A Home Business is just that – A Home Business!Starting your own business – from home, storefront or office – can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying things you will ever do, BUT, make no mistake about it – starting a successful business may be one of the hardest things you will ever do. So, are YOU ready to get started?Here is the kind of person it will take:Someone with a big “WHY” – we’ve talked about your “WHY” in prior articles, but to sum up; your “WHY” is the reason, or reasons, you want to be in business for yourself. What are your goals? What will your lifestyle, your reputation, your relationships be like once you achieve those goals? That is your “WHY”. Do you have that picture firmly in mind? Is it big enough to motivate you and keep you going through the tough times that are sure to come?Someone who is extremely Self Disciplined – working for yourself from home you do not have the imposed discipline of working for someone else. There are constant distractions, other things you want to do or must do. It is very difficult to stay focused on the task at hand and finish anything to a completion. For instance, my phone just rang (it was a personal call), I need to get the mail out to the mail box before the mail person comes, and I’m feeling in the need of an energy snack. Picture a stay at home mom with those same distractions plus the demands or a sick child who is home from school. Wow! It would be very hard to get this article finished & posted on schedule without being extremely self disciplined.A Master Planner / Organizer – as a business owner (of a one person business) you wear many hats. Too many hats. You are in charge of Planning, Marketing, Accounting, Customer Service, and everything else you can think of. Yes you can out-source some tasks, but even then you have to set it up and monitor the service provided. If you are not good at planning and organizing, you will be pulled in so many directions your head will spin (and you will probably get frustrated and quit).Must be able to create Space and Time – can you create a quiet and private spot in your home to conduct your business? If you believe the images you see in the “work from Home” advertisements where someone sits on the couch with a laptop and phone while children play quietly in the background, I can tell you – it’s not going to happen that way. My wife and I run two separate businesses from a one room office in our home (separate desks, separate computers and printers, common fax, filing cabinets and bookcase) and I’m good at organizing, but right now there are six piles of paper on the floor connected with unfinished projects that I’m unable (or unwilling) to put away. Clutter – if you don’t have space to store and file – you won’t believe what a home business can generate. As for Time, I tried to create a big enough block of time to write, edit and publish this article before a meeting scheduled for 43 minutes from now (and 15 minutes away from here) and it is obvious I’m not going to make it (not even close). Think YOU can handle it?Must have a dream (your “WHY”) but not be a dreamer – dreams don’t become reality until you get off your backside and take some action, so you’ve got to be an action oriented self-starter. Don’t kid yourself, nothing is going to happen until you make it happen.Must be a “People Person” – is one of the reasons you want to work from home because you find it hard to get along with others? Well, perhaps the best advice I could give comes from one of my mentors, Jim Rohn, who says “Don’t wish things were different – Wish you were better”. Working from home usually involves social networking. Social networking depends on interacting with other people. And even marketing on the internet requires the ability to write good copy and communicate with people in many ways (this article for example). Using myself as an example, I’m a pretty good marketer and good enough with people and public speaking that I give great seminars, but I don’t (or didn’t) consider myself a good salesman so I developed an elaborate system of internet marketing for my main business, but guess what – very few people become customers without that personal phone call and follow up. Not good with people – I’d say work for someone who is.Well, if you still think you are right for a Home Business, look for the next article in this series “Home Business 101 – Is Your Home business Right For YOU?”

Many people open a home business and lose it within a very short amount of time. Home businesses fail for a variety of reasons. If you are opening a home business, you don’t want to be one of these that end up failing for any reason. Here are some things to remember when running a home business that will keep you from losing out with your business.Sand o you have your business opened and ready to go. And you may even have a couple of customers already. But, that doesn’t mean any of your work stops there. The most important part of your home business is you. You need to make sure that you continue doing what is needed when you are running your home business so that it will not fail.Your work ethic is the most important part of running a home business of your own. This is incredibly important because you have to keep treating your business like a job. If you slack on it, then you will no doubt lose customers or just not gain the customers you need to keep open. After all, it takes customers to make money with a business. And it takes work to keep your customers. So, don’t slack off. Treat your business like a business, and like your job – because it is.When you are running a home business, especially when it starts out, you need to pay close attention to what you spend. Keep your expenses at a minimum when you start out until you start making a large profit. Only buy what you absolutely need to keep your customers satisfied with your service or product, and no more. Don’t waste money that you don’t have yet. After all, it may be quite a white before you begin to really make a significant profit, as it is with some companies.Another incredibly important part of running a home business is of course your customer service. You are still running a business and your customers are incredibly important. In order to keep your customers coming back, you need to be a few things. You need to be efficient, friendly and have the right balance of formal and informal. This may be a very confusing thing for some business owners.When someone wants to come to your home for a service or product, you need to make sure that you get back to the customers and get everything set up quickly. Be organized so that there is no confusion. Also, remember that you are working out of your home, so you don’t have to be coldly formal, but you still have to be a little professional because it is still a business. Finding the right balance is a very important part of being successful.If you want to be successful when running a home business, these tips will help you. Your business won’t shut down if you commit to it and work hard, but also keep good track of your money as well as your customers.