Tying it Together: Your Business and Your Life

The next important step of starting your own business is to decide what kind of business that you want to have. There are many types to choose from, although your structure may be dictated by your product/service. There is still some degree of choice with every venture.

You may have already thought about where you want to do business while creating your life plan, as I did. I knew that I enjoyed working in an office, mainly due to the human interaction and tendency for team-based environment. For some, though, rolling out of bed and in front of a computer is optimal. Basically your choices boil down to these:

• Home-based
• Store Front
• Office
• Warehouse/Factory

This choice is determined mainly by what you’re selling, but it also needs to be based on your comfort level when interacting with employees/customers and the amount of time you want to put into it. The important thing to remember is to choose whatever suits you and fits within your life plan.

As I have mentioned before, I have a family. This dictates so many things in my life, most importantly the kind of business I should pursue. I need something that has moderate risk, can provide income fairly quickly after startup, and something that can be done from an office.

There are several business formats also that you can choose from. Some have been around for a long time and others are fairly new.

• Consulting (solo or partnership)
• Wed-based
• eBay (auction style)
• Franchising
• Buying an existing business or franchise
• Wholesale production/distribution
• Licensing your product
• Multi-level marketing

At this point your brain is on overload, as was mine. So many choices, how do you choose which one is right for you? To focus in on what was right for me I looked at my needs that I mentioned above. One choice just jumped out at me: franchising.

I don’t have the capital to buy an existing business, but franchises have fairly low start-up costs and the branding and marketing are in place. Because franchises already have proven processes in place, there is less risk associated and depending on how well you execute the processes income is possible somewhat quickly.

For everybody the ideal business model is going to be different and you may not be able to lower it down to one. Just keep it all your choices in mind, you will find your limitations, but the other option may be the jumping off point for your next great adventure down the road.

-Rebecca