Sometimes the most unlikely business models are the most successful. Take trash collection, carpet cleaning, or chimney sweeping for example. Nobody wants to do them, but they actually pay very well. Some of these home-service business opportunities may have tremendous growth opportunities in the “dirty jobs” section of America because customers want quality and professionalism in these areas of home service, and cannot find it. Figure that one out and you are already an entrepreneurial-minded business person on your way to the top.

5 Things that Make a Good Home-Based Business

1. Employee Optional. We call this a man-in-a-van business. One that you can start for just a few thousand dollars worth of tools and a professionally labeled van. Just you and the business. Employees are not mandatory but optional. You can grow with your business and when you are too busy to run the show solo, then you can scale it up. All the employee training manuals are done and the tracking software is in place to enable you to add employees. But you don’t have to add them if you like flying solo and not talking to other people on your drive around town.
2. Low-Overhead. If it takes $5,000 per month in fixed overhead no matter how much you make in gross income, well, how do I say this… you are not in a low-overhead home-based business. A good home-based business will have reasonably priced monthly fixed overhead costs. The best way to launch and grow a small home-based business is to tie as many of your outgoing expenses to your incoming money. For example, if you can limit your marketing expense to $17 per customer, and your gross income is $232 per customer, your gross profit is $215 per customer. That is not a fixed overhead any more but a variable expense. That is a good thing when you are a small business owner, because you only have to pay money out when you bring money in.
3. Marketing Done. A good home based business will not require you to become the main advertiser and Tupper-Ware party host. Direct sales businesses are a clever way of making you the main driver of the brand with your friends and basically annoying most of them. Find a business that will allow you to serve people you do not know. A real business. Let the home office do 80% of your marketing for you- they already know your ideal customer’s demographic and they have the artist on staff, not you. Let each person do what they are best at! Now this is not to say that all direct selling is bad- but I have known more people who didn’t enjoy it than people who did enjoy it.
4. Customer Feedback. A small business that has no mechanism for feedback and customer online reviews is a business that will simply not grow in today’s internet-based economy. Your customers will be researching you online long before they hire you. Bet on it- they will compare your brand against your competitors on Google Plus reviews, Yelp Reviews, and Yahoo Local reviews. They don’t know you, and they don’t know the other people writing the reviews, but take it to the bank that those customer review sites are being monitored and used as decision engines. Modern home-based businesses need a mechanism for collecting and posting and sharing online reviews from their customers.
5. Local Search Program. If your small business of choice does not have a comprehensive and forward thinking marketing team promoting your brand in your location, start thinking how to spell n-o     t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u. The internet of things has changed it all. Rural places like central Iowa may be about 10 years behind progressive places like Los Angeles and Denver and Chicago, but only by 10 years. Internet searches is how most of your client’s will find you, especially Millennials. Home service small businesses will either succeed or fail often based on one simple criteria- do they appear on page one of a Google search for their industry and service?

So if you are still asking yourself what 5 things makes a good home-based business in America today, then may I suggest that you complete the form below and we will talk about one. I would love to speak to you more about the opportunity to become a chimney sweep in America today. This is the land of opportunity, lets build a business together!

Read about James’ success Midtown Chimney Sweeps story here. Or start your own story now by filling out the form below!