Beermat Club:
Ask Mike
Be local and reliable
Q: I am in the process of starting a new business and finding it difficult to find adequate finance for my start-up needs and wondered what options were available as my local area does not have any grants to help people start in business. I am a parent of two children living at home with my husband. I cannot work due to disability and my husband works full time. I am at the stage of reaching my limit on my overdraft and things are getting very hard. I wondered if there is any help as I am willing to work hard starting a business and it seems the only option open to me at the moment.
A. Given your challenging circumstances, it's very important that you find some kind of home-based business that suits you. Apart from the obvious financial benefits, it will do wonders for your self-esteem and general well being.
You do not need financial help to start a business so long as you provide a service that requires no up-front investment in expensive equipment or materials.
You can even get paid in advance if people trust you. The key issue is not what work you do but who you do it for.
In your circle of friends and acquaintances there will be people who need things doing and who are sympathetic to your circumstances, understanding that you will be working from home and cannot work every day.
Examples of activities that require minimal up-front cost include market research and telephone marketing.
All companies are looking for new prospects and they will typically provide a list of raw prospects drawn from the Yellow Pages or a business directory.
Checking this on the internet and calling up the companies involved to find the right person to contact would be very useful and valuable information.
I recommend you contact people you like and who like you, and see what suitable work they might have.
That could be people you have worked with before, companies in your local area or your husband's workcolleagues.
To succeed in business the two key factors are to be local and reliable. If you are these two things, you will soon find some potential customers.
Mike Southon, co-author of The Beermat Entrepreneur and Sales on a Beermat
First published in the Financial Times: 24th February 2007