Author, Entrepreneur and Business Coach Brad Sugars on Home Businesses

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

As CEO of ActionCoach and author of Sell to Survive and other business titles, Brad Sugars offers plenty of business advice. But Sugars also practices what he preaches. He built ActionCoach from nothing to a corporation operating more than 1,000 offices in 26 countries.

Home Business® Magazine recently sat down with him to discuss how the current economy impacts the launch of home business enterprises.

Home Business Magazine (HBM): What advantages does the current recession offer an entrepreneur launching a business?
Brad Sugars (BS): Everything’s cheaper. There are more employees available today than there have been in quite some time. We’re paying less in wages than we have in a long time. People are looking for new businesses [with which] to do business. You can offer greater value for the money, especially in the business-to-business market. They’re looking for new suppliers. Lots of plans [people have for] being in business are getting a helping hand because they no longer have a job. It’s maybe not an advantage, but the fact that you’re getting a push in the right direction.

HBM: How can someone interested in running a home-based business know he or she is selecting the right kind of business?
BS: Build one that has repeat business. Get into a business where there are good profit margins, [one] where people have already bought and used that product. New technology is harder than selling shoes. They already know and buy shoes. If it’s something new, people don’t know they need it. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t get good at it and you won’t make money with it. Allow for learning, not just delivery of the product or services. You may have been an engineer for twenty years, but that may not give you the qualifications to run an engineering firm. Understand the see-saw. Find the work, do the work. Find the work, do the work. Your cash flow will do the same. Don’t plan for it all to work from day one.

HBM: How can one know that it’s the right time to go full-time with a home-based business?
BS: If you’ve replaced one-half your wage, going full-time will replace the other half.

HBM: What are the top three mistakes home business entrepreneurs make when launching a business?
BS: They don’t plan for growth. They fall in love with their product and think that customers have to buy it for the reason they want. Your product or service lineup will change based on what customers want to buy. Home business owners also don’t do near enough marketing. That’s why they have to charge such a little amount. They don’t differentiate themselves from anyone else.

HBM: How can entrepreneurs raise start-up funds?
BS: People invest in the team, not just the ideas. Ideas are a dime a dozen. “Can he pull it off?” is the big question. The best horse in the world with a bad jockey will still lose. Don’t just show me the idea or concept but how you’re going to get customers. Show me how I’m going to get my money back. In this type of an economy, there is quite a bit of money for businesses because [investors are] wary about stocks and property. When you do go into business, the best form of funding is customers. Most of us bootstrapped our way to get where we are.

HBM: A small start-up may question the expense of hiring a business coach. Why is it important?
BS: The biggest killer of business is lack of knowledge. If they didn’t have enough sales, it’s because they didn’t have enough knowledge about marketing or leads. You don’t know what you don’t know. The hardest thing in business that most new business owners need to learn is how lonely it gets running your own business without other people to bounce ideas off of. When you are your own boss, you’re disciplined enough to pay the bills but not to demand growth, like when you have a board of directors to answer to. A good coach is free within 90 days by helping you build business.

HBM: How important is continuing education to home business owners?
BS: You keep breathing to stay alive; you keep learning to grow in business. You have to do a lot by trial and error. People think education is expensive, but ignorance is far more expensive. HBM

Deborah Jeanne Sergeant writes from her home office in Wolcott, N.Y., penning trade and consumer articles and corporate marketing materials. Her web site is www.skilledquill.net.

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Previously published in the February 2010 issue of HOME BUSINESS® Magazine, an international publication for the growing and dynamic home-based market. Available on newsstands, in bookstores and chain stores, and via subscriptions ($19.00 for 1 year, six issues). Visit www.homebusinessmag.com
 

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