Each year countless people decide to start a small business, but most home based small businesses fail. There are many reasons businesses fail, so how do you know

if your business will succeed before you start it? There's no guarantee that any business will succeed, but there are some steps you can take that will tell you

if an idea is a good one or not. Business is risky, taking the proper steps to prepare yourself is necessary if you don't want to fail.

The first thing you should do with any business idea is make sure that the business will make a profit. To do that you first need to figure out your cost. The

cost will be the cost of any materials you need to make the product your selling or to complete the service you offer. You'll want to make sure you include all

of the money you will spend to produce the product/complete the service. In addition to figuring the cost for any materials, you also need to figure the amount

of money it will cost you for things like advertising. Any additional costs will cut into your profit if they are not figured into your budget.

Once the cost is figured, you need to figure out the retail cost. The retail price will be your cost plus your profit. People who own home based small businesses,

figure the retail price in a couple of different ways. You can look at other companies like yours and see what they are charging for similar products/services

and subtract your cost. This will tell you how much money you can make. You can also add what you'd like to make to your cost and then compare your price to

other companies. Regardless of how you come to the retail price, in order to succeed the price has to remain competitive and be able to make you the money you need.

All home based small businesses need to be budgeted properly. The main reason small businesses fail is because people rush into starting them without realizing

how much money it will really cost them. In order to succeed, you need to know it's possible to make a profit. Once you know that starting and maintaining a

successful small business becomes a lot easier.