There are a myriad reasons that people become solopreneurs. The desire to become your own boss, dissatisfaction with current employment, flexible work schedule, more family/vacation time and of course a much higher income potential.

Obviously not all types of businesses are suited for a solopreneur. If you want to actually manufacture a product, you still need to have a physical building with machines and employees in order to produce that product. But there are a lot of internet based businesses that are perfect for the solopreneur.

Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is someone who helps others with (mostly) mundane tasks like sorting and answering email, scheduling appointments and social media management. These are all activities that take a significant amount of time and people will gladly pay others to do.

Blogger

This is one of the most popular ways people become solopreneurs. Start by picking a subject (or niche) that you already have an interest in and start creating content around that subject. Then, become involved in groups that share a similar interest and contribute.

This combination of creating quality content and networking with others will grow the audience for your blog. Once you develop an audience, you can monetize it by selling ads and or using affiliate marketing.

Ebook Author

If writing is your thing, becoming an Ebook author may be right up your alley. We all know how hard it is for a first time writer to get published. Lucky for you the internet has made it possible for almost anyone to get published.

By writing books in electronic form, you’ll have no publishing costs. And since you are selling the book yourself, you get to keep 100% of the profits. And yes, you can even sell your book on Amazon (although they will take a percentage of the sales price).

Graphic Designer

If the visual arts are more your thing, becoming a freelance graphic designer may be for you. Graphic designers help companies design logos and other visual content to help promote a company’s identity and brand.

Life Coach

Being a life coach will be suitable for a people person who doubles as a solopreneur.

You will work with individuals helping them with things like budgeting and finance, organization and even family and personal relationships. This can all be done using email, Skype or even over the phone.

There are a lot more business ideas solopreneurs could choose from sucj as podcaster, event planner, tutor, handyman, travel consultant and many more. The possibilities are almost limitless.

Find out more about how to become a successful solopreneur: https://foundersafrica.com/how-to-become-a-successful-solopreneur/

Truth be told, starting a business importing African goods that are high in demand in the West, Asia, or even within intra-African trade markets may be your perfect business model.

There are still two persistent myths out there among those aspiring to start their own business in Africa. One is that you need considerable capital to get started, the other is that is it complex and risky. It does not have to be.

The most important thing is knowing that you can start off as an importing agent, so you do not need to pay for products yourself. Instead, start with what you have right now and be dedicated enough to see it through.

Then you re-invest some of the money you make back into your business and grow it from there.
Here are five reasons why you should start a business in African trade:

1. You are meeting a huge demand

There are hundreds of African manufacturers with limited distribution looking for an overseas market. Importing their goods is the place to start your business.

Africa has high-quality products to offer that are in huge demand all over the world. Consumer behavior is changing everywhere.

People want to consume products that are healthier, natural, organic, ethically sourced, fairly traded, fresh and original, gluten-free, sourced from single destinations; products that tell a story or that help consumers make a positive impact in someone else’s life.

Africa has all of that to offer and more – this is where you can find a very attractive competitive advantage.
The manufacturers in Africa have everything to gain when partnering with you: an increase in sales, broader market access, less time spent finding new markets, and more profits at the end of the year.

2. You can Market from any part of the world

If you are looking into setting up your own business importing African goods, it really does not matter where in the world you are based. You could be sitting in Europe, North America, Asia, or anywhere else in the world.

Fact is that food products and African goods such a coffee, tea, fruits, spices, superfoods, natural skin care, or gluten-free grains are needed across the globe.

3. You can start your business on a shoestring budget

You can start your importing business of African goods in your own home with little money.

Important is that you understand that there are various importing business models that require different levels of capital and input. Start out as an agent. This means you can get started with just your mobile or a laptop.

You connect manufacturers and exporters in a certain market in Africa with buyers in a different country.

You do not even need to worry about the shipping of containers or the transaction of money. All of it would be handled directly between the supplier and the buyer, and you earn a commission.

If you wish, you can re-invest that money into your business and become a distributor with your own warehouse or even start your own food brand by putting your private label on the package.

4. It helps to c reate passive income streams

Here is what makes African product imports so lucrative and attractive: Once you have won over a buyer as an agent, such as a supermarket, a coffee shop, a petrol station, a hotel, or individuals ordering from you via Amazon, they will come back again and again to fill their shelves.

This means that the initial customer acquisition is where the work is, but think about a shop owner who simply places another order with you again and again – you don’t have to do anything anymore, but you earn an agent commission each time, totally passive.

This is how you can build a great portfolio of buyers and grow your passive income streams.

5. You earn and you make impact

The biggest advantage is the money you’ll make and the immense freedom you will gain once you have a few loyal clients in your buyer portfolio.

The commission for setting up sales is very profitable especially when other companies such as supermarkets or hotels buy from you.

Because you are now working for yourself and you own passive income streams, you have a pretty location independent business, which means you can now enjoy a new level of freedom most people will never experience in their lifetime.

You can use that freedom to travel, to spend more time with your family, or simply do the things that are important to you. Also make sure you invest your extra money into other areas to create true wealth.

And above all, it’s an opportunity to support hundreds and soon thousands of African small-holder farmers and their families and contributing towards Africa’s development in real terms.

Initially, phones were introduced to easy up communication through calls. However, with improvement and upgrade on phones, smartphones evolved and its usage has widened to continuously allow socialization spread across the globe.

Specifically, smartphones have grown to become business tools, with which people invest, work and get paid right from the comfort of their homes.

Through it, many have created multiple streams of income for themselves, and even started businesses with little or no capital. It is definitely time to start earning with your smartphone.

Here are some businesses you can start with your smartphone and with little or no capital:

• Real estate agency

Real estate is currently the new gold-mine and a lot of people are looking to invest in it. The people who make the investment process easier by helping to locate, sell, and buy landed properties and buildings are the real estate agents and the beautiful thing is they also deal in rents and leases.

To start this with your smartphone, just link up with people that have properties they want to sell or rent out, take pictures of such properties, circulate through your social media and one-on-one marketing and lastly, have good marketing and negotiating skills.

The more the deals, the more commission you get.

• Online retailing

Buying and selling is really not a new business but it is definitely one which you can do with your smartphone and without capital.

Decide first what you want to sell, locate the market or wholesales seller you intend to buy from, get pictures of the products, push out on your social media and engage in one-on-one marketing.

Get bulk orders and their payments, buy and supply their products and smile to the bank.

• Social media managing

It is no news that the social media is one platform every business that intends to thrive must effectively make use of, and It definitely is a cheaper form of advertisement.

However, running an active and effective business account requires time, diligence, creativity, good relational skills and a lot more.

You can get paid just by helping business owners create and maintain a strong online presence via their social media accounts, through your smartphone. And interestingly, you get paid for your time and data.

• Freelance writing

In simple terms, this is the act of writing for other people and getting paid for it. This is definitely one job you can do right from the comfort of your home and the good news is it is that you could work for several clients at the same time, thereby earning from several sources.

As a freelancer, you can either generalise or specialize your writings. However, your good writing skill, ability to deliver a job in time, good command of language and good content among other things would help you stand out as a freelancer.

• CV/Resume writing

Few jobs, many available hands and the competition to be employed is on the high. This is definitely why anyone applying for a job aims to submit a CV or Resume that would impress their potential employer and get them the job.

Paying for this service is one they would gladly do, thus, making money for anyone who is vast and skilled in CV or Resume writing.

A Social purpose business is a type of business that has the society in mind and the intent to tackle a particular social issue.

Starting up a Social Purpose Business allows you to leverage your entrepreneurial principles to organize, mobilize and manage a for-profit business that supports social change.

1. Choose a social issue

Most social entrepreneurs are inspired by something. Christine Poirier of Montreal, Quebec designed her own nursing top to feel more comfortable breastfeeding in public. Her desire to help other women have positive breastfeeding experiences is what inspired Christine to co-found Momzelle, which makes quality, fashionable nursing apparel, sponsors breastfeeding events across North America and donates tops to women’s centers.

Like Christine Poirier, you might be drawn to a social issue through your own experience, but the cause you choose needs to be important to many others. For example, a recycling business that helps reduce the amount of plastic water bottles in landfills can resonate with a wide audience, in turn making a greater positive impact on the environment.

2. Research your issue

Even if you have personal experience with the social issue you’re hoping to solve, that doesn’t make you an expert. You need to have a full grasp on the nature of your endeavor, so take the time to do your research.

What is your target market, and what assumptions are you making about it? Is there a real need for your Social Purpose Business? What is your competition and how will you stand out from it? What is the value you want to bring to your customers? Market research and analysis, feasibility studies, industry analysis and viewpoint forums can help you validate your assumptions and determine the potential of your idea.

3. Get a global viewpoint

Even if your cause is a local one, look beyond. There’s a world of resources available – international websites, online blogs and social networks, local and global social enterprise networks, events and meet-ups and traditional media.

Take advantage to find out who the relevant innovators and innovations are worldwide, and to set up interviews with experts and potential customers. Also look beyond your industry, as valuable parallels can be drawn and trends understood from Social Purpose Businesses in other sectors.

4. Grasp legal structures

The legal structure of your business will impact its structure, governance, taxation, regulations and ability to attract investments and partners.

The challenge faced by social entrepreneurs in Canada is that they must choose between a not-for-profit and for-profit structure from the get-go, neither of which is entirely suited to a business striving to create blended value.

Before you decide upon a legal structure for your business, be sure to do your research, speak to other entrepreneurs about their experience and make sure you understand the impact your decision will make on your business.

5. Establish a solid business plan

It’s time to turn your research into a business plan. A business plan should have defined goals and tasks, effective strategies and measurements for success, such as: Clearly defining your product or service and social objectives, Your plan for meeting your blended social and business goals, Your plan for measuring success – both business and social, Who your customers are and how you plan to reach them, Marketing channels, Your business model (legal structure), Your financial plan (start-up costs, projected incomes, expenses and cash flow), Skills required and staff needed among other things.

Remember, a Social Purpose Business is a for-profit endeavor that will be competing with commercial enterprises that are concerned only with financial returns. Your business plan needs to engage and convince stakeholders, investors and funders.

6. Investigate funding options

One of the greatest challenges for entrepreneurs is finding the resources and capital to start their venture – even more so for social entrepreneurs.

It helps to first understand the different types of financing that are available, including various sources of private sector financing or financing from non-governmental organizations.

Only then can you assess which financing options best suit your Social Purpose Business.

The struggle many social entrepreneurs have is engaging private and public investors who generally lack experience with the unique risks, business models and markets presented by social ventures.

Investors consider Social Purpose Business a riskier investment because it tends to be relatively complex, takes longer to scale and often tackles uncharted areas.

7. Seek ongoing support from a mentor

Establishing a relationship with a mentor from the onset of your business is critical. A mentor is a business professional with the experience to provide sound business advice, support and encouragement, but it’s imperative to choose a mentor who understands the unique challenges and issues faced by socially-minded entrepreneurs.

In the experience of the Futurpreneur Canada, the chances of success are much higher when a young entrepreneur has the support of a mentor, so all Futurpreneur Canada entrepreneurs are matched with a mentor, prior to receiving their loan.

8. Hire the right people

Choosing the right people for your Social Purpose Business follows the same principles as hiring for any type of business. Building a team with a mix of practical, entrepreneurial and business skills will serve your business well.

Yet, working for a business with a social mission may require more commitment, and any prospective employees need to understand just what’ s expected – whether that be flexibility, longer working hours or lifestyle changes. Ideally, those you hire will share the same concerns about the social issue you’re striving to change and experience with the community you’re planning to serve.

9. Build a company culture

A Social Purpose Business needs to develop its own company culture and not just a campaign. For a business striving for blended value, the culture should likewise be blended, combining the best of both the traditional not-for-profit mentality and the traditional for-profit mentality. The business needs to communicate to everyone involved – employees, board members, stakeholders – how it’s founded upon blended value, measures success based on the “triple bottom line” (people, planet and profit), and serves both clients (the people benefiting socially) and customers (the people buying).

10. Reach out globally

Once your Social Purpose Business has a solid foundation and its generating both economic and social value, it might be time to build awareness about both your business and the social issue it’s impacting. Establishing a global presence can bring many benefits.

It can lead to further funding, opportunities to expand your positive impact, awareness about your social issue and interest in working for your company.

Recent research has demonstrated the importance and positive results of successful social media campaigns, and it’s become imperative for all types of business to reach out to people around the world with a company website, blogs and social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

The healthcare sector is an amazing place for aspiring entrepreneurs to open up shop. Exploring healthcare business ideas is smart for lots of reasons.

One of the many reasons is that here are lots of new medical and technological advances, and widespread interest in health and wellness, too. And those are all great incentives for passionate entrepreneurs.

Plus, these factors combined mean there’s a thriving market for health-related businesses. Aspiring new business owners can turn one of many healthcare business ideas into a viable way to make a living.

1. Medical Transcription Services

Medical transcriptionists transcribe doctors’, nurses’, and other healthcare practitioners’ voice recordings into written documents for patients’ records.

Speech recognition technology has definitely improved the efficiency of medical transcription, sure. But it certainly hasn’t yet replaced the need for human transcriptionists to review and correct the transcriptions to make sure they’re accurate.
This is a great business to run from home because you can make your own hours, and all of the work can be done digitally. Plus, if you’re digitally savvy and can create an efficient way to share files, you can really one-up the competition.

2. Medical Records Management

Start a service that manages medical records for hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices. You can work with clients to identify the best records management systems, implement them, and provide their staff with training on how to use the systems.

Another approach? You can offer a full-service medical records management, and clients can outsource the work to you.

That would be helpful for boutique practices and sole practitioners, who need the organization but can’t afford the in-house staff.

3. Physical/Occupational Therapy Center

Physical therapists help patients recover from injuries to regain their full range of motion and reduce pain.

Occupational therapists provide more specific therapy to help patients perform tasks of daily living, such as dressing themselves or feeding themselves.

You can specialize in one or the other, or put both under one roof. Note that this does require certification.

4. Develop a Healthcare App

Both healthcare providers and individuals alike are increasingly turning to mobile apps to track, record, and manage medical conditions.

The world is your oyster if you’re skilled in app development, so you might want to consider developing your own healthcare app targeting these markets. Do some field research to find out where your skills can fit a need.

5. Diabetic Care Center

According to the CDC, 9.4% of all Americans either have diabetes or are prediabetic. Opening a diabetic care center can help diabetic patients improve their quality of life by providing nutrition counseling, dialysis, and other medical services.

You can also provide preventive help such as teaching healthy eating habits or providing support groups for diabetics.

6. Home Healthcare Service

A home healthcare service provides in-home medical care for recently discharged hospital patients, patients with chronic health conditions, seniors, and others who need assistance managing their health.

In states with rapidly aging populations, like Florida and California, not only could this be a benefit to the community but also a strong business prospect for you.

7. Childbirth Services

Today’s expectant parents want to control every aspect of childbirth, and that often includes having a midwife or doula present at the birth. The use of midwives is increasing, according to the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Midwives are trained healthcare providers who assist women during childbirth, while a doula is more like a pregnancy coach who helps couples arrange all aspects of the birth and caring for the newborn.

You can either become certified yourself or open a business that employs contractors under your umbrella.

8. Health Information Website

If you have healthcare expertise or access to people who do consider starting a website to provide healthcare information and advice.

You can create all kinds of content, such as podcasts, YouTube videos, and even online classes, in addition to blog posts.

You might even be able to get healthcare experts to contribute content for free in exchange for the publicity your site offers.

There are a lot of options just make certain that you do some market research to figure out the white space to fill, and find viable revenue streams to make your business highly sustainable, too.

9. Medical Supply Sales

Seniors, people with disabilities, and others with chronic illnesses have an ongoing need for medical supplies and equipment.

This can include walkers, braces, bedpans, and more.
Although you can open a physical store, keep in mind that your target customers will often have difficulty getting to your location, so an ecommerce site is likely a better bet.

Again, research here will be key so you can make sure that you’re stocking the right products and marketing in the right places.

10. Stylish Uniforms for Medical Professionals

Medical professionals who wear scrubs to work are always looking for affordable and durable uniforms. They’re also looking for stylish uniforms and those aren’t as easy to find.

If you’re as into fashion as you as you are outfitting doctors, nurses, and medical staff, start a store selling scrubs, comfortable shoes, lab coats, and other gear for healthcare professionals.

You can design the goods yourself or source them from multiple places, and encourage your customers with word-of-mouth incentives to drive sales.

While the image of the starving artist still exists, being broke isn’t a given for artistic people. It is possible to make a living from creative talents.

However, success requires the artist do more than create, which means learning about running a business and marketing to sell products or skills. Fortunately, even that can be done with a creative flair.

The trick to being successful at selling handmade crafts is in having an affordable source of supplies, the time to make your goods without burning out, and pricing them to sell.

Once you have a supply of craft items, selling them is just a matter of finding the right market for them.

Jewelry

Beaded jewelry has become popular, although it’s not the only type of jewelry you can sell. Many people like to buy handcrafted jewelry because of the uniqueness of the design and having a one-of-a-kind piece.

Like all other businesses, finding your market and pricing your jewelry right is crucial. You have many options for finding your market including in-home shows, craft fairs, retail shops, and online at sites like Etsy or through your own e-commerce website.

Gift Baskets

Gift baskets make great presents for just about everyone. They don’t even need to be in baskets. A backpack full of school supplies and edible treats is ideal for a new college student.

A diaper bag filled with baby items is a welcome gift to a new parent. The types of gift baskets you make are only limited by your creativity.

Most gift baskets can be sold online, although you may have to check laws about mailing alcohol or food, such as a wine and cheese basket.

Other options for selling your gift baskets include craft and trade shows, consigning at local shops, a catalog to local businesses, and through word of mouth.

Faux or Mural Painting

Many homeowners and businesses, such as pediatric doctors’ offices or childcare centers, hire painters to decorate their walls.

The challenge of this type of business is getting clients, as you’re limited to how far you can travel. Further, you have to know the laws and rules about painting copyrighted or trademarked material.

For example, is it legal to paint the Yellow Brick Road and Dorothy on a wall in a home or doctor’s office?

To start, you might paint something in your own home or free for a friend to create a portfolio you can show to potential clients. Networking with home decorators and home improvement businesses can be a great way to find new clients.

While faux or mural painting is limited to your travel area, don’t discount having a website to promote your business. Many people use the internet over the Yellow Pages when searching for local services.

Home Decorating/Interior Design

Especially with the popularity of HGTV and other home decor-related shows, people are wanting to fix up their homes.

The problem is, many don’t have the understanding of color and texture, the creative eye, to decorate their home.

Like decorative painting, you’re limited to how far you can travel in providing home decorating or interior design. However, if you network with builders, realtors, and home renovation businesses, you can get referrals.

Another option is to add home staging to your service menu. As a home stager, you help home sellers clean, organize, and decorate their homes so they’re appealing to buyers.

Photography

If you have an eye for taking a great picture, a photography business could be your ideal home business option. There are several ways to make money from photography.

One is to offer portrait services to people or pets. Another option is to take pictures at events, such as weddings.

Finally, if you like to photograph a variety of things, you can sell your pictures online at places like 123RF, BigStock, and iStock.

Web and Graphic Design

Although a technical field, creating websites and graphics requires knowledge of artistic elements, such as color, texture, and fonts.

More and more freelancers and businesses are going online to promote themselves, but many don’t have the time or knowledge to build a website or create needed logos and graphics, Instead, they hire a designer.

Because this type of art is internet-based, you can find clients from all over the world. Many companies and freelance sites have jobs and projects available to apply to right now.

Once you have a portfolio, you can decide to narrow your niche, such as working only for non-profits or setting up WordPress sites.

Writing

There are many ways to make money from writing, such as freelance writing articles, ghostwriting, or copywriting. But the option that provides the most freedom for artistic expression is fiction writing.

At one time, to sell your book, you needed an agent and a publisher, but today, self-publishing is easier and more affordable than ever, making it easy to get your book published.

Whether you self or traditionally publish, marketing is crucial to your success. That starts with building an author platform and developing a book marketing plan.

Another way to have control over your writing is through blogging, in which you can choose any topic you desire. With that said, it should be something other people want to know about or are interested in.

Artists create things for the sake of aesthetics – something not so much valued before in the practical world of business. However, times have changed. The economy is now teeming with opportunities and gigs for artists worldwide.

With their great talent, they can now start a business in their own preferred craft while earning money to support a living. Here are some business ideas to help entrepreneur artists get started.

1. Sell Your Crafts and Handmade Goods

Maybe you love creating hats, knitting sweaters, or have a penchant for making handmade wall decors. Showcase your craft to the world and earn from it!

Today, there are lots of sites that could help you find buyers for your merchandise. Some of the biggest marketplaces for handmade goods include Etsy, Supermarket, and Aftcra.

2. Collect and Sell Art

Do you have a good eye for beauty in arts? Art dealers find beautiful pieces of art in order to sell them to various art enthusiasts. With dedication, this business could grow allowing you to open your own art gallery, while helping other artists get their works noticed.

Art dealers are as much artists themselves. Alan Bamberg famous art consultant and author believes becoming an art dealer starts with having great vision.

3. Restore Old Cars

Maybe you like giving old cars a great makeover. That’s a great way to put your car enthusiasm and creativity to good use.

Restoring old cars is a booming new industry that if done right can help you earn lots of money. Restoring cars is not something you can teach yourself; it requires artistry and even mad skills to succeed in this business.

To learn the right process in restoring classic cars, you have to learn the craft from industry experts.

4. Write Stories

Anyone can be an artist. Artists are people who create art, and writers create art using words. If you have talent in writing and like to create short stories and novels, you can start a business selling your own original work.

If you’re not ready to write a full book, you can start writing articles online for different magazines. Many publications today pay writers good sum of money for their published works.

5. Work as a Graphic Artist

Perhaps you are good at creating visual concepts using your computer. You have your own unique style and got good taste in form and color. You can start your own freelance business and become a graphic designer.

You can use your work to design shirts, websites, and other form of merchandise. The demand for graphic designers is now increasing as many businesses are now aware how important good graphic design is for effective advertising.

6. Become a Creative Consultant

It’s a competitive world out there in business. Many companies, startups, and brands are now seeking help from ‘creativity consultants’ for their skills to find solutions and produce innovation.

As a creative consultant, your job is to develop concepts, discover ideas, and help business grow. Such expertise is now needed more than ever in a growing creative market.

7. Start a Calligraphy Studio

Transform your calligraphy hobby to a real money-making business by starting your own calligraphy studio. If you can’t afford one, you can start as a freelancer working from home.

You need only minimal costs to start this business, as you will need only pen, ink, and paper. If you don’t have the skill, but are interested in learning the craft, there’s a lot of valuable self-help resource around the web to teach you how.

Opening a consultation business allows you to help others who may be struggling, not to mention helps you earn money in the process.

Many advantages exist for starting a consultation practice: you get to set your own working hours and service fees to earn a decent income.

In addition, you can offer your consulting services primarily from home should you choose to do so.

Decide what type of consulting business you want to start

Think about your qualifications. Define your areas of expertise, experience in a field and educational degrees or qualifications you have earned. Identify knowledge gaps and the topics about which you should learn and stay updated in your field.

Earn a certification in your consulting area, if any exist

The specific certification you earn depends on your industry, how competitive you want to be and your qualifications for earning a certificate. For example, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam for tax and accounting consultants typically requires a bachelor’s degree.

Some fund-raising consultants earn a certification through the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. IT and networking consultants can earn numerous hardware and software certifications, such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).

Identify a niche market for your consulting services.

Think about the type of client for which you want to provide services. Make a criterion list of characteristics and attributes you want your clients to meet. For example, small IT consultants might only want to consult with businesses and organizations with less than 100 employees.

A professional business consultant might focus only on small business clients or large corporate ones. Choosing a niche target market helps you narrow down a list of possible clients and allows you to specialize your services.

Decide on the services you want to offer in your consulting business

Ask yourself whether you want to primarily offer advice and one-on-one consultations for clients or whether you’ll actually perform services after you determine the client’s needs.

In other words, will you actively troubleshoot, fix problems and implement solutions or will you simply provide expert advice to clients on how to solve them?

Make a list of each service you plan to offer

Set fees for consultation services.
Research fees for similar consultants and service providers in your local or regional area.

Think about how much time you’ll spend with your average client providing advice, solving problems and helping implement solutions. Set your rates and fees based on this factor, the competition in your area and your professional qualifications to consult.

Write a comprehensive business plan

Business plans guide you through the setup of your business and provide a map for success. Write sections in your business plan for each of the services you plan to provide, descriptions of each service, your competition and how your business will be different.

Devote a section to start-up costs and how much you’ll need for marketing and advertising, as well as what equipment, if any, you’ll need to get started.

Obtain business licenses

Call state and local authorities to determine the exact business and tax licenses you’ll need. Register the name of your business and its structure (e.g., sole proprietorship or limited liability company) with your state. Fill out all paperwork and pay any fees, as required.

Set up your office space

Many small consulting businesses can be set up from a home office, especially since consultants often meet clients on-site at the clients’ own place of business or residence.

Seek out retail office space if you need additional room or a larger atmosphere in which to meet clients.
Begin marketing your consulting business.

Create a website that outlines who you are, your qualifications and a list of consulting services you offer. Set up a lead-capture page on your website to gather email addresses of potential clients and offer a free newsletter.

Start a blog, writing about topic areas of importance to clients. Take advantage of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter to connect with clients and capture their attention.

Auditing business is one of the businesses that one can start an auditing business with a minimal investment, often by working from your home on nights and weekends until you build a customer base.

Some kinds of auditing only require intelligence and a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent work experience. Other auditing areas require specialized training, but all auditors should be detail-oriented, have strong organization skills and work well independently.

Below are a few tips on how to start an auditing business:

Understanding Types of Auditing Businesses

Choose from the four basic types of outside auditing services that most organizations recognize: financial, compliance, operational and information technology.

Choose your specialty, assess your skills, study the market and get certifications and training as needed for the auditing specialty you plan to offer.

Also, ensuring Proper training and licensing.

Exploring Auditing Opportunities

Study the market, assess the competition and consider whether to open an office, work from home, or start your business in a different area with more opportunities.

You often can begin your auditing business on a part-time basis while you build clients. Managed office facilities are another option to explore.

Sharing an office with other professionals provides strong prospects for clients in-house. Some aspiring entrepreneurs combine auditing with other services like accounting, consulting, retail sales, Internet marketing or IT services.

Another possibility is buying an existing firm or franchise. Make sure that the prospective auditing firm has a strong and loyal client base, and audit the firm’s finances or franchise agreement carefully because it will be one of the most important jobs you ever do.

Getting Customers for Your Business

The strategy for promoting your business depends on your targeted clients and type of auditing you offer.

However, general rules for promoting an accounting business apply. Instead of traditional media advertising, create value for customers by pointing out the potential benefits of outside audits through newsletters, social media post and articles and letters to authoritative journals.

Join social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, and become an expert resource by providing tax tips, information on accounting issues and answering members’ questions.

Networking with businesses who use your kind of auditing service and asking clients directly for referrals also work well when promoting professional services.

In most countries, small farms are considered the backbone of the agricultural industry, with 97 percent of all U.S. farms being family-owned.

This is because your motivation for starting a farming business is the thing that will directly impact your strategy.

Starting, running and maintaining a farm business no doubt requires a lot of work to eventually make a heads way and here are some basic things to consider in the effective running a Farm business:

Get some real-world experience

For many modern-day farmers, especially those running large commercial farms in the Midwest, skills have been passed from generation to generation.

This isn’t the same for small startup farms. These farmers have had to acquire their skills in order to learn how to start farming, and they’ve either done so by apprenticing with other farmers, going to farm school, or doing some intense self-directed study.

If you are willing to put in the time, and learn the necessary farming and business skills to become the profitable small business farmer you know you could be, there’s good news. It’s doable!

Decide whether you’re starting a business or a hobby farm

If DIYing your farm learning experience is something, you’re more interested in, hobby farming could be a better fit for you, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Hobby farming gives you the opportunity to experiment on a micro scale first.

For example, before you plant an acre worth of vegetables, plant a much smaller patch, and take the time to address and learn from problems as they arise.

After a while, you’ll have developed the skills you need in order to expand.

Identify your niche

Even if you know exactly what type of farm you want to start, diving head first into just doing it is never a good idea.

A lot of times, farmers run out of business within just one yield, you’re out of business and all because they didn’t know where their target market was located, or what their values were.

Don’t skip the market research phase

Learning to do market research is that step you really can’t skip, because while it certainly helps if you know what you want to grow, you’re still going to need to know who is going to buy your products, where you’re going to sell them, and how you’re going to do this, all while taking competitors into consideration.

Even if you know nothing about formal market research practices, you can do your own research by getting out to learn more about your customers, distribution channels, and about how to start a farm.

If you are already interested in a particular product, learn more about your local market. Check out farmers’ markets, meet other local producers, speak to customers as you shop. Better yet, survey farmers’ markets to see if any crops or products are under-represented.

Keep an eye on emerging market trends as well.

Find the right land

Once you’ve figured out what you’re going to farm, you’re going to need to decide whether to buy land or lease it.

If you buy land, you’ll have complete control over its use, but you will also assume financial risk for the success of your enterprise.

This is one of the major reasons leasing land is a popular option for many new farmers. It minimizes financial risk and requires reduced capital at the outset.

Research your funding options

Once your business takes off, you can buy the things that will make life easier. And even if you don’t have a lot of cash on hand at this later date, a bank will be more likely to give you a loan if they can see you are running a profitable operation.

For anyone seeking a loan, writing a business plan is going to be essential. This isn’t any different for an aspiring farm owner.

Even if you’re not seeking a loan, a business plan is a useful tool to help you figure out which of your ideas are feasible, and to remind you of your goals.

Market and sell your products

There are many different ways to market your farm products. While farmers’ markets are probably the most obvious example that comes to mind, there are a number of other channels you can use to market and sell your products.

If you have enough traffic nearby, you might find that a produce stand or farm shop right on your own property is a good option.

Another trending model is to sell your products through a CSA (which simply stands for “Community Support Agriculture”), in which patrons purchase a “share” of the season’s yield for a set price in exchange for regular deliveries of the products as they are ready.

This model is especially popular because you receive payment at the beginning of the season, which can help reverse the notorious cash-flow issues faced by most farm businesses.
You could even find a local growers’ cooperative that allows you to team up with other producers to sell your products under a united brand.

Finally, even though the age of the supermarket has made retail sales of farm goods more difficult, there are still plenty of small, local health and natural food stores with whom you could partner, with the advantage of their often fiercely loyal customer bases.