Many people rush into business for the wrong reasons. Running your own business can be very rewarding, but it ca also have drawbacks for the unwary. Here are questions you need to answer before making the commitment.
1. Are you prepared for the financial commitment of owning a business?
Buying your own business requires a serious financial investment. If you are the type who does not want risk, you might want to rethink owning your own business. Being personally responsible for the success of a business is not for the faint-hearted.
2. Are you looking for a specific type of business or are you open-minded enough to consider different opportunities?
Sometimes people start out looking for a specific type of business only to find something else they had never even thought of doing. Keep an open mind.
3. What do you really want? That question is at the foundation of all success.
Wanting it badly enough – that you will work through problem after problem and failure after failure, to get what you really want.
I have said it before and I will say it again – If you think you can, or you think you cannot, you are right!
It is best if you are open-minded, especially if you are a first-time buyer. There are all kinds of businesses available, and you do not want to limit your choices. Look for a business that will provide the income you need, (or has the ability to do so). Look for a business that you can realistically afford, one where the numbers add up. And, most importantly, a business that you can visualize yourself owning and operating.
Can you make the ‘leap of faith’ necessary to buy a business? A self-employed entrepreneur needs to focus on opportunity instead of security. This concept can be tough to come to grips with, especially if you have always worked for someone else. It is human nature – WE INSTINCTIVELY SEEK SECURITY. But, is there such a thing as security in the job world?
The days of giving your heart and soul to a big company are over – or at least they are for the thousands who lose their jobs every year through restructuring, downsizing, re-locations, takeovers etc.
In reality, real economic security is generated from within. It comes from knowing you are in control of your own destiny and having confidence in your own ability to create and capitalize on opportunities.
Many prospective business owners do their homework, do everything necessary to begin the purchase process, and then back out of the transaction. They just do not have the conviction to commit themselves or financial resources to business ownership. There is nothing wrong with that – not everyone is suited to running a business.
So, if you do not think you can part with your money and take over operating a business on your own, you may want to take a careful look at whether business ownership is really for you.…
1. Where do I want to be in five years. This is a good question to ask yourself. In today’s highly competitive world one must have a clear vision of who he wants to be and where he wants to be within 5 years. I often find people that are approaching their fifth year in business, making a reasonable income but utterly frustrated with the amount of hours that they have to put in or frustrated with the type of work that they are forced to do, others just feel trapped and are looking for change.
Decide where you want to be in 5 years, write down on a piece of clean white paper where you want to be in 5 years professionally, socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually and economically. You gotta do it, as they say, if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you. If your not good at this get someone to help you.
The Question: What do I want my life to be in 5 years?
2. Do I have the shear will to compete and succeed at the business I have chosen and furthermore do I have the shear determination to follow my 5 year vision. Most successful business owners I’ve met have above average abilities and that’s what allows them to leave the job market and set off on their own. Many unsuccessful business people I meet have average abilities and are better suited for employment of some sort. So make a honest evaluation of yourself, don’t get caught up in the romanticism related to business. Be realistic about your own abilities, it will save you much time and money.
The Question: Do I have what it takes to make it?
3. If you are having trouble with the question above maybe this will help. They say that failure is the path of least resistance. So going further in evaluating ourselves, lets look at our track record. If you are a constant procrastinator and rarely get things done right this maybe a bad sign. If you often fail, quit, give up on things, well that’s not a good sign either. But if you follow through and stick it out most of the time, there is hope.
The Question: Whats the rest of your life look like?
4. What type of team do I have to make this thing happen? Throughout my professional career I have seen many individuals who claim to have a business but are actually self-employed. There is a big difference. Owning a business, you must have a team even if only one other person. Setting out on a mission alone is noble but hinders your growth and many times leads to failure. Working alone is a difficult prospect even for the most introverted of us.
The Question: Do you have a team?
5. Do I understand accounting is a very important question to ask yourself. People who do not understand the basics of accounting are detached from a …
If you’re currently an employee, chances are at some point in your career you’ve thought about being your own boss! Entrepreneurship is the only way to become the employer, but it’s not for everybody, it takes hard work and dedication!
If you’ve decided to become an entrepreneur, starting a home based business online is the best way to be your own boss! Not only do you get to work from home and set your own schedule, but with the right opportunity you can establish a passive residual income that can have the potential to set you free financially. Before you begin, there are some important basic elements you must evaluate about the business opportunity you choose!
How “young” is the opportunity?
Is the company you choose a start-up? There are some advantages to starting with a company that is in the beginning stages, but you should still make sure they’ve been around long enough to establish a decent track record. Select an opportunity on the ground level, but make sure their growth has been stable for as long as they’ve been in business. Most online home based business opportunities have been around for a while, so be weary of brand new companies.
How will the company stand the test of time?
The long term feasibility of your business is very important. Top home based business opportunities not only adapt to changing times, they actually embrace these changes. With the myriad web 2.0 technologies emerging almost daily, companies capitalize on the internet and make it an integral part of their growth, choosing an online business opportunity is one of the best ways to ensure long term viability. Since the long term growth of your organization is determined by your effort, take the time to chose a company with a product or service that allows for your results to be easily duplicated.
How does the opportunity train its reps?
One of the keys to success in any business is training and support! The majority of people who start a home based business fail in their first year because of a lack of proper training, and a solid duplicable marketing system! The training and support the company has in place is essential to growth, it allows the business owner to learn from and network with top earners and executives. The Network Marketing industry is one of the best choices when starting a home business. Most companies in this industry take advantage of the internet for marketing and training, and focus more on self development, which is another key component to home based business success. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service may be, if you can’t market it you won’t sell it, and without a quality training system in place, getting your business off the ground can prove to be a chore!
How does the product or service stand alone?
When you start a home based business you commit yourself to provide prospective clients with a quality product or service, and …
It’s very simple. Let’s just put it this way and I’ll use myself as an example. When I was a little kid, Bruce Lee was the man. With Bruce came a flood of Kung-Fu movies. So guess what I wanted to be? That’s right, Mr Kung-Fu fighter. Being born and raised in the mean streets of the Bronx (New York City) I did have plenty of practice, I also did join a few martial arts schools in my neighborhood. However, most of my fighting skills were learned in the streets and I did get very good with my hands, so I thought.
As I grew older, now an adult, this passion for the martial arts remained deep inside of me. So I joined another local karate school. On Friday evenings we would put on the fighting gear and I would do very well against the other white belts in my class. On one weekend, the Dojo (Karate school) had a special class and a bunch of blacks from New Jersey, upstate New York and Connecticut would visit, train and fight with our Dojo. So my teacher allows me to join this event. All I can say is that it was like getting beat up by every great fighter that you can think of. The bottom line is that I thought that I was going to float like a butterfly, but instead I saw butterflies and stars doing circles around my head. It took me five years of training, hard training, before I could stand up to these men and women.
Question, what belt are you? When it comes down to the internet online business world. How much do you know? The reason I ask this is because many of us come in with unreal expectations. Fueled by the people that are getting us involved in these home based businesses. And you can’t blame them. They’re just doing their jobs. Does a car sales person care about how good you can drive? No, his job is to sell you a car.
So, if you think that just because you can type a million words a minute or that you’re a great sales person. That you’re going to be an overnight success. Wrong, I don’t think so. Because just like me at the Dojo, I had to train long and hard, five, six and even seven days a week. Even though I thought I knew how to fight. I was dead wrong. It took me five years and a whole bunch of lumps to achieved my first degree Black Belt. And that was just the beginning.
Black Belts, Internet Marketing, starting a business it all takes a lot of work, dedication and perseverance to achieve success in whatever it is that you want to do.…