Homepreneur is a made up name that doesn’t exist in Wikipedia, yet there are 2.9 million Homepreneurs currently contributing £ 300bn to the UK economy. Impressive numbers when you stop and think about it.
Not only do we (Homepreneurs) spend £ 40bn in the local economies in which we live, mine at Costa, we earn more per hour than those with “proper” jobs. We must be saving the environment too as we’re not commuting. What’s not to like?
1 in 7 of the UK’s working population is Self employed the highest% registered at any point in the past 40 years.
Why are we motivated to start from home?
- A lifelong ambition to turn a passion (hobby) into a business.
- An opportunity in the market and to be your own boss.
- Dissatisfied with your current job.
- Unable to get back into the workplace due to injury or disability.
- Want to spend more time with family & friends.
- Invest in your future – (pension / retirement fund issues).
The most popular sectors for home businesses are:
- Business services
- Creative.
- Retail
- Professional Consulting.
Other Surprising facts about becoming a Homepreneur:
- You don’t have to have a Product or an Idea to start a business , there is something out there whereby you sell products on other peoples / companies on behalf of earn a commission.
- Over 60% of New UK businesses are started at home.
- Of the newbie Homepreneurs 64% are women and of these 72% are not mothers – dispelling the myth of the rise of the “stay at home mompreneurs” (mum in the UK) and yes mompreneur appears in Wikipedia.
- Of these women, nearly 70% have never been in business before.
- The age range – it’s 45-54yrs, (over 30%) the older generation is getting in on the act and I suspect because of the financial impact (Pension fund crisis / economic bust during 2008-2013)
Do you fall into one of these categories?
I fell into most of these categories, the main one – unable to do my job due to the huge amount of stress it put me under. I needed to work, I did not have a product to sell, I’m female and nearly 50. It’s a scary starting your own business but you have to get out of your comfort zone and make it happen. I became a Homepreneur within months of partnering with a commission based company.
When you find the right Product to sell online – What Next?
- Website : WordPress have made it easy for us especially for newbies like me. It’s Free, quick and easy. Take your time and select a Theme that suits you and your product. Before you sell your product you have to sell yourself. It’s all about being Personable, giving value to your customer before you sell anything.
- Email list : Aweber Now you have a website you need to collect emails from your customers so that you can keep them up to date with your “offers” or new information, the best way to do this is via Aweber. It’s straight forward to connect your website to Aweber so that you can send regular informative emails to new and existing customers or clients.
- Advertise & Marketing : Facebook . There are 1 billion people on Facebook every day..it’s mind blowing. Someone somewhere wants / needs your product, but before you self-combust and declare that you don’t know how … remember we all have to start somewhere. If you are serious about being a Homepreneur then get on Facebook. You may need to enrol on a course on How to Advertise on Facebook . Do your research as there are hundreds of courses out there to choose from. Please make sure they teach you how to use “business for Facebook”.
- Get Help – If like me you have limited savings and couldn’t afford to pay for help, use Online tutorials from YouTube. Search for guru’s in your Industry who have Free online videos for you to “Learn whilst you Earn”. Google and YouTube anything and everything you need to know But be careful. I found that some YouTube videos are out of date especially when trying to keep up with the changes that some companies IE Facebook make (it feels like every 5 minutes) It is incredibly frustrating when you try to compare what’s on your screen to what you are looking at on the YouTube video.
- Equipment : Invest in the highest spec Computer or Laptop that you can afford and get a decent Internet connection. This may mean sitting in a Cafe all day but hey you will be contributing to the local economy.
- A willingness to succeed whatever it takes.
The bad news is that most people who think about starting an online business and creating a life of freedom and flexibility don’t ever even get started.
The good news however, is that thanks to the Internet it is easier than ever to get up and running as a Homepreneur. Everything you need is out there, sometimes you just need a bit of help finding it.
