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.
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