When we go to work there is often a lot of stress involved. Firstly there is the pressure that comes from the economic climate, which at the moment is facing recession and bosses are looking to cut losses as much as possible and that could mean their staff which we have already seen.
There is also the internal politics of it all so and so this and so and so that. Again there is the uncomfortable feeling that something at home is not going quite so well, that maybe it would be better if I stayed at home with the children or went to see Auntie Agatha, or looked after my spouse.
So:
Reason # One is basically discomfort. Unsatisfied with life the way it is and bursting out with ideas, wanting more time for oneself and gaining satisfaction. Personally I started my own home business because I knew I had skills that were being ignored by my employers who wanted me to be Just Over Broke, in my JOB making money for them.
Which leads me to the second reason for going into business for yourself which is:
Reason # Two making money. It is never going to be possible to become rich enough to have the freedom that money brings by working for someone else. Pay is kept low and the employer is in such a position as to be able to threaten us with redundancy if we ask for a rise, as there are many other people who are willing to do the same job, probably for even less money.
However, holding onto the day job makes good sense until you are sure that your 'core costs' your essential spend on things like rent and bills, will be covered by the business you plan to do. It is perhaps a good idea to get a budget sheet from your local credit union or the bank, and work out your income and outgoings and note especially your core costs.
This is the first figure you are aiming for, any business venture should look to provide you with this, and working out how to go about things until it does is your first goal. When you reach the point you are achieving your core costs from your business, you will have the choice of being able to work less, because you are free from needing to go to work for someone else and eventually you might be able to sack your boss!
For those who want to make that a reality there is some planning and effort required, which is not to say you may not enjoy yourself as you learn and use your abilities.
Talking about abilities consider these common reasons for going it alone with business:
making own decisions, leaving a business for the children, creating employment for the family, capitalising on specialist skills, earning own money when you want, working when you want, taking risks, reducing stress and worry, creating something truly your own, being your own boss, working without having to rely on others.
The two central themes connecting all these reasons seem to revolve around gaining personal satisfaction, which can be seen as making work as much fun as any other aspect of life, and creating wealth, which is essential if an enterprise is going to last any length of time.1
So who goes into business? Well, us, of course but some people are better at it than others. Perhaps there is a particular personality that people like Richard Branson or Bill Gates possess or maybe the skills are learnable.
That is what they think at Reading University, where they are building Europe's largest business school which has aspirations to become one of the world's leading business centres. There is a little bit of both. We have some of the personal attributes and we learn as we go along.
However, the failure rate for new businesses suggests some people didn't have perseverance or enough willpower to succeed, maybe they should have done some more learning or kept their old job.
The fact is before starting out in business, we must assess ourselves. Let's look through some of those attributes:
Firstly your new venture will require total commitment. Have faith in your idea. That's the way to convince those who will try to put you off. Faith is combined with business strategy (and HPM Business Plus+) so that success becomes a more concrete possibility.
You need to make an effort, which is not the same as working 18 hours a day. That may occur but remember why you started, to have more time for yourself. Maybe you want to work the long hours and that's fine. Hard work really means sticking at it until it's done. Doing the things you don't want to do so that then you can enjoy the things you like to do and meeting deadlines even when you haven't had any sleep. Hard work means getting results.
Making decisions and taking risks but not gambling on gut instinct, instead carefully working out the various options and calculating returns.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important if you have to fill an employee's shoes if they are ill. It is generally good to be healthy even for home business as you won't gain any time or benefits if you run yourself into the ground.
Strong personal discipline is necessary to keep on course for getting to point 1, your core costs. Remember when you have the core costs covered it is best to keep the money in the business to spend on things like advertising and improvements. You have the cash but you can't quite spend it yet, keep going though and that will come.
The three step skill to set your business on course for success. You will need this (see the article, 'The Three Step Skill to Set your Biz on Course for Success.') to enable you to identify and create opportunities and innovations that will improve your business and serve your customers better.
Having a wide range of abilities and willingness to do anything that needs to be done to make the business work. Having self-confidence to help when things are uncertain so that you can find your way out of the crisis.
Goal setting is a trait of most successful people. This helps you focus on what needs to be done and gives you a motivation to get on to the next item on the list.
As space is unfortunately limited that will bring this article to a close. It just remains to be said, in summary, that the above characteristics will surely assist in bringing a professional beginning to any home business venture, acquiring them and learning the skills should be something that all readers of this articles have at the top of their agenda.
When the going is tough, the right attitude will see you through, and those who tried to keep you down will not be able to say anything, when they know you have done it and are reaping the rewards they said were impossible.
This article was first published in Home Profits Mania+
