Looking back on many unsuccessful attempts at home business, we
wish we had received guidance from someone who had already been down the
road we wanted to travel. We had so many failures that we were starting
to doubt that success in a home business would ever happen for us.
Thankfully,
we didn't give up and through perseverance we were able to achieve the
success that had eluded us for years. Along the way we discovered many
things that we wish we had known when we started this journey.
Our
success has literally transformed our lives. We believe that to whom
much has been given, much is required. Consider this information our
gift to you. If we can be of assistance please, do not hesitate to fill
out the contact form at TheHomeBusinessPodcast.
1. Success doesn't happen overnight.
For
some reason people think that they should become rich in a few months
with their new home business and some people believe success should
happen within weeks or days! We introduced a man in his early 50's to
our business and he was excited. When we first met he complained that he
had been working hard for more than 30 years and he was broke.
He
said he never had any time for himself or his family. We told him what
it would take to become successful and he agreed to do it. Then, he
disappeared. A few weeks later he called to tell me that he was
quitting. He hadn't even started and here he was ready to give up.
We
asked him if he would be better off quitting his full-time job and
keeping his home business! Of course, we didn't really mean that he
should quit his job, but he had been working full-time for more than 30
years and he was still broke. He started his home business just a few
weeks earlier and he never gave it a chance.
Why is it that so
many people think that they should become wealthy in a few weeks? The
answer probably lies in all the get rich quick schemes that are so
prevalent in our society today. You've seen the emails or read these
lines in your junk mail. No Selling, We Do All The Work For You, Make
$30,000 in 90 days and on and on.
Those get rich quick scams cause
people to think that every home business is a scam and that's not true.
We just got off the phone with Doug, a nice guy who is seriously
considering our home business. During our conversation we made it clear
that he wouldn't be rich in 60 or 90 days and his response was the kind
of response we hear often, "Thanks for telling me the truth. I'm happy
to know that I'm dealing with people of integrity."
We were
frustrated so many times in the first year of our home business that
quitting seemed like the sensible thing to do. After all, these things
don't work. Who do you think you are? Why don't you just get a job like
everybody else? These thoughts and many like them nearly kept us from
success.
If you already have a home business, perhaps you are
facing the same thoughts. Don't let the negative thoughts crowd out the
life changing success that a home business offers. Sure, we struggled at
first, but after 20 months we were making $100,000 a year in lifetime
residual income! When you find yourself facing bankruptcy and
foreclosure as we were and then apply for food stamps you have a firm
grasp on the tough times life can bring.
Occasionally, we'll say
"What If?" As in, what if we hadn't stuck it out through the hard
times? What if we had taken the advice of supposedly well meaning people
who said that we would never have success in a home business?
What
if it took you two to four years to become successful in a home
business? What if you could make $100,000 without a boss and a job to go
to? What if you could actually be home for your children and know them
as people instead of looking at them as the little people who live in
your house?
Most people who start a home business quit in their
first 90 days and go back to their dreadful lives of desperation. Most
people aren't really living. They are only existing. They're going from
one day to the next without any hope of a better life. Benjamin Franklin
said "most people die at 18, we just don't bury them until they turn
65."
2. Success doesn't happen without work.
I talked to a
woman who said she was interested in changing her life. When it was time
for her to make a decision she asked me, "Do I have to do anything?"
"No" I replied, "once a month we just back the money truck up to your
house and unload!"
If you had a traditional business you'd have to
open your business every day. If you have a job you've got to show up
if you want to get paid. When you start a home business you can't simply
sign up and expect the money to start being deposited in your bank
account. There's work to be done.
Is it hard to become successful
in a home business? Compared to giving all of the best years of your
life to your employer and missing birthdays, anniversaries, your child's
first words, your child's first steps and realizing that life is nearly
over and in your golden years you don't have the money to do the things
you want to do, no it really isn't that hard at all!
If you're in
a business like ours when you employ leverage, getting paid for other
people's efforts, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor so much more.
Even if you have a home business where you do all the work it's better
than working for an employer.
We are convinced that to live a
great life your home business must employ the leverage concept. It's the
only way you can have money and the time to enjoy it. The wealthiest
people in America became wealthy by owning businesses. The businesses
that created great wealth were out in front of a trend and the business
owner got paid based on the efforts of thousands of people. We wouldn't
be enjoying the life we live today if we were getting paid only on our
own efforts.
We worked really hard with very little success in our
first year. Our 2nd year was the breakthrough that we were looking for,
success was on the way. What we failed to realize was that during our
first 12 months we were improving our skills and our confidence and
that's when success started to happen.
So, how much did we work in
our first two years? We worked as much as it took. How much should you
work your home business? That depends on a variety of factors. How bad
do you want it? How fast do you want to achieve success? We recommend
that you work your home business a minimum of 7 to 10 hours a week, and
do it consistently for at least two years.
Success doesn't happen
without work and it isn't limited to working your business. Are you
committed to improving your skills and working on you? Read at least 10
pages from a great book every day. Books like "Think and Grow Rich" will
change the way you think and when you change the way you think you will
change your life.
Expecting success without work from your home
business is like expecting a paycheck from a job that you never started.
It just doesn't make sense.
3. You must be disciplined to achieve success.
So,
you're working your new home business and a friend calls offering to
take you to lunch. Can you afford to go? Your favorite show is on TV,
but you know you need to be working your home business, what will you
do? Perhaps the biggest adjustment most of us need to make is to be
disciplined in our home business.
Let's face it in a work
environment there is usually supervision. Many people fail in a home
business because there's nobody looking over their shoulder to see that
they do what they need to do.
Since most people who start a home
business have never owned a business, we must learn to be disciplined,
if we're going to operate a successful home business. There were times
when somebody told us no and that was devastating. We'd usually mope
around and fail to do anything else the rest of the day. Had we
maintained that attitude, we'd have a job right now instead of an
successful home business!
Consider setting business hours. Of
course, there are exceptions to every rule, but asking friends and
family members to respect your business and your business hours is an
important step to success. We've got a good friend who makes more than
$100,000 a year and when you come over to his house during business
hours you can visit with his wife, but he excuses himself and works his
business. If you have a small child, work when he or she is napping and
when they are in bed at night.
It's also a good idea to have a permanent work space, so you can shut the door, eliminate distractions and get your work done.
This
is a difficult adjustment for some people to make, but your children
can learn that when Mommy or Daddy is in this room with the door shut
that they are working. You'd be amazed at how many children will respect
your space and time if you ask them too. We've seen many successful
stay at home moms and dads work with children nearby. Don't let
screaming children or children that interrupt you on occasion become a
big deal, the person on the other end of the phone may be convinced that
your business is right for them BECAUSE they hear your children in the
background.
When you promise to call somebody back at a certain
time you've got to find the time. Children will appreciate knowing why
Mommy or Daddy isn't available at certain times and you can explain to
them that it will be worth all the sacrifices once you become
successful.
Discipline can be difficult with all the distractions
that can occur in your home, but it is one ingredient that you must have
to become successful.
Negative
people tried to convince us that we would never have success. We didn't
listen to them then, and we don't listen to negative people now. We know
that you can have success in a home business. We know that it won't be
easy. We know that if you get guidance along the way from successful
people that you will live an extraordinary life.