How To Avoid The Pitfall In Home Based Business

 

Home based business offers great opportunity to those who want to start a business from the home.

The biggest advantages are the time freedom and location freedom.

It can be run not just from home but basically from anywhere as long as there are laptop and internet connection.

This is definitely a great fit for those who want to be a stay home taking care of their kids, those who want to spend time with their family, those who want escape the 9-5 rat race and those who want to work anytime they want.

Therefore, some people call home based business as lifestyle business because it allows them to live the lifestyles they want.

Not only that, home based business usually requires very little investment of money. This means anyone can be an entrepreneur without having to spend a lot of money.

Although home based business has many benefits to offer, there are some pitfalls you should know and avoid.

This is important to safeguard your longevity in the business.

So, today’s blog post is aiming to feed you with the necessary knowledge about the pitfalls to avoid in different types of home based business.

 

i) E-Commerce Dropshipping

 

In e-commerce dropshipping business, you don’t have to carry inventory upfront to start selling physical products which means no investment on stocking inventory required.

You only pay the supplier/manufacturer when there are sales from your side.

This is clearly a major advantage but it carries some risk also – it is a double-edged sword.

The downside is if the supplier/manufacturer doesn’t ship out the items to your customers after you have paid, you would need to refund your customers their money plus having to bear the financial loses from your own pocket.

On top of that, you could even lost your payment processing account such as Paypal when there are too many chargebacks initiated by your customers for refund.

So to avoid the pitfall, you should only select trustworthy supplier/manufacturer to cooperate with by checking out their rating and product feedbacks from past clients.

Besides that, you should also monitor all your orders closely and make sure the supplier/manufacturer provides tracking numbers. Do make sure those tracking numbers are valid ones as well.

These extra efforts could save you from trouble in the long-run.

 

ii) Print On Demand (POD)

 

 

In Print On Demand (POD) business, you just need to create your own design you want to be printed on the merchandise items such t-shirt, mug, pillow case, phone case and etc that you want to sell on your online store.

The POD fulfilment company would then help you produce the item with your design on it and ship to your customers whenever you have sales.

This business model allows you to create your own unique products.

However, the things you need to be very careful with are copyright and trademark.

You should never try to use designs, images or words that are copyrighted or trademarked.

If you violates the rules, you could land into a big trouble. The rightful owner might take legal action against you and sue you for financial compensation.

To avoid this pitfall, you must use only images or graphics that are having “free for commercial usage” rights.

Also, make sure the words you intend to use in your design are not trademarked. You can check if the words are trademarked or not from this website.

 

iii) Mobile Apps

 

 

In mobile apps business, you can monetize from the mobile apps you have published in the app store.

There are many monetization models you can use for your apps including in-app ads such Google Admob, in-app purchases, one-time payment and subscription.

The more people are using your mobile apps, the more income you can potentially earn.

If you want to make good income out from mobile apps, you can’t ignore the fact that you have to rely on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

The reason is because these 2 app stores are the ones that can give most of the eyeballs and downloads for your apps.

Without them, your dream of making good income unlikely can happen.

This is going to be a pitfall because too much dependency can be fatal.

Especially, when both Google Play Store and Apple App Store are having super strict policy and constantly coming up with new ones.

They would suspend any apps that don’t meet their latest policy requirements without mercy given.

And if too many apps were suspended, you could lose your whole app developer account altogether with all other apps inside.

So to protect the survival of your precious apps and more importantly your income, you must always aware of their latest policy.

Then, take action and make the necessary updates so your apps are staying compliant.

 

iv) Network Marketing

 

 

In network marketing business, your can earn income from your own personal sales and sales from your team members under you.

Therefore, the more sales you can make or the bigger team you can build, the more income you would be making.

The pitfall is most people are having the “fear” in selling products and recruiting when meeting people face-to-face.

Therefore, it is kind of common that most people not able to make it in this industry.

To avoid the pitfall, you should have a proper online marketing system so you can reach out to people using internet without the conventional face-to-face meeting.

You should also provide the system for your team members usage as well.

So that the biggest challenge are removed from your team members right from the beginning.

With that, both of you and your team members can have better chance to success in this industry.

 

v) Affiliate Marketing

 

 

In affiliate marketing business, you are given an unique website link for the product you wish to promote over the internet.

This unique website link contains your referral code and whenever there is sale coming through it, you’ll earn commission from the product vendor.

Although it seems to be simple, most of the time people who visited the website through your unique link would not buy right away.

People often buy only after they encounter a product multiple times.

So if you are directing the traffic to your affiliate link directly, you are going to lose a lot of opportunity to make possible sales.

And also losing a lot of money if you are using paid traffic methods.

To avoid the pitfall, you should build your own email list first and then only promote your affiliate link in your email series.

This would give you the opportunity to follow up with your email subscribers.

 

vi) Amazon KDP

 

 

In Amazon KDP or also known as Kindle Direct Publishing, you publish book to Amazon store and you would make money in the form of royalty whenever there is a copy of your book sold.

They have super strict policy on the books that are published to their platform.

If they detected your book doesn’t meet their requirements such as copyright violation or layout problem, they might “Blocked” your book.

And if too many “Blocked” books in your Amazon KDP account, your whole account might face the risk of suspension.

Another thing is they would not hesitate to suspend your account if you have duplicate Amazon KDP accounts.

To avoid the pitfall, you should ensure you have the necessary rights on everything that exists in your book such as the contents, images and cover design.

You must response promptly to email from KDP about issue with your book to avoid it from being “Blocked”.

Also, you should only have 1 Amazon KDP account under your name.

 

Conclusion

 

Regardless of which home business you are doing, there is always pitfall.

All you need to do is understand the pitfall and avoid it.

Then you can have longevity in the business.

To have even a better security, don’t put all eggs in 1 basket.

With that being said, it’s always a good idea to have more than 1 business.