How to Survive a Home Business Start-Up
By Leslie Truex
For many would-be home based
entrepreneurs, it's the start-up that stops
them from achieving success. While many
can work through the process of deciding
the business to start and creating a plan, the actual launch or initial stages
of the start-up create challenges so great that many quit before they're barely
out the gate.
The problem is that at some point something will go wrong and budding
entrepreneurs need to plan for and be ready to meet the challenges
instead of retreating from them.
Here are four strategies for surviving your home business start-up.
1. Have realistic expectations.
Bill Gates didn't start Microsoft one day and have his empire the next. Success in a
business takes time. Too many people come to the end of their first month with little
results and determine that having a home business is impossible. In reality a
successful home business takes at least six months to two years to reach a steady,
regular positive cash flow. Further, the journey to home business success is often a
bumpy one, and home-based entrepreneurs should expect to encounter obstacles and
frustrations along the way.
2. Keep on keepin' on.
As already mentioned, stuff happens when building a business. Customers return
products and complain. Marketing campaigns fail. Not everything will run smoothly
or lead to desired outcomes. This is where the true entrepreneur is born. Success isn't
from the achievement, it's from surviving and continuing the journey when everything
is falling apart. You need to adopt the attitude that quitting isn't an option and when
you run into problems, you need to keep working on your business.
3. Remember why.
Most people don't start a home business because it was their dream to do so. Most
start a business to achieve some other goal such as to stay home with children, leave a
stressful job or pay off debt. Your reason for starting a home business is crucial to your
success. When the going gets tough, the tough remember why they started the journey
in the first place. If your reason for starting a home business is big enough, it should
motivate you and propel you forward when times get hard.
4. Evaluate and adjust.
One of the biggest challenges to working at home is determining if and when to
change tactics. Because many tasks take time to show results, it can be difficult to
know if they've failed or just haven't kicked in yet. But if you find that things aren't
working, you need to evaluate what's happening. Are you focused on
money-generating tactics? Many would-be entrepreneurs are busy, but aren't doing the
things that make money. Sometimes money-making actions don't work and you need
to figure out why. One way to do this is to test different tactics. For example, if an ad
didn't generate leads, run the ad somewhere else or change the headline. The trick is to
change only one element of the tactic to determine what aspect isn't working. As you
evaluate what's working and what's not, make adjustments to your tactics. Building
a business is a process that is always in flux. You need to continually monitor
your actions and their results to maximize your success.
Starting a home business is the perfect way to design a career you love and
control the amount of money you make.
But despite what many work-at-home gurus might have you believe, it's not
something you can decide to do today and achieve riches by tomorrow. Even with the
best advice, the journey to home business success will be a roller coaster ride filled
with ups and downs and sometimes loopty-loos that make you feel a little nauseous.
But if you stay the course, focus on your goal, and do the work that needs to be done,
success can be yours.
Leslie Truex is the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible (Adams Media). She has been
telecommuting and running home businesses for over 15 years and helping others to work at
home in jobs or home businesses since 1998. Get work-at-home jobs and other resources with her
free newsletter at Work at Home Success.
By Leslie Truex
For many would-be home based
entrepreneurs, it's the start-up that stops
them from achieving success. While many
can work through the process of deciding
the business to start and creating a plan, the actual launch or initial stages
of the start-up create challenges so great that many quit before they're barely
out the gate.
The problem is that at some point something will go wrong and budding
entrepreneurs need to plan for and be ready to meet the challenges
instead of retreating from them.
Here are four strategies for surviving your home business start-up.
1. Have realistic expectations.
Bill Gates didn't start Microsoft one day and have his empire the next. Success in a
business takes time. Too many people come to the end of their first month with little
results and determine that having a home business is impossible. In reality a
successful home business takes at least six months to two years to reach a steady,
regular positive cash flow. Further, the journey to home business success is often a
bumpy one, and home-based entrepreneurs should expect to encounter obstacles and
frustrations along the way.
2. Keep on keepin' on.
As already mentioned, stuff happens when building a business. Customers return
products and complain. Marketing campaigns fail. Not everything will run smoothly
or lead to desired outcomes. This is where the true entrepreneur is born. Success isn't
from the achievement, it's from surviving and continuing the journey when everything
is falling apart. You need to adopt the attitude that quitting isn't an option and when
you run into problems, you need to keep working on your business.
3. Remember why.
Most people don't start a home business because it was their dream to do so. Most
start a business to achieve some other goal such as to stay home with children, leave a
stressful job or pay off debt. Your reason for starting a home business is crucial to your
success. When the going gets tough, the tough remember why they started the journey
in the first place. If your reason for starting a home business is big enough, it should
motivate you and propel you forward when times get hard.
4. Evaluate and adjust.
One of the biggest challenges to working at home is determining if and when to
change tactics. Because many tasks take time to show results, it can be difficult to
know if they've failed or just haven't kicked in yet. But if you find that things aren't
working, you need to evaluate what's happening. Are you focused on
money-generating tactics? Many would-be entrepreneurs are busy, but aren't doing the
things that make money. Sometimes money-making actions don't work and you need
to figure out why. One way to do this is to test different tactics. For example, if an ad
didn't generate leads, run the ad somewhere else or change the headline. The trick is to
change only one element of the tactic to determine what aspect isn't working. As you
evaluate what's working and what's not, make adjustments to your tactics. Building
a business is a process that is always in flux. You need to continually monitor
your actions and their results to maximize your success.
Starting a home business is the perfect way to design a career you love and
control the amount of money you make.
But despite what many work-at-home gurus might have you believe, it's not
something you can decide to do today and achieve riches by tomorrow. Even with the
best advice, the journey to home business success will be a roller coaster ride filled
with ups and downs and sometimes loopty-loos that make you feel a little nauseous.
But if you stay the course, focus on your goal, and do the work that needs to be done,
success can be yours.
Leslie Truex is the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible (Adams Media). She has been
telecommuting and running home businesses for over 15 years and helping others to work at
home in jobs or home businesses since 1998. Get work-at-home jobs and other resources with her
free newsletter at Work at Home Success.
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