Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

How to Provide Excellent Customer Service

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Why Customer Service is Important for Your Business ID 10046440 300x300 How to Provide Excellent Customer Service

In internet marketing, you just don’t come forward and offer your product on a platter and expect followers to mushroom all over the place. Okay, let’s assume you have a great product, but then quality isn’t everything. A lot of factors come into play to achieve best-seller status.

The quality of your product is NOT the sole determiner of your success. Customer service is another important factor.

Convincing people to buy your product means you have to be convincing. Credibility is especially important because it builds confidence in your product among potential customers. You may not be marketing your image per se, but your image is part of the marketing.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Note: Confidence brings more sales – as confidence can result to word-of-mouth advertising.

Customer service is providing services to customers and potential customers before and after they purchase your product.

  • Answer their questions.
  • See to it that they are happy with or are going to be happy with their purchase.
  • Keep them well-informed about your product.
  • Follow up with them after the purchase (but don’t pepper them with emails or calls).
  • Be courteous, approachable, and accommodating.

The fundamental purpose of customer service is to build trust and loyalty. Providing “good” customer service is not enough. We need to provide excellent customer service.

What You Can Do:

  • Collect commonly asked questions and build a Frequently Asked Questions section or a knowledge base for customers and potential customers.
  • Build a support ticket system. You can still use email, but modern support ticket systems provide more features such as knowledge base, canned responses, assigning tickets to users, etc.

A great free support ticket system with the knowledge base feature is http://www.hesk.com/.

  • Build a members-only forum, so paid customers can discuss about your product.
  • Respond to customer emails within 1 to 2 business days. Outsource if necessary. (You can outsource on oDesk or Elance).

My Own Customer Service Story – What I Did With Easy TV Money

ID 10069245 300x300 How to Provide Excellent Customer Service Finally, talk about my own experience with launching Easy TV Money. I did not outsource customer service. Everyday, I spent hours responding to customers’ emails. I went the extra mile to help everyone – even someone who hadn’t paid for my product. The result? The product became one of the most popular WSOs (Warrior Special Offer) on WarriorForum, the most popular internet marketing forum.

After a few months, there are about 80,000 results on Google about “easy TV money” and 44,000 results about “ez TV money.” The WSO thread became one of the most popular WSO threads EVER on WarriorForum and the one-time offer (OTO) had one of the highest, if not the highest, conversion rates in the history of WSO launches on the forum.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Right now, people are still talking good things about me and the product. They are also asking me when my next WSO will come out and saying they look forward to buying it.

Excellent customer service takes time but will eventually pay off. It boosts confidence and credibility and attracts more followers to your product. The end results are more sales and profit. It’s not just about answering FAQs, but also ensuring that your customers are happy with their purchase.

Customer service is a give-and-take relationship. People patronize your product. In return, see to it that they are satisfied and know what they need to know about your product.

Always go the extra mile to help your customers. Every extra minute of your time spent helping a customer will eventually pay off. This customer will become your loyal follower and promote your product, sort of campaign for you. Call it free advertising.


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Renewable Demands and Obsolete Bread

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There’s no such thing as obsolete bread, unlike gadgets which can go out of style in a matter of months.

In today’s commercialized world, there’s always something newer, more powerful, and more versatile that comes out in the market on a regular basis. We can’t keep up with the buying.

bread Renewable Demands and Obsolete Bread

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Human nature tells us to equate “new and latest” with “better.” We get rid of items at a faster rate than ever before.

However, we’re also capable of renewable feelings, which result to renewable demands to the point of perpetual. We are in need of food and water every day.

In man’s hierarchy of needs, among the most important are food, water, and sanitation. Over the centuries, these haven’t changed and will never change. However, man’s ways of getting and producing essential items have gone considerable changes along the centuries.  For instance, he has gone through an evolution of some sort toiletry-wise, from a limited choice of liquid soaps made from animal tallow (still used today in soap-making) to a variety of bar soaps with antibacterial properties.

But more often than not, his ways of making a living and making necessities available to the public still follow the basic path – selling. Man has always loved to do business ever since the ancient times. Socrates often shared his philosophy in the agora or marketplace.

Basically, the stability of a business depends on the demand for its products or services. There are demands that are temporary or valid only for a certain period. There will come a time when all those people who could possibly buy your book have bought it (it’s remotely possible, not impossible). Sometimes, the demand overrides the supply, such as what happens in famines and during natural disasters.

Let’s Get Down To The Basics.

People can go without face creams with exotic add-ons, but they can’t go (anymore) without the simple, white bath soap or shampoo, well, except for those who want to return to the bread-and-water kind of existence.

Businesses that cater to these most basic needs of man can expect a steady flow of demand for their products or services. Examples of businesses where nothing goes out of style (except for hairstyle maybe):

  • Salon/Barbershop – People get a haircut every six weeks (unless they want the prehistoric look).
  • Farming – There’s always a need for crops like rice and corn.

In this type of business, people still buy the items they bought last year. Breads go stale, and toothpastes expire, but they don’t need hyped upgrades to stay in the market.

But this is not without issues such as:

  • People getting allergies
  • People getting food-poisoned
  • You getting blamed for the public’s bad diet if your specialty is high caloric

Some Things Don’t Change.

It’s amusing to note that, as man makes progress, his definition of necessities encompasses more and more things. He now thinks his smartphone is air.  But he also sheds some things along the way like typewriters, which now exist for another reason: vintage!

Yes, man’s tastes will change, but there are things that remain and will surely remain. Should crude oil, the lifeblood of the world’s economy, get consumed completely, people would still want to eat, drink, and look nice. It’s a truth as old as time.

If you isolate a man and give him a glass of water and a comic book, he’ll drink the water before he’ll read the book.

 

The Seesaw and Business Leverage

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What do levers have to do with your business?   Unless you’re in construction or textile, you don’t really go to work with a wheelbarrow or scissors.

Wheelbarrow1 The Seesaw and Business Leverage

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“Leverage” comes from the word “lever,” one of life’s simple machines. A lever is a bar that rests on a fixed point called a fulcrum. The bar is movable and can pivot or rotate to a certain degree.

Some of the things levers can help you with – to make life easier for you:

  • Lift or raise something heavy like the person at the other end of the seesaw
  • Crack nuts
  • Open a bottle of your favorite drink
  • Cut paper and grass

Some popular levers:

Seesaw, Scissors, Wheelbarrow, Wrench, Bottle Opener, and Nutcracker

The Seesaw Physics 

Financial leverage is utilizing borrowed money in the hope of multiplying that amount of money, but against greater risks.

On a similar note, leverage is making a big impact from a small amount of work.

On a seesaw, when you apply force on your end, you’re able to lift the person at the opposite end with a lesser effort than if you would lift the person yourself. The seesaw, a lever, helps you move something with the least amount of effort. This concept can be applied in your business.  

Seesaw1 300x150 The Seesaw and Business Leverage

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Business Leverage and Spending

Put your business at an advantage without spending a lot.

  • Use your resources wisely. Leave out the fancy filling. Do you think you can enjoy your coffee without whipped cream and some other stuff you think you need? Similarly, do you think your business can survive without some expensive paintings on your office wall? It pays to have the best tools or materials and to be presentable, but there’s a difference between just plain “fancy” and necessity.
  • If your resources are limited, take care of the basics first. You can try the minimalist approach if austerity measures are too “austere.”
  • Make use of what is available and maximize its potentials. Remember that you can build a fire from a couple of stones and some twigs.
  • Get the right people to do the right job, so you don’t waste time and money. If Tom can’t do it, don’t assign it to him. If you know that there’s somebody else who can do a certain task better than Mary, then don’t give it to her.

Super Employees, workers who CAN do anything, are rare. If you have one, celebrate. He or she may be a workaholic, but aiming for leverage doesn’t give you the license to overwork him or her. There’s a difference between a voluntary workaholic and an involuntary workaholic.

This doesn’t give you an excuse to be stingy or to sacrifice the quality of your service or product. You can’t say your food is bland because you’ve dropped one ingredient.  It’s just that you can get the same benefit from using affordable but good-quality materials and resources with their more expensive counterparts. You just need good judgment to make wise decisions.

Your resources can get an upgrade as you work yourself up on the ladder.

Leverage as a strategic edge.

A lever, though commonly set on a fixed point, suggests a sense of movement.

The pole used in pole-vaulting makes a good lever because by loading your energy on it, you can propel yourself to great heights. If you want to get across a deep ditch, you use a stick to assist you in your leap.

Business leverage involves knowing how to use a tool to gain considerable advantage.

What is that something that can potentially propel you to a stage you want and be able to vault over competitors?

Friendly Staff? – Your workers don’t have mood swings.

Great Service? – You help your grocers into their cars.

Supersized Items? – You serve the biggest pizza in town.

Pig-Out Promo? – All-You-Can-Eat Buffet every day!

Irresistible Extras – Your customers get a free drink if they buy three sandwiches (too many?).

Avoid empty hype or marketing that doesn’t really deliver. The business world, online and offline, is peppered with gimmicks and false promises. But buyers or clients, if not soon enough, eventually find out what’s real and what’s not. Make sure you really deliver when they check you out.

Anchor your business on your strengths.

You better be in a business you truly know and have a passion for. You must be able to identify your potentials.

Brains, creativity, and good judgment together make up a good lever.

Nowadays, it’s not easy to try to find ways to be unique and to offer something new.

You’re pressured or motivated to keep up and be up-to-date. There’s always the call to get the latest and the flashiest innovations, especially when you’re in the technology business. Those who trade or manufacture basic food and toiletry items may feel less pressured.

People will always eat bread. They will always use toothpaste and soap. If you own a grocery store, it’s noteworthy that people still buy the same items they bought last year.

It’s a business where nothing goes out of style. Now that’s leverage!

Cows and Brand Building

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How would you feel if you were branded as the guy who accidentally burned down a dormitory with a toaster? To think that you’ve always been a good and law-abiding citizen?

For cattle, the branding can be an equally unforgettable experience. Cowboys use a hot branding iron to burn a mark on a cow’s body.

This mark, being “everlasting,” is used to identify ownership of the cattle. It may sound cruel, but it serves its purpose, which is to make sure the cows stay within their owner’s property, and yes, won’t get stolen.

Branding is equally important in the internet marketing world. If you were to embark on an online business without knowing how to  present yourself, you would be like a dot in a sea of nameless faces, a needle in a haystack, with millions of people probably also thinking the same thing.

dreamstimefree 1408390 300x199 Cows and Brand Building

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Branding and Your Identity

You own it. You’re known by it.

There are people who bear names that are either coincidentally or intentionally very appropriate for their chosen business or profession.

  • Jill Hill – mountaineer
  • Mike Armstrong – bodybuilder
  • Robert Cook – chef

In internet marketing, your brand goes beyond your name. It’s not coincidental. It’s a conscious effort, something that you plan and work on. (Well, maybe it’s an exception if you’re Chinese and you sell dumplings.)

Get a concept.

What sort of business do you want to venture into?

How would you like to be known? (I want to be known as Nick the Comeback Guy.)

Realize that concept.

Make sure you know everything you need to know. Dress up your business according to your concept.

Branding and Your Image

What sort of people does your business cater to?

If you sew apparel for members of the upper-class, it can be said that you cater to the sophisticated market. Your image involves the impact your business has on people. For instance, when they hear your brand name, they may think, “That’s the company that offers excellent service.”

There are brand names that become household names; others go flop.

Your image has a lot to do with your reputation. Sometimes, you can’t escape it. Yes, your reputation. Twenty years and more, your kindergarten classmates still remember you as “Flabby”. But sometimes, it can also be revocable, like you showing up at your reunion with six-pack abs.

Branding and Your Whole Package

All things; the look, the talk, the product, the presentation, the marketing etc…must work together into a single, unified idea for your brand, quite like having the complete ingredients to perfect a dish.

However, some businesses like to demonstrate versatility. They’re not necessarily Jacks of all trades but masters of none. Some restaurants which are known for pizza make great pasta, too.

It’s just like a movie that’s too great it has a sequel – and five more on the way. Or a TV series with a character who becomes more popular than the lead actor he gets his own series. A spin-off!

Stand out. It will do your business a lot of good. People must be able to distinguish you from the rest as if you were like a good singer with a distinct voice. Contrast that to a good singer who sounds like everyone else. Who gets the vote?

You may wonder, “In this anything-goes world, is there room for me to be unique? Well, you don’t have to be totally different to succeed, but you do need to be creative.

  • Five minutes late, and the pizza’s free.
  • Unlimited Noodles for Celebrants!

In a way, being a “sore thumb” pays. Go build your brand. Make a cattle mark on people’s minds.

 

How To Spot Scams

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Today, everyone is an Internet Marketing guru, Super Affiliate, or Millionaire… at least, according to their claimed proof of earnings on their website or blog. For the rest of us, how can we decide who we should listen to?

The biggest mistake many people made when they started their Internet business is they looked in the wrong place for advice on how to get started. There are many scams on the Internet where scammers show you their “earnings” in a picture.

The truth is, those people probably haven’t made even a dime on the internet. What they do with those pictures is that they use software such as Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop to modify their earnings and show fake pictures on their website. In fact, this very minute I can give you at least 10 such suspicious pictures on the Internet. But to avoid getting myself into any trouble, I’m not going to do that. But if you are interested, I can show you, in a video, how I can fake my earnings in as little as 3 minutes here:

As you can see here, anyone who has some basic computer skills can claim that he or she has made zillions of dollars, but in reality, may have made nothing from the Internet.

So, how can you avoid this mistake? The No. 1 rule in starting your own Internet business is:

“Learn from someone who has really done it and follow his/her system. Be aware of scams!”

How can we make sure that a business opportunity is not a scam? There are a few ways to check that.

  • First, make sure the earnings proof is authentic. These days you simply can’t trust proof of earnings in a picture. Look for a video proof instead.
  • Do a Google search on keywords such as “product name + scam” or “author’s name + scam,” and see what other people are saying about the product and the author.
  • Make sure that the product has at least a 30 to 60-day money back guarantee.

Now, you can do the same thing with my own product Easy TV Money® at http://easytvmoney.com. Examine my earnings proof on this page (I offered an authentic video proof of earnings). You can see what other people are saying about my product at http://easytvmoney.com/index2.html#Testimonials. As you may already know, I offer an unconditional 60-day money back guarantee.

The bottom line is – anyone can put up a website and claim he or she is a guru (or Super Affiliate or Internet Millionaire for that matter). You have to research around, and use your best judgment when evaluating an Internet Marketing message.

To your success!

Nick

 

How To Do A Business Risk Assessment

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Photoxpress 1450801 1024x714 How To Do A Business Risk Assessment

Can Your Business Survive

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.”

But when you’re starting your own business, there’s no guarantee that your “mousetrap” is going to survive, especially in today’s fast-paced business world.

Nearly half of all small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. The number one reason for business failure is inadequate planning. The second reason is under-capitalization.

So, before you mortgage your house, or go into debt financing your business, you need to know if your business is going to do more than survive — you want to know if it’s good enough to thrive! Here are three things successful businesses that have stayed in business for five years or longer have in common:

1. The IDEA. A successful business start-up always starts with an idea, something that makes your    business stand out from all the rest. So, how do you know if you got a good idea?

You HAVE a good idea if you can answer yes to the following questions:

Does your idea provide the solution to a significant problem for your target market? Does it satisfy a need or want? Does it create an opportunity?

The most successful businesses either fix problems (either real or perceived), or they increase your customer’s pleasure. They create a repeat need for a product or service among the target market.

2. The MARKET. Your chances of survival are better if you can answer the following questions with a yes:  Is there already a market for your product or service? (It’s much easier to fill a need than trying to create an entirely new market.)

Can your target market afford to buy your products or services? (If they can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter how great it is, you won’t sell any!)

Will your target market perceive your product or service as valuable? (If they want it, but don’t think it’s worth what you’re selling it for, you won’t make any sales.)

3. Your ABILITY. Do you have the people, the resources, and the knowledge to be able to consistently provide your products or services to your target market?

Can you maintain a competitive advantage?

Do you have enough manpower?

Can you purchase the supplies and materials you need over the long run?

Your first step always is to create a solid business plan. Your business plan is more than an essay on “Why I deserve to get funding for my idea.” Don’t spend all the time creating a business plan, and then toss it in the bottom drawer of your desk. Your business plan should be a living, breathing road map that helps you make sure you’re on course and reaching the goals that you set for your business.

The second step to business survival is getting enough financing. Although the term “bootstrap entrepreneur” describes most small-business owners, having enough capital to be able to keep your business afloat is vital to your survival.

When you’re creating your financial analysis of your business, make sure you’re being realistic about costs and expenditures, so that you give yourself the cushion you need to succeed.

If finding financing is a problem, either because you don’t have enough credit or equity, or there are other problems, take the time to look into the resources that are available in your community. There are a wide variety of grants and loans (including microloans) for entrepreneurs, if you know where to look.

Some great resources will be:

-The Small Business Administration
-Local Small Business Development Centers
-Women’s Organizations
-Local University or Community College
-Chamber of Commerce
-SCORE (The Association for Retired Executives)
-Nonprofit organizations that work on economic development in your area

Use other successful business models as a guide. When you’re getting started, look around. What businesses are successful? Why? What is it they’re doing that is working? What attributes do you admire and why? You stand a better chance of succeeding if you’re modeling someone who is already successful.

Find a mentor. Most entrepreneurs have great skills and abilities, but no one does everything well. You probably already know what your strengths and weaknesses are. (If not, there are many resources and tools that can help you figure them out!) Rather than ignoring your weaknesses, find a mentor who can help you either build your skills in your weaker areas, or offer advice for getting what you need.

If you take the time to plan to succeed, you could be creating a legacy that will be enjoyed by future generations, and that other entrepreneurs will look at as a model for building their own businesses.

Balancing Work and Life

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Photoxpress 31180691 1024x792 Balancing Work and Life

Balancing Work and Life

For many business owners, one of the biggest challenges is separating their work from their family and social life. The following are six proven strategies to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping your business on track.

1. First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may be tempting to answer personal calls during the day or take business calls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you’re expendable–not dependable–and people will take for granted that you’ll always be there for any little things that come up. Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hours, and resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceries during working hours.

2. Your friends may consider working from home an invitation to chat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for an afternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you’ll find that your friends will gradually accept your schedule without feeling slighted.

3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule doesn’t mean that you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One of the benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours to fit your most productive times. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you’ll find that you’ll get much more done when you’re attuned to your body’s own natural rhythms. Some people work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kids are home from school, and work again in the evening. Schedule your work time when you feel the most productive, and you’ll find that things get done easier, faster, and better than when you were dragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyone else has.

4. If getting after-hours business calls or workday personal calls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phone line, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take the incoming calls. This also gives your business a more professional appearance to clients than if you and your family make and receive calls from the same phone line.

5. If at all possible, try to separate your home office from the rest of your home. If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful. This also serves as a visual cue to family that you’re working and shouldn’t be bothered.

6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people find it helpful to dress in casual business attire during their working hours. This reinforces that just because you’re working from home doesn’t make you any less of a professional. Answer the phone with your name, or business name, and keep your children off the phone during business hours. Also, spend money investing in the tools you need to do your job right. A cell phone, fax machine, or even a budget computer can help turn your home office into a true workspace.

If you follow all of these tips and stick with them, chances are you’ll find a routine that not only makes you feel productive and active in your business, but also projects the message that you mean business literally!

How To Do Outsourcing

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Let’s face it. We can’t be good at everything, and we only have 24 hours in a day. The one-man-does-it-all mentality wouldn’t work for a home-based business. How can we get help when we need it?

The answer is outsourcing.

You can hire experienced professionals, and let them use their creative talents while you focus on other tasks. Another benefit is that the workers you hire may be more up-to-date on the latest information and technology in their specific fields and can be assets to your clients, as well, offering improved quality service.

But finding workers and figuring out where to meet or when to bring them can pose some difficult juggling, personal, and security issues. How should we outsource?

Deciding What to Outsource

Focus on outsourcing some of the major tasks of your workload. First, check your To-Do lists and office area. What CAN you outsource? Which work seems to pile up the most?

For example, maybe you can’t seem to find time to update your website each month. Maybe your newsletter is STILL not getting out regularly. Or perhaps your direct mail campaign is not quite as direct as it should be; i.e. it is sitting directly in the same pile it was three months ago.

Then, write out a one-page project description for these major tasks. Focus on WHAT exactly you抎 want done, WHEN, and HOW the end-product should turn in to you.

Selecting Service Providers

Then look for the right professionals for your work. For example, with the sample tasks above, find people who can help with websites, newsletter creation, and sending out direct mail campaigns. Call round and surf the Internet and ask other home based business operators which companies they recommend. Check forum posts; inquire for advice and suggestions. Shop around for comparisons. A good place to start is websites such as Elance.com and Guru.com.

Then set up trial periods and test a couple. Remember, no one is perfect. See who you can communicate with pretty easily and who’s flexible to work as a team player. Check out the quality (and quantity) of their work. Then choose a candidate. Remember, this decision is not carved on stone. And you can always hire the other person as a back-up or a second helper down the road. So be kind to all who test, make decisions, and keep your business moving forward.

Outsourcing is a great way to help small businesses grow larger while still working at home. So reach out, and give it a try!

How To Start A Copywriting Business

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Become.a.good .copywriter improve.copywriting.skills002 How To Start A Copywriting Business

Start A Copywriting Business

If you’re fascinated with starting your own copywriting services, either as a full-time copywriter or a freelance copywriter, you need to do some preparations first.

Learn, learn, and learn.

If you do not have a lot of information and enough background as a copywriter, then learn the trade. You can get training (online or physical) where you can be certified by agencies as a good copywriter, or if not, you can study the trade by yourself. After all, the quality of your writing will reflect on your completed projects, so you don’t need to worry about the educational background if you have sense and style in your writing. However, if you would like to be an expert copywriter in a specific field, you should get proper training. If you like to write about legal studies or medical transcription, training will greatly help especially if the topic you would like to write about is sensitive or needs a touch of ethics and professionalism.

Write a resume detailing your copywriting skills. Emphasize any knowledge, background, credentials you have. Since copywriting is all about marketing various services and products, you should include the outcome of your education or training. If you don’t have credentials as a copywriter, then emphasize the study or proper training you have gone through.

Invest on necessary equipment.

In a copywriting service business, you just need a few bucks to begin with. For a great copywriter service, you should have a quality computer with a speedy internet connection, a printer, and necessary computer peripherals that will help you a lot in developing contents. You also need to have an email address for your business, aside from the mailing address you may want to settle for your clients. This will aid you to maintain business and private emails separate, also to put forward a professional atmosphere in your business.

Start looking for offers.

Although you want to begin a business, most copywriting projects are for part-time and can be done from home, therefore allowing a good beginning for your business. Sites such as Craigslist, Elance, and Guru post freelance jobs, which include copywriting services.

Develop you own professional website.

If you have the enough resources, you should make your own website. Today, copywriters need to be in the electronic world for faster communication and business transactions. Make it so that those looking for copywriting services online will have the chance to stumble on your website. You can also use it as a site to refer possible clients to get more background about your copywriting services.

Look for referrals.

After a successful project for your first clients, request them if they know other possible clients that they can refer to you. You can even devise a referral system as a bonus to your clients who can refer new clients to you.

Lastly, you should not spend too much effort and money in making your websites, purchasing equipment at the cost of looking for referrals. It’s very essential to be ready, but you want to devote most of your time on business transactions such as writing your first copywriting project.

Home Business Ideas

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2381790bwmatr10 300x225 Home Business Ideas

Find the Right Business for You

If you think that starting your own business is the answer to your problems; whether it’s money, child care, illness, or a desire for more free time, then you MUST choose wisely.

Too many individuals eagerly leave their paying jobs in order to pursue their own business only to return to the unemployment arena looking for work and carrying a massive debt from their ventures.

How can you find the answer to your quest for self-employment without failing? The solution lies in the 3 Ds:

  • Desire
  • Discretion
  • Discipline

Desire

If you think that running your own business is merely a matter of using your brains, then you are sure to be disappointed. Successful entrepreneurs have a common thread whether they run a country gas station or a Fortune 500 company – DESIRE. If you don’t have the drive and determination to work for yourself – if you can’t give up the security of a regular pay cheque – you will have great difficulty working for yourself.

Discretion

Expect to fail. There are many opportunities available. Some are good, some are frauds, and several are absolutely perfect – for YOU. Each individual’s strengths and talents will impact which business model will suit them best. If you are very shy or hate to talk to people, then it would be wise to stay away from businesses that require a lot of face-to-face selling. If the product is not something you would personally use, it is not something you will want to promote, and that will show in your efforts.

Take stock of your abilities and interests, and try several businesses that are related. Not all will suit you, but trying things will ultimately improve your business skills overall. If you do fall for what turns out to be a fraud, consider it education and move on – you will not likely make the same mistake again.

Consider talking to business owners who do what you want to do or to people who may use your product or service. Research the business, and read the fine print!

Discipline

You don’t have a boss or a time clock, but if you expect to make a living, then you will have to discipline yourself. Have a schedule that you follow every day. Plan your time wisely. Although many procrastinators actually do well working for themselves, it is still vitally important to know what needs to be done and to have the discipline to follow through. A few bad jobs or unhappy customers can have a lasting impact on your business.

Many have found great happiness and success working for themselves. Enjoy the search and find YOUR perfect business!