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So, you’ve decided to start a home based business. Congratulations, and welcome to the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort will be worth it. The thrill of growing your business, the freedom and flexibility to set your own hours, and the possibilities of ever-increasing financial rewards are all wonderful reasons to start a home based business.

Now that you’ve decided to start your business, you might be wondering “How can I get it off to the strongest possible start?” These 7 tips will help:

1) Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn’t matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a corner of the living room. I used to work out of my closet. The important thing is to have some space that you can designate as your working area. This will give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

2) Stock your working space with materials. This sounds basic, perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time management strategy, too.

3) Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work? When will you do your marketing? When will you provide services or products to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

4) Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means that you confuse “being busy” with “working on important projects.” The best approach is to plan your next couple of goals and then work backwards to create step-by-step action plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it’s time to take the action.

5) Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer. Remember, people can’t buy if they don’t know you’re selling.

6) Present a professional image. If you want to be treated professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and pleasant in all your customer facing interactions. Basically, be someone people want to do business with.

7) Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are just one person (right now) and might have a lot of extra time to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but won’t work into the future as you get busier and busier. It’s best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable activities.

Working at home can be a dream come true for many people, and these days with computers and internet, it’s more realistic than ever before. That said, building a business requires strong prioritizing skills and self discipline to take action toward your goals. If you have these qualities and are committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful, the dream of working from home can soon become your reality.

Don’t quit your day job just yet. If you are a baby boomer looking to start a home business, there are 5 essentials things you must do first.

Leaving the security of a job with an established 401(k) plan, health insurance or other benefits can create a real tug of war for baby boomers who want to pursue their dreams of owning their own business.

Analyze Your Exit Strategy

At the time of this writing, the youngest of the baby boomers are turning 42 and the oldest are turning 60. No matter where you fall into this group, analyzing and preparing your exit strategy from your job will be crucial to your long-term success as a home business entrepreneur. Do you have adequate savings? If you’re married, will you be able to participate in your spouse’s health insurance?

Create a Financial Plan

How much is your salary now? What are your fixed, variable and frivilous expenses? Create a solid plan so that you and your family will know exactly what the financial picture will be until your business gets off the ground and starts generating revenue.

Choosing a Business Model and Legal Entity

There are several business models to choose from; home party plans, consulting, and affiliate marketing to name a few. You have to make the decision based on your personality and what you are best-suited for. Choosing a legal entity for your business should be discussed with a tax accountant or your attorney. Options are sole proprietor, LLC or Subchapter S- Corp.

Set Business Benchmarks

You wouldn’t travel across the country without a road map, your business is the same. Setting financial and business-building benchmarks will help you to create a focused plan that will help you to reach your success.

Get a Physical

What does getting a physical have to do with your business? Once you leave your job, most likely your health insurance will change and as unfair as it may be, trying to get new health insurance when in your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s can be difficult. While pursuing your dreams of a home business is something you are probably very passionate about, if you do not have good health to enjoy the rewards of your efforts, not much else is important.

The baby boomer generation is like no other before it or after it. Technically, we are considered middle-aged, but we are anything but middle-aged in mind, body and spirit. We know there is more meaning to life than a commute to an unrewarding 9-5 job, but there are also important steps we must take first. Planning and preparing for your home business now will reduce headache’s later on, and increase opportunities for success.

One of the attractions of working at home is the vision of freedom it invokes — no time clock, no time sheets, and no one to account to for how you spend your time. Yes, it is an attractive proposition, but like so many attractive propositions there is a heavy downside — you are likely wasting a lot of time.

I used to loathe making a daily schedule for my work and have always dismissed it as a waste of time — that is until my home business really took off and I realized there simply wasn’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all my goals if I didn’t have a solid daily plan.

I now have my own spread sheet and agenda for the day and I have improved my productivity and reduced my stress immeasurably. If you don’t think you need a schedule for your home business then think again — and read on.

After a spate of relatively unproductive days when my “To Do” list seemed to grow exponentially every time I looked at it I knew something had to change.

Granted I was going through a rough patch. My home business was experiencing growing pains and taking up more than the usual time, my home life was putting a lot of extra demands on me, and my extended family was experiencing a number of crises that required my input as well. But I’m also old enough to know there is never a perfect time in life — you just live the one you’ve got. These are simply the problems I’m dealing with this year… Next year these problems will be traded in for new fresh ones.

After studying my time and chatting with some other work-at-home folks, I discovered five reasons to embrace a schedule:

1. It’s too easy to waste time doing non-priority tasks
2. It’s too easy to get sidetracked or distracted from your current task
3. Unscheduled work time can often overlap into your free time costing you freedom
4. Your free time can cross into your work time so you fall behind with important projects
5. Concentrating your time and effort on highest priority projects means more gets done

I’m not the only work at home business person using a daily schedule. I recently participated in an online forum discussion where men and women had moved to embrace a schedule in their own business — and found it more freeing than restrictive. After all, you are still the one setting the schedule so you are free to schedule yourself off for a 3-hour lunch, an afternoon, or a whole day whenever you choose.

If you find it difficult setting up your schedule and priorities for the day and week then perhaps your significant other or a friend can help you set your schedule. The important thing is to set one, and hold yourself accountable to it. As you do, your productivity will improve, and your business will grow, faster.

Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you can afford to be loose with your schedule. In fact, you probably need to be even more disciplined with your schedule than if you worked outside the home, because there will be many more distractions at home trying to pull you into non work activity.