Wanted - Entrepreneurs - Is This Work at Home Stuff Really for Me?

Franny Loves Working From Home

"Deciding to work at home was the best thing I ever did", says Franny.

She gets up, makes her kids breakfast, packs their lunches and drops them at their schools.

She comes home, goes into her office and works until lunchtime.

After a quick bite, she’s back to work. She stops working in the afternoon to pick up the kids from school.

She takes Andy to his hip hop class, and Amy to her soccer game. After the activities, she makes dinner, helps the kids with their homework and then watches American Idol with them.

After the kids have gone to bed, she spends a couple more hours on her business.

Sounds fabulous, doesn’t it?

This is a reality for many work at home professionals. The hours are flexible, and the income can be much better than a traditional job.

However, Consider Danny’s Story...

After breakfast with his son Chad, he drops him off at the school bus.

On the way home, Danny remembers that he must stop at the store for a few things. Next to the store is Starbucks. He’s a bit tired, so after his shopping, he takes a coffee break.

He stops and reflects on how his work at home business gives him so much freedom - "beats the heck out of working for someone else!" He says to himself.

His friend Russell happens to be there, so they talk about the game last night, the pitiful stock market and other important topics.

By the time Danny gets home and puts the groceries away, it’s time for lunch. "I'll start working right after lunch", says Danny. But after lunch Danny's is tired - after all he did get up really early and ran around a lot. So he takes a quick nap.

When he wakes up, he only has about 30 minutes before he has to pick up Chad. "I can't be late. Besides, 30 minutes isn't enough time to get any work done anyway". Danny reasons with his brilliant entrepreneurial mind...

"Maybe I'll just watch a little Oprah before I leave to pick up Chad". After picking up Chad, they come home and Danny intends to get started on his work.

But Chad keeps coming into the office for help with his homework...

Now Danny is feeling frazzled because he hasn’t gotten anything done all day. He snaps at Chad, then feels horrible, so he stops what he’s doing and helps Chad out.

Now it’s dinner time- and they have to eat. Danny knows he has to get something done on his business, but the kitchen is messy.

Then there’s the trash to take out, mail to go through, e-mails to answer, phone calls to return...

Oh Wow - It's Time for Bed!

Danny drifts off to sleep, beating himself up for accomplishing nothing on his business all day...

This work at home business is a little more challenging than he thought!

So What's All This Got to Do with Anything?

It’s time to take a good, honest look at yourself to really see if you have the motivation, passion, determination, and focus it requires to run a successful work at home business.

Ready for the Survey?

Take out a piece of paper or notebook and answer the following questions...

• Why do you really want to start a work at home business? What are your motives. What are all the reasons you want to do this?

Write them all down.

If your desire isn’t strong enough, you won’t make it through the tough times.

• What kind of lifestyle do you want and expect? How long do you think it will take to achieve this?

Overnight success doesn’t happen in the real world. Depending on how much time and energy you devote to your work at home business, it could take anywhere from 3 months to a year to see any reward for your efforts.

You need to be realistic so you don’t get frustrated and give up.

• Vision. It's crucial to have this firmly developed. You will need it to pull you through the hard times.

Your natural sight may see the obstacles and circumstances, but your vision sees only the end result.

Your vision goes beyond your goals for your business. It’s about lifestyle, desires, goals, dreams - what you want out of life for yourself and those you care about.

It is also about giving back to others.

Start working on your Vision now.

We’ll work with you on developing this concept more fully in our How Vision Determines Destiny.

• You must Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE what you do. You must have passion, and a heart for it. If you don’t, your work at home business will become just another job that you’ll dread doing.

Sure there will be activities you must do in your work at home business that you don’t enjoy doing, but if you love the overall work, and you have a clear and strong vision that’s fueled with passion, you’ll be able to plow through those less fun tasks to achieve a greater goal.

• Strengths and weaknesses. Make an honest list of each. If you understand your strengths, you can use those to your benefit. Admitting your weaknesses, while maybe not helping you to overcome them all, you can certainly learn how to compensate for them.

If you know you are disorganized, either get someone to help you, or learn simple ways to stay organized.

Plan for it so you don’t get frustrated later.

Ask someone else who knows you well to honestly share with you what they think your strengths and weaknesses are.

• Motivation and discipline (now there's a word most people don't like - but it will be your best friend).

Are you self-motivated?

Can you be disciplined and focused enough to work steadily and consistently?

Are you good at motivating yourself or do you need someone like a boss looking over your shoulder and needling you to get your work done?

If you’re like that, a work at home business is probably not a good idea.

• Distractions. How good are you at staying focused on the task at hand? Are you compelled to check your e-mails 10 times an hour?

Or answer the phone each time a friend or relative calls? Are you a Distracted Danny or Focused Franny? It’s important to learn how to schedule your time to cut down on distractions.

• Do you enjoy being alone, or do you prefer the company of others?

Working at home often means long periods of being alone. If you’re used to a busy office environment, and chats with your co-workers over coffee, you may not be happy working from home.

If you like a team environment, or more interaction with others, consider Network Marketing.

If you are the other extreme and are happy to be alone, you’ll need to realize that you are still going to have to interact with other human beings.

Some loners start an internet business mistakenly thinking that they won’t have to talk to anyone and can safely hide behind their computer.

This just isn’t so. You’ll need to pick up the phone and talk to customers, clients, and others who may be involved in your business.

If you are either of these extremes, working from home may not be for you.

• Consider the amount of time, energy, effort, and resources you’ll be able to invest in your business.

If you’re working another job while getting your business off the ground, or have little children, you may not have as much time and energy to put into your business. It may take you a little longer to get going, but if you have the desire, passion, and love what you are doing, you’ll maintain the stamina to make your vision a reality.

• Are there other people that you have to consider in this decision?

Will they support you? You will be putting a lot of your resources into your new business - are they OK with that?

Besides time and energy, you might not see a paycheck for awhile. There are sacrifices to starting a new business - will they understand this and be supportive?

It’s really hard to have focus and drive if you don’t have the support of your family (spouse, kids)- make sure you have their support.

• How many hours can you devote to your business?

Write down how many hours a day you can work your business. If you are working another job full time, it may take longer to get going, but you may have less stress financially.

Working from home may absolutely be one of the best decisions you will have ever made. It can be rewarding personally, and financially.

Now that you've taken the survey - if you've determined that working at home is for you...

Congratulations!

We have so much to share with you and we look forward to taking the journey with you - step by step.

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