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Seven Steps to Entrepreneurial Success |
For the past 25 years, I have been actively engaged in a variety of entrepreneurial opportunities. I worked from my home, operating a successful catering and bread baking business. Outside of my home, I was the owner of two prosperous businesses, a weight loss center with individual counseling and several coin operated Laundromats. Looking back, although both of the businesses outside the home presented many challenges and were fulfilling in many ways, working from home has been the ultimate luxury. Anyone can be their own boss and if you are considering a home based business, here are seven tips that I hope will help make you successful as you begin your new enterprise. 1. Select the right business: There are many business opportunities available. There are freelancers working from home as coaches, writers and marketing specialists for example. The positives about this kind of business are it has very low start up costs; a disadvantage is you have to set up your own marketing and operational structure. There is usually no "turnkey" operation for these types of businesses. The catering and bread baking business allowed me the flexibility to spend as much time with my three young children as I needed and was an outlet for my creativity. But I didn't consider the physical labor involved and the storage space I would need when I decided to go into this business. 2. Organization is necessary: Working from home required me to be very organized. I had to plan deliveries around the time the kids were in school and did my baking at night. I had to keep track of my customers, billing and receivables. Planning my days in advance is one of the many things that helped me to stay organized. 3. Self-discipline: Being a self-starter is a pre requisite for being an entrepreneur. No amount of organization is enough if you don't have discipline. There are many distractions when you work from home. Creating and sticking to your daily plan provides boundaries for you. 4. Self-confidence: Trust yourself; know that even on those days when things don't go exactly the way you expect them to, do not take it personally. Having a mentor or someone who is familiar with your business to talk with can be helpful in boosting your confidence when things go a bit awry. 5. Willingness to work hard: Working for yourself requires hard work especially in the early stages. You may need to be a jack-of-all-trades to get everything done. There's going to be a learning curve for you with some of these tasks. 6. Understand the financials: I didn't think through the financial aspects of my first venture and as a result, I didn't make any money. Since then, I've learned to do much more research into a business before deciding if it's the right one for me. I determine what the starts up costs are going to be as well as the ongoing costs and how long it will take before I make a profit. 7. Marketing and selling: No matter what business you are in you will need to connect with people in order to sell yourself and your business. If you have no prior experience in this area, someone in your network may be able to recommend a company or organization that can assist you. Again, having a mentor or a coach is useful in this area. Being an entrepreneur has been challenging and rewarding for me. After many different ventures, I have found the perfect business for me - it has a minimal initial investment, allows me to work from home and provides support and mentoring. I sincerely hope these tips will assist you on your way to finding the perfect business opportunity that will create abundant personal and financial rewards.
Businesswoman, Friend, Collaborator, and Team player, Sheila Sole fulfills her Entrepreneurial Calling by offering a great service that enriches the lives of others. Together with other fellow BraveHeart Community members, her goal is to empower Women to be multi-dimensional success stories and inspiration to others. Be Sure to Visit: <a target="_new" href="http://BraveHeartWomen.com/freedom">Be a BraveHeart Woman</a>
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