Before you launnech your home-based business, take the time to carefully consider what kind of business you are actually going to be in.  I know this sounds simple, but it’s a trap that a lot of people (myself included) have fallen in to.  With the “field leveling” power of the Internet, it’s easy to see all kinds of business that you would like to start.  They all look so good and promise such easy money.  Before you know it, you are involved in “eleventy-eight” different home-based businesses and you’re not making any money at any of them because your focus is too scattered.

Believe me on this.  I am speaking from first-hand experience.  I’ve been in various home-based businesses since I was sixteen years old (actually before that) but all of those experiences didn’t keep me out of this energy-draining trap.  Nope, I fell into it with a resounding thud.

When Cindy and I formed our LLC last year, we thought we had it all figured out.  We were going to build some affiliate marketing websites and do a little publishing on the side.  Before long, we had incorporated web design, PC repair and network marketing into the mix.  It started to really become a mess.  Soon, we found that we had several trade names and multiple websites.  If you would have looked at all of our websites, you would have sworn that we were operating a multi-billion dollar corporation with many different divisions, each with their own URL, domain name, website and flashy logo.  The truth was that we weren’t making a dime.  How could we?  We were splitting our time between so many different businesses that none of them were getting the attention that they needed to grow.  All that was happening was that  I was getting over-worked and frustrated.  I won’t even go into all of the money that we put out.  You see, when you run multiple businesses, they require multiple overhead costs.  That adds up in a hurry.

Even worse, was the physical and mental clutter that resulted.  We could never get business cards printed because there was no way to combine all of our different activities on to one card and who wants to carry fifteen different business cards?  It was so bad that I dreaded hearing someone say, “Hey, Tim.  What business are you in?”   The fact is, I wasn’t quite sure myself.

Earlier this year, Cindy and I sat down and talked about it.  We had to narrow our focus and operate ONE business.  Once it was successful, we could consider starting another.  For now, we had to concentrate on one.  With that in mind, we stopped doing PC support, web design and network marketing.  Instead, we opted to focus on on publishing traditional and electronic publications that are faith-based and/or family-friendly. 

Once we had our focus  narrowed down, we started clearing out the mental and electronic clutter.  We got rid of trade names, websites and URLs that we no longer needed.  The trade name we kept, we registered with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office.

Now, we can see our business rolling in a positive direction thanks to some focused energy and direction.  Our costs are down and our productivity is way up.  Now, I don’t cringe when people ask what business we’re in.  I simply reply that “we are publishers of family-friendly books and periodicals.”  That’s a much better feeling.