Building A Home Based Business Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Over the last several years, in the course of helping thousands
of people start up home based businesses, I have seen the same
thing over and over again.
Once a person makes the decision to start a home based business
it's usually a time of high enthusiasm along with high, and
frequently unrealistic, expectations. As time marches on, the
enthusiasm begins to wane if they are not making as much money
as they had hoped as quickly as they wished. Often it's only
after a few weeks or months that I see people start to become
discouraged and, with that, their energy level declines and they
start slacking off on the work that is actually required to
develop a successful home based business.
It is a known fact that a majority of the people that undertake
a work at home business do not achieve real success. There are
several reasons for this, but I am firmly convinced that one of
the primary reasons is that these people get frustrated and do
not allow themselves sufficient time to become successful.
In the early going, one of the most difficult things about
developing a new home based business is dealing with the
emotional roller coaster that can result from the highs
(successes) and lows (temporary setbacks) you are almost certain
to experience. Once you have done the research and decided on a
particular home based business opportunity, you really need to
focus on persistence and realize that any real business will not
just automatically become successful in a matter of days or
weeks. You should be prepared to give it your best sustained
effort for a minimum of 6 to 12 months in order to begin to
build a solid business base and start to realize some good
income.
Highs and lows were something that I began to notice when I
first started a home based business. I have many years of top
level management experience in "traditional" corporations and
have experienced lots of business cycles (corporate "ups and
downs"), but the natural "ups and downs" that occur in a home
business (particularly in the early stages) can be brutal from
an emotional standpoint if you don't prepare yourself in advance
for the fact that it is a basic law of nature...it will be a
rocky road until you have spent enough time and effort to build
your business to a level that sort of smoothes out the peaks and
valleys.
The impact of the highs and lows you will probably experience in
developing your home based business is amplified by the fact
that you are now in business on your own. You are the boss and
get to make all the decisions, but you are also on your own in
dealing with the frustrations that will occur along the way
while you are developing your business.
When working at home a person can, at times, experience a
feeling of isolation which is probably brought on by the lack of
interaction of a work force environment.
There can also be periods of doubt in the early going...gee, did
I pick a viable business opportunity?...am I doing the right
things to develop my business?...when will I start making a
profit?, and so on.
You are most likely going to experience the "two steps forward
and one step backward" syndrome and the ever-looming temptation
to become discouraged. However, keep in mind that as long as you
have more steps going forward than backward, you will eventually
get ahead! Simple, but often overlooked.
Relatively minor setbacks can seem huge in the early stages of
developing a work at home business and can really contribute to
some noticeable "mood swings". For example, if you are just
starting out and you have four customers/clients and you happen
to lose one...that's a 25% drop! However, if you fast-forward in
time to the point where you have hundreds of customers/clients
and you lose one...that's just a mere fraction of 1%! Exactly
the same event, just at a different point in time.
Hang in there and just keep on keepin' on. If you have chosen a
viable home business opportunity (one that has been around for
awhile and in which some other people are having success) you
will achieve success, but it takes time and there will be ups
and downs along the way. Remember the old saying..."it takes a
long time to become an overnight success".
About the author:
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and
coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
Visit his website at Legitimate Home Based
Business for more details.
- Using SWOT Analysis To Improve Your Business
Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats... - A Hot Business for 2006: Non-medical Home Care Business
Home care in the United States is a diverse and dynamic service industry. Approximately 20,000 providers deliver home care services to 7.6 million individuals who require services because of acute illness, long-term health conditions, permanent... - Business Strategy: Clarify Your Purpose And Vision
Whether it's the beginning of a new year or we're half way through, you want it to be your best year ever. You are no doubt doing some planning for how to make that happen. You are doing some planning aren't you?...
20 Users Online