Self-employment often starts from the relatively safe environment of a home-based business. Like primary school, the business’s home base provides a sense of security. There’s no need to commit to ongoing costs such as an office lease or salaried staff. Nurturing the business in this forgiving environment allows you to grow revenues and a customer base before heading for the wide, cruel world.

A child’s primary schooling lays the foundation for the rest of his life. Experiences at this formative stage influence personality, interests and responses to situations later on. The standard of education often influences their future. The way the child is taught to think, work and interact can impact on further education, career choice, success and even personal job satisfaction.

In the same way, a home business can be a great place to learn business basics, although not every home business is established with the intent to “graduate” to something bigger. In fact, many home business operators choose to integrate their lifestyle needs with the ability to generate sufficient income to achieve a lifestyle they want.

Others though, base their home businesses on hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations that reach far beyond the four walls of their first home office. Sadly, many would-be entrepreneurs in this important sector of New Zealand’s economy never get off the starting block.

Of those who do, only one in two survive more than two years. Some go belly up, some mutate (the owner changes the business name and focus) and some simply vanish, with the owner giving up and taking refuge in paid employment. Many potentially-successful business owners are lost to the New Zealand economy forever this way.

So how can a home business “graduate”?

If their “primary schooling” is successful, the home business operator will learn the three Rs – revenues, relationships, and reporting. Add to that resource management, recruitment and returns, not to mention a whole host of other skills (most of which don’t start with “r”!). Once they’ve established a sound knowledge of these basics, the home business operator is ready to “graduate”.

For some, this means simply running their home business more effectively, increasing returns and enjoying more time for themselves. For others, it means moving on to bigger businesses, armed with the skills they have acquired.

How do we achieve this growth?

Let’s look at who the teachers are in this “primary school”. In many cases the pupil and teacher are the same individual! How effectively would our five-year-olds learn to read and write if they had only themselves and perhaps their peers to teach them?

So where else can home businesses look for guidance? There is a variety of excellent sources of knowledge and advice close at hand – many of which don’t even cost the business owner a cent. A number of web sites offer free information, advice and resources for businesses. Business Mentors supplies low-cost mentoring to qualifying small business owners. There are lots of worthwhile small business books and some useful, relevant, free and corporate-funded seminars. When they are so busy trying to earn a living though, it can be hard to realise they need upskilling and leadership.

The responsibility for ensuring they have the necessary skills and knowledge, of course, lies with home business operators themselves. It is up to each of them to identify the information and training they lack, find out where they can get it, and invest time and/or money obtaining it.

However, as relative “newbies”, home business operators also need to be helped to understand the value of – and commit to – investing in their own education. This means assigning time and budget to upskilling themselves and preparing themselves for whatever roles they will play as they grow or maintain their businesses.

A home business needs recognition and encouragement

On the other hand, there is also a need for greater recognition of home businesses as “genuine” businesses – albeit businesses with unique needs.

Without acknowledgement, encouragement, mentoring, support, and access to tailored services, the novice business owner may simply join the numbers of would-be entrepreneurs who quietly give up and return to paid employment, or who struggle on without the knowledge and skills required to grow their businesses to the next level.

The value is enormous

If just a small portion of home business owners graduate from their “primary” education with the desire and ability to grow high-revenue, sometimes-international businesses, the impact on New Zealand’s economy could be staggering. But before we can expect these would-be entrepreneurs to emerge as significant contributors within the small to medium business sector, or even grow beyond that, we need to help them as they take their first steps into home-based self-employment.

Investment of time, resources and money must be made by the individual themselves as well as those channels dedicated to fostering small business – but the return on investment is significant.

Just ask any high school teacher what a difference a great primary school education makes!