How To Grow A Home-Based Business Into A Fortune 500 Company

by Jeff Landers

'Growth Mavens' are fiercely ambitious entrepreneurs. They know how to think big. A Growth Maven thinks someday he will be a household name just like his heroes who originally started their companies as home-based businesses: Bill Gates, Martha Stewart, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, and Michael Dell.

"I want to take over the world. Okay, so how do I do that?"

Well, first the bad news The odds are stacked against you. The National Federation of Independent Business' Education Foundation estimates that over the lifetime of a small business, only 39 percent are truly profitable. Over a ten-year period, more than 64 percent of these businesses will fail. These are some tough statistics. So what's the deciding factor that separates the winners from the losers, and what can you do to start shifting the odds in your favor?

Fortunately, there is not just one overriding factor that will determine if you'll end up on "Millionaire's Row" or "Desolation Row." (For the youngsters out there, this is from a Bob Dylan songYes, I'm dating myself.) Actually, your chances of success can be greatly increased just by following a series of easy but efficient small steps.

For the Growth Maven, that first step is to move out of his house. The Growth Maven begins his enterprise in his home office to keep costs low, but is eager to expand the company to new levels. His dream is to grow from a one-man show to a multi-employee corporation and maybe bigger yet.

Does this hit the nail on the head? If you are a Growth Maven, your first move is to move out of your home office. You need to open your first "real" office and bring on some staff. But it must be done correctly so that the big leap doesn't suck-up all of your time, money, and resources. You want to prepare yourself for long-term success. You want customers to know who you are and what you believe in. You want to develop a terrific reputation and have constant communication with your customers.

It isn't easy, but you can make it happen. Growth Mavens know how to turn a vision into reality. So go ahead and inspire your inner maverick to take action today. Growth Mavens, it's now time to wave farewell to your Home Office From Hell. You're off to build an empire!

Before you run off to sign an office space contract, STOP!

Here are two solid arguments to avoid even relatively short-term leases, much less 3-5 year contracts.

1. New businesses often don't make enough to cover the expense in a cash flow crunch

2. More rapid success than you anticipated may mean a need to move to a bigger office.

Renting an executive suite is often the simplest solution. They are classy, fully equipped, and ready to move into. With many other small businesses housed in the same facility, networking with other entrepreneurs becomes a daily event. Most real estate brokers won't even bother to mention this option to you because in most cases the commission from these deals is not large enough to justify their time and effort.. Other options, depending on your type of business, might be to sublet space or share space with a larger company.

Take action today by researching which executive suites are located in your area. A high-end downtown executive suite might not be the right choice for a funky software developer.

This article is adapted from Jeff Landers' book, "The Home Office From Hell Cure," helps you to Recognize the Serious Business Killers In Your Home Office.