When you first make the decision to work from home, whether it’s starting your own business or working for someone else, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all and sometimes certain aspects fall through the cracks.

Unfortunately, if you don’t take the time to plan out your business and consider every angle of working from home, you may find yourself quickly becoming a part of the 90% of home business owners that fail within the first year.

It’s not about having the motivation, the ideas, and the knowledge to create a viable home business; it’s about having the plan to guide you there. While it’s true that many people who own successful home businesses did so without a plan, it certainly does no harm for you to create one for yourself as a way to get things rolling.

Here are 3 things that you might not take into consideration when you decide to work from home:

1) Do you have the time? You might be thinking, well yes, I’m at home all day. But what about your children, activities, household duties? Are you capable of balancing all those things so that you can run a home business too? Just because you’re going to be working from home doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. The truth is, you’re going to have to work harder then you’ve ever worked before.

Are you ready to miss time with your family or work until the wee hours of morning? Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you can work when you want and still make tons of money. The truth is, you’re going to have to make plenty of sacrifices to get to that point. However, it is possible to set your own hours and make a good income, but it takes plenty of hard work to get there first. So if you’re not ready to make sacrifices in the name of business, then maybe you should reconsider and wait until you are ready.

2) How are you going to accomplish everything? Jumping too quickly into a business can leave you feeling confused and frustrated when things don’t happen the way you want, or expect them to. Outlining a plan for each phase of your business will give you a clear idea on what you need to do to get to, and through each phase.

- Who is your target market? (who will buy from you)

- If you choose to operate completely online, will you get a website, a domain name? Will you need a shopping cart, a merchant, a designer?

- How will you stock your store if you choose to sell physical products? What about photos?

- How will you market your business and finance your marketing efforts?

- How will you fulfill orders and ship them? Will you be able to get to the post office to ship items in a timely manner?

- Do you need any special licenses to operate? What about insurance? Packaging?

There are so many things to consider when you choose to run a business from home, so if you have a plan in place it will be so much easier to accomplish your goals and prepare yourself for any unexpected things that may come up.

3) Are you prepared for growth? A home business is no simple undertaking. It takes sweat, guts, and tears to build up a business to the point that you can actually make an income. Depending on the type of business you have, will you be able to handle it on your own, or will you need to outsource, hire help, or even move into a brick and mortar building?

Do you even want to grow that large, or will you be happy running a small business? This is something you need to seriously think about. For example, if you own a children’s boutique selling clothes that you make yourself by hand, what will you do when the orders start coming in faster then you can keep up with? Will you have someone to help you, will you look for a manufacturer for your designs, or will you have to start handing out refunds? Being prepared to handle growth before it happens will make the transition go smoothly when the time comes.

So before you jump on the work at home bandwagon looking for a fast buck, slow down and keep it real. Ask questions, research, and consider hiring a business coach to help you get started the right way.