There are many things you need to consider when starting a home-based online business. Here are a few steps to get started.

The first thing you need to do is to determine the product or service you are going to be selling. If you are starting a retail business, remember that there are a ton of retail businesses online and you will need to find something unique to sell. Also, before you start your business, make sure you do some research to see what your competition will be.

The next step is to write a business plan. You can find information on how to do this online and there are also books that will teach you how. Your business plan will have the plans for your funding and marketing. It will also have detailed information on your business idea.

The third step is to create your website. If you do not know anything about web design, you can hire someone to do this step for you. If you are hiring a web designer, make sure they know exactly what your site is for and what you need on your site. For example, if you are starting a retail business, you will need a shopping cart and a way to accept the payments. You can use free online surveys to help promote your business.

Once you have created your site, you need to start marketing. Let people know about your product. This can be done many ways including social networking such as Facebook, MySpace and such. Let your family and friends know about your business so they can spread the word as well.