Home-based business…should you have one?
Getting started…why make a decision to develop a home-based business? After having worked in corporate for 23 years, the 401K and IRA contributions have been real assets. But is it enough to dedicate your prime work years to building someone else’s dream? After getting my MBA I decided to quit corporate, couldn’t do it anymore. And what was ‘it’? Getting up everyday figuring out how to keep sales coming, so the workers at the factory had orders to build, so the company could produce something and sell it and the owners and share-holders could make a profit off other people’s efforts, using other people’s money, building other people’s ideas, hmm, where have I heard this before? I made a decision to start building my own dream.
We built up our own small landscape construction company while the economy was working against us ultimately forcing us to shut our doors to the employees, trucks, equipment, after a few years. So, what are the differences in the two experiences? It was up to me to make payroll, bills and taxes, AND develop the sales leads, AND run the company, AND if there was any money left over I could pay my personal bills, AND deal with nightly ‘board’ meetings at the kitchen island as I was in business with my husband. What are the similarities? I was miserable in both. So shut the company we did.
We had the opportunity to move into our home in Sedona where if you are not a Psychic, Artist or in the Tourist Trade, it is tough to find high enough paying jobs to support our life style…so, it became a necessity for us to find another way, a Plan C, at this point. It was going to be the internet, home-based, and MLM, because I vowed to never pour my time and energy into something that didn’t build a residual income, again. All my life the months started at $0, build up all month, to start at $0, again. My paycheck one month did not enhance my paycheck the next month. Every month I started over…it was 100% efforts of 1 person and not getting me any closer to foundational wealth. So, build residual income, or nothing, I vowed.
We made the decision to go internet and home-based. We needed to learn how to develop a presence on the internet and what to sell or market. “The fortune is in the list”, how many times do you hear that a day on the internet? Great, how do you build a list? We have found 2 list building programs which are great, one for online and one for offline. Now that we found list-building, the hard part comes…driving traffic and doing what it takes. Ultimately, the goal is to blog everyday and do a video every other day, plus articles, pay per click, all traffic driving activities. You will want to get as close to that model as possible for maximum start-up. Set up a schedule; develop discipline around these activities. If no one is telling you what to do…will you do it? Most of us are great working for someone else. We know what is expected, we can show up, perform adequately enough to keep our position and our boss holds us accountable. We are locked in to what has been agreed upon that our time is worth. Maybe this is OK, but is it enough? If not, don’t quit your day job just yet.
The worst thing you could do is to put yourself in a place of panic by running out of money before you can comfortably transition into a residual paycheck and have to go back to getting a job, again. This must be planned and it is more of a long-term goal than a get rich quick. The good list-building, attraction marketing programs will have ‘funded proposals’ to address this, usually an affiliate marketing program. Funded-proposals are activities that can make you money while you build a list. So, then it becomes a SUPER discipline issue. Think of building an online presence as a second job. Set working hours, set activities that need to be accomplished that day, find answers to questions, what are the top priorities for the following day? For the amount of money it is possible to make, be prepared to do commensurate dedicated activity…oh, and find a mentor. Planning and executing is extremely important. It doesn’t have to be perfect; you just have to get started.
The next questions we will address-product or service? Does it matter? The most important question “You, Inc.” vs Lead Generation System, which is more important?
