1. Decide what business you want to be in. This is actually a HUGE step and I cover it in detail on this site. You don't have to know right this second, but you DO have to decide at some point. (Note - If you're already in business that's cool. There are resources here that can help you too.)
2. Decide what type of lifestyle you want to have. This is SO IMPORTANT! The way you run your business will be determined in large part by the type of lifestyle you want. For example, if you want to travel a lot then it probably doesn’t make sense for you to have a business where you stock and ship products. So spend some time thinking about the type of lifestyle you want to have.
3. Commit to spending the time and money it takes to grow your business. This is especially important if you are keeping your day job in the beginning. Contrary to what the gurus promise, building a successful business takes time, money, and energy and your success rate is directly proportional to the amount of these things you are willing to personally invest.
4. Be honest with yourself about the timing. As much as some people want to start a business, sometimes the timing isn’t right. I knew a woman who decided to start a business right after giving birth to her first child. I mean right after…. She wasn’t even home from the hospital yet. She was so in love with her new son (and who wouldn’t be) that she made the snap decision to quit her corporate job and become a stay at home mom/entrepreneur. Well… it didn’t work. Months down the road she was exhausted from trying to take so much on, and broke because she wasn’t prepared financially. So look realistically at your situation and make sure you are really able to commit to this venture.
5. At the same time, don’t let excuses get in the way. While it’s important to be realistic, at the same time don’t be so “realistic” that you never quite get started. We’ve all known people like that. They talk for years about starting a new business, getting a new job, buying a new home, etc but there’s always “some” reason they never quite get started and all of a sudden they’re 90 and sitting on the couch wondering what happened. Don’t let this be you! You CAN become an online entrepreneur if you want to… and you can do it in the perfect way for you.
6. Read the material on this site. I mean really read it… don’t just skim it or bookmark it for “someday.” Think about what I have to say and why I say it. Think about how it may integrate into your plans. I am a resource… a good resource… for you in your online business adventures and the information here truly can help you be successful.
- New to online business
- Frustrated at your lack of success
- Looking for new and better ways of doing things.
The world of online business can be so alluring and exciting, and yet so frustrating and confusing. If you are just getting started (or maybe just kicking around the idea), you’ll quickly find that there are literally thousands of “right ways” to go about it.
If you’ve been online for a while then you may be thoroughly confused and frustrated with your lack of results. It takes a lot of work to begin, run and grow a successful business and I know that it’s not as easy as the gurus make it out to be.
If you’ve have experienced some success you still may be feeling overwhelmed by all the work. When I went into business for the first time many years ago I heard this little saying that made a lot of sense to me:
"Business owners work about half the day and
they’re
so lucky because they get to choose which
half
of the day they want to work….
...
the first 12 hours or the second!”
Isn’t that the experience of many small business owners? You start out working feverently to plan, launch and grow your business, and pour your heart and soul into it only to find out that what once was an adventure has become a prison, sucking out all your time and energy so you have little left for anything else. Additionally, many people make so little money for their efforts that they may find themselves working for far less than minimum wage.
How I can Help You
As a business owner and long time entrepreneur, I’m all about finding effective ways to do things faster, more efficiently, and more profitably, freeing up my time and energy to have more fun and do the things I really want to do. My time is too valuable…. “I” am too valuable to spend precious hours every day doing mundane tasks that can easily be automated and/or delegated and I'm way too smart to spend time and effort on things that don't contribute to my bottom line. And YOU are too. Therefore, much of what we talk about here is how to do things faster and much more efficiently, effectively, and profitably.
I also know that many people don’t have my business background and may be entering the world of entrepreneurship for the first time. That's why I include lots of material and resources to help you get started and set up things in easy to understand and implement ways so that you don’t end up making costly mistakes and spending all your time as a slave to your business.
Finally I understand that many of you want to have a profitable online business because you want to escape from the rat race and secure financial freedom for yourself and your family. You also probably want to improve your quality of life, live where you want to live, travel when you want to, and work from home. All these things are possible with your own online business and I spend a bit of time exploring that with you so that you can set up a business model that fits into your goals and life style.
How to Use This Site
Here are a few guidelines that will help you get the most out of this website:
- The Articles & Tutorials section is the backbone of the site. Here you will find A LOT of information geared to helping you become successful in your business. And it's not all about the nuts and bolts of business either. There is also great information there about how to decide what business to be in, how to structure it, and how to create an amazing business that supports you and truly reflects who YOU are.
- Links and Resources is a shortcut page to the many resources that are mentioned in the articles and tutorials. This makes it easy to go back and find that link you know you read about but can't quite remember where.
- The Work With Me section is the place to go if you need personal help from me. While I don't do web-design or admin. work anymore, I'm happy to work with you personally, helping you get clear about what needs to be done and moving in the right direction.
