Are you a hands-on, go-getting kind of person? Know your way around a few tools? Want to work for yourself? Then rather than becoming a virtual assistant or starting a blog, you might want to work from home while spending less time sat in front of a computer. To that end, you might want to try manufacturing at home. But is it even possible?

Get Permission

You don’t always need any more permission than you have now. But it’s good to make sure. For one, it might be worth letting your neighbours know your plans so you’re not too disruptive. As for planning permission, there may be some circumstances in which you need it. If you’re no longer using the home primarily as a residence, if you’re going to see a lot of customers at the home or if you’re using the home in ways that could be considered out of the ordinary for a residential area.

Find Your Niche

If you have the skills, all you need to do now is find the marketable niche to use them in. There’s always a lot of need for general woodworking and metalworking, for instance. But there are lot more specific goods that could provide a good return. Think of some of the most ubiquitous but commonly bought goods like candles, chalk, rubber stamps, and the like. If you want to produce something specific, make sure it’s something with plenty of demand and income potential. Otherwise, contracting your skills as opposed to goods, especially to other manufacturing outfits, could be the way to go.

Know Your Needs Intimately

If you’ve been creating only as a hobby recently, you can’t expect doing it professionally to be much the same. For one, your tools are going to be operating under a lot more demand. So, if you’re using hydraulic tools in metalworking, for instance, then you better know services that specialise in hydraulic hose and fittings. Similarly, you need a line to materials suppliers and you can cut your costs by making sure that you’re not getting from retail level suppliers but those who work on a business-to-business model.

Create a Proper Working Environment

Working from home isn’t the same as working in a home environment. Sure, it’s the same property but you need to start using it with all the same needs as a business. The garage or shed is usually the best place to start a hands-on business like manufacturing. Turn it into a workshop by making sure it’s fit for safety and productivity. Levelling out the floor to make it even and safe, adding soundproofing to lessen the disturbance, and installing proper task lighting are all parts of the transformation the space needs to undergo.