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Get real about Home Businesses!!!
Are you thinking it might be time to take control and work for yourself? To be master of your own destiny and chart your own future, instead of slaving away in a dead end 9-5 job?
I had the same thoughts just over a year ago - and have successfully nurtured my home based enterprise into an international business of which I am enormously proud - and which has absolutely changed my life so much for the better that I still have to pinch myself some days!
But I am jumping ahead...
It's not always easy (and can be very difficult and sometimes confusing) to work out how and where to start. I know... I went down that road too.
So lets begin at the beginning... with YOU!
The degree to which YOU are up for this challenge is everything in the first instance.
There are a number of things about yourself that you really need to be thinking about:
How much do you really want to redesign your life? How much does this mean to you? What will you and your life look like 5 years, 10 years down the track if you stay on the track you are currently on? (and let's face it... most of us work our tails off for 40 odd years, pay our bills, pay our taxes... and die without leaving any substantial financial legacy behind us. In my view - that's a pretty odd plan for a life... and a long way from what we imagined we would do with our lives in our earlier days!)
So - how much do you want a different future - and what sacrifices are you prepared to make to achieve that? Do you want much more from your life and efforts - without making any extra effort?
If that's the case - I suggest you stay employed by someone else. If you are prepared to learn new skills and develop a higher value to the marketplace than you currently command - then self employment could be for you.
How teachable and receptive are you to new ideas and new ways of thinking and behaving? Will you embrace gladly the notion of personal growth and personal discipline? You want more - you have to become more!! Are you prepared to learn and grow and develop as an entrepreneur - or would you rather someone else takes the responsibility?
In business - you don't get paid for turning up... you get paid for the value you bring to the marketplace. Are you prepared to understand that and work on learning how to add value to what you offer the marketplace? The marketplace pays on value - not on need, or hours used.
Are you a stayer or a quitter? (see point one!) Are you going to finish what you start and see it through? Focus, patience and self discipline are common to people who are successful in any field of endeavour (sport, the arts, business... doesn't matter!)
You will never truly succeed at anything if you are prone to tantrums and giving up as soon as something doesn't go the way you expected or wanted... and things in business will sometimes go wrong!
Are you EXCITED and PASSIONATE about the future that could be yours if you work for yourself and get it right? Are you liberated by the idea that you can become more valuable and with work and time can totally reshape the future for yourself and your loved ones? Are you committed to your vision - or at least the possibilities? Do you BELIEVE you can change your destiny and do something "different" - or do you think that's not really possible for you? Has life got you by the throat - and you can't see any possible way of that changing... or are you ready to fight for your future and make it a reality?
The emotion and belief you have for this new direction as a real and totally valid future for you... is what will "make" you (see point 1) or cause you to fail.
So... if you feel you stack up on the "you" issue... then the other major issue is...
…what on earth do I do to find the right business?
The "Right" Home Based Business
What do you have to do to find the "right" business for you?
Once you start your research... it can become a little overwhelming! I know I was when I first looked at this aspect!
Look - the reality is that you need to get some basic principles down - and then investigate and use good old fashioned common sense!
The sorts of principles I used were as follows:
There are people out there who are making a lot more money than I do and seem to have a much nicer life - and although I'm not Einstein... I figure that they must know something I don't - and I need to find out what that is.
Investigate... then investigate again :) Get a feel for what your options are, how viable or desirable those options are for YOUR circumstances and resources.
My experience on this was that there are some real scams and dodgy "businesses" on offer out there - and essentially - they weren't too hard to pick out. They were just totally ridiculous (if you used your common sense!) or totally unethical and/or not real businesses at all. Just someone hoping to make a quick buck - and vanish. If these types of schemes appeal to you - then possibly you are not really committed to finding a real alternative, a real business that will last - rather you are looking to get rich quick without effort or any inputs. A lottery ticket is a safer bet for you!
I also found quite a number of business opportunities that required major capital (and I mean MAJOR!) and major financial inputs over probably quite a few years - just to stay afloat. I personally could not afford to operate a negative cash flow business for 6 months - let alone a number of years! It just wasn't what I could do - and unless I could do that - those businesses would never survive. Not what I was looking for...
I found that this all narrowed down the field quite considerably..in fact I was starting to wonder if I would ever find what I was looking for... but I ploughed on. I also learnt a few more things:
My business needed to be based on real products or services that there was a PROVEN market for. I also had to like and feel good about them. I wanted to enjoy and be proud of what I did.
Those products/services needed to be something that required repeat business, customer longevity, and be something that was at the earlier stages of its market growth.
In other words - I wanted good products/services that the market had already demonstrated it wanted - and was actually in a GROWTH phase. I was not interested in getting into an industry that was well over its hay day. I was building for the future!
I wanted something I could grow and develop into. Something I could start with the resources I had (a little time, a little money, and a lot of ambition!). Something that would allow me to develop a business income around my existing obligations to start with - but which would allow me to buy back my life in chunks over time.
I knew I couldn't just suddenly overnight stop my job and expect my new business to be able to generate profits that would allow my world to keep turning and have a great life. I was realistic enough to know that it had taken me many many years of school and university and work experience to earn my current salary.
If I wanted to earn a lot more from a business - I understood it would not come about overnight. It was going to take some time and some learning of new skills.
But the reality is that less than 2 years ago - I was maybe just like you. Unhappy, confused and wanting to find a better way to live my life and be captain of my own ship.
These days - I spend much of my time helping other people to bring their dreams to fruition. That, believe it or not, is actually an even bigger source of pride and satisfaction to me than my own personal success. I talk with a lot of people who are somewhere down that same road I've been on... and remember so well.
I also feel great that now I am able to bring my experience and knowledge to the table to help other people achieve their business and life goals and dreams. Its pretty special to be able to give back to other people - when I have received so much.
Lisa Neser runs an international internet based home business from England. For further information please visit her web site.
smart-work-win.com/?refid=dashboard-567896674
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