BTL methods that companies commonly use are as follows:

1) Price promotions. These include percentage discounts and two-for-one promos.

2) Vouchers and coupons. The objective of using them is to maximize the number of people who redeem them. When doing coupon campaigns, retailers must ensure they have enough products in stock for customers redeeming the coupons.

3) Refunds or rebates. The retailer or manufacturer pays customers a certain sum when they submit proof of purchase of a product.

4) Gifts with purchase. This is a common promo technique that gives customers something extra when they buy an item or subscribe to a service.