At 67 years of age, I have spent most of the last 40 years working for myself in some fashion or other.
I've owned my own business in some form since about 1970.
Yes, there has been at least one extended period when I worked for someone else as my primary source of income, but even during that thirteen year stint I still owned my own business, and moonlighted working it.
So when I talk to you about being your own boss and working from home, I do have some real experience to base it on.
What I am going to impart to you here is from my own experience as a business owner, both part-time and full-time.
Before we begin talking about things such as a business plan, start-up capital, budgeting, marketing, employees and the like, there are some other less obtrusive things that must be mentioned.
These elements will overpower the processes of running a business if you do not have them nailed down.
Following I have listed a few of these elements and given you a brief summary of their importance.
They are not listed in any specific order of importance or ranking.
Belief.
Your belief level has to be at least high enough to get started.
You need to believe that working from home will work for you.
If you have doubts about being in business for yourself, you need to dispel them immediately; or, put off taking the dive until such time as you are more comfortable with the idea.
In truth, you will probably never be 100% convinced that you can work for yourself until you try it, but you should at least have a strong belief that you can succeed on your own.
Networking.
It is vitally important for you to begin, if you haven't already, networking with other business people, and people in your community, both geographically and on the internet.
Networking with others will help increase your business sales quicker than if you try to go it alone without any networking.
You might say networking is the heartbeat of any business success.
Join local civic organizations, get to know the local business shakers and movers in your community.
Even if your business is predominately web based, it is still a good idea to get to know those in your geographic community who are the movers and shakers of the community.
These folks can and will ultimately help you succeed, if for no other reason than their attitudes and ideas rub off on you.
Discipline.
If you are going to work for yourself, and be your own boss, you must decide now to discipline yourself to do what must be done to be successful.
You must discipline yourself to work.
You must establish a work schedule, and then discipline yourself to follow that schedule as strictly as you would if you were working for someone else.
Truth.
You must be true to yourself.
Although it is never a good policy to lie to anyone, it is absolute death - at least in business - to lie to yourself.
Education.
As with any profession, you must keep yourself abreast of the world economy.
You must always be learning and growing in your knowledge of your product, your market, your business, and you must always be aware of the world economy around you.
You must always be taking the temperature of the business world, the mood of the economy, and all those other facets that both effect and affect your business.
You must also always be looking for ways to improve your marketing skills, your product skills, and your ability to present those skills more efficiently and more effectively.
In short - you never graduate!! Consistency.
You must be consistent.
Get up and go to your office every morning at the same time, just as you would if you were working for someone else.
If you are using direct mail for advertising, send out the same amount every day, every week, every month.
If you are using Google, then keep your ad in front of the people.
Don't put it up one day, take it down the next, put it up again and take it down...
If you use the news paper, keep the ad in the paper.
Be consistent.
If you run only in the Sunday edition, run the ad EVERY Sunday, don't skip a Sunday.
If you are using email, send out email blast on a consistent basis...
You get the idea.
Persistency.
Be persistent.
Stay with it.
It takes hard work, and sometimes long hours to get a new business up and running.
It also takes some investment of money on your part.
Weigh the costs before you take the plunge and then be persistent with your investment until it is successful.
Professional Help.
If you have never owned, run or managed your own business in the past, I strongly suggest you spend the money to hire a success coach.
They are not cheap, but then neither is failing in business.
There are a number of success coaches available and you can find them on the web.
Don't Quit.
In the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill, "Never give up!" *************************************************************** Now let's discuss some of the business processes you will need to address before you take the dive to go in business for yourself.
Business Plan.
The first process you must address is the business plan.
If you have not taken the time to sit down and develop a good solid business plan, you are bankrupt before you start.
I cannot emphasize this to much.
It is like going to the airport to take a trip.
You can't even buy a ticket unless you know where you are going.
In fact in today's world if you show up at the airport and ask to buy a ticket without having a definite destination in mind, you will probably go to jail!! Running your own business is a lot the same way.
If you want to get there you must have a roadmap.
You must have a plan to get you there.
Most professionals recommend, and most lenders require a five year business plan.
They want to see a solid business plan before lending any money.
Your new business will be borrowing money, whether from a lender or from you, so take the time and do a good five year business plan.
Do not slack on this one! There are tons of good articles on developing a good business plan right here on the web, and I suggest you use them.
Study them, review them, talk them over with your spouse if you have one.
Discuss the business plan with your attorney and CPA.
A good source of help will be the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).
Most locales have a chapter of SCORE located relatively close by.
If you can't find a chapter close to you, go to your local SBA and ask about SCORE.
Another good source of help in getting your business off the ground is the Small Business Administration (SBA).
These folks are government bureaucrats, but they do have a vast amount of information and data available to help you get started.
Believe it or not the government wants to see as many new businesses start up as possible.
Not only is it good for the economy as a whole, but it is also good for the government tax base.
So use this resource - your tax dollars are already paying for it - use it!! Startup Capital.
After you have developed your five year business plan, you should have a pretty good idea how much startup capital you will need.
Once you have your five year business plan developed, you can now take it to lenders to seek funding.
Don't be discouraged if the first few you contact turn you down.
Remember persistency from the list above? Be persistent, and you will be rewarded.
A good starting place to look for startup capital is the SBA.
As I mentioned in the five year business plan, the government wants you to start your own business, and they want you to be super successful.
Your tax dollars are already paying for this service, so take full advantage of it.
The SBA can be of valuable assistance in getting loan packages put together that will be acceptable to lenders.
Keep in mind the SBA does not lend money, they only guarantee the loan.
Even if you don't need to borrow money from an outside lender, your business will be borrowing some amount of money from you, and therefore, you still need to use the SBA, use SCORE, use your attorney, and use your CPA.
All of these resources are assets that will be invaluable to your success.
SCORE will also be a valuable asset to you when you begin the startup capital search.
These guys and gals have spent their lives in business and they already know a lot of the people and the processes you need to learn.
Use this asset, and use it continuously.
I still meet once a month with my SCORE reps.
Sometimes all we do is discuss the weather and their last golf games, but we still meet.
I consider this time well spent, and I value it as a necessary part of my business success.
Get to know your banker on a personal level.
He/she will prove to be a valuable asset to you as you build your business.
Budgeting.
It is vitally important for you to do a good solid budget forecast for your business.
You will probably already have done this if you did the five year business plan correctly.
It will simply be a matter of pulling that data out of the plan.
Both the budget and the five year plan ought to be reviewed monthly to assess its' accuracy.
The budget and the five year plan are both living documents and should be adjusted as the need arises on a regular basis.
Product.
Find a product you are comfortable with, and that is in demand by the marketplace.
This may take a little time, but with the internet, you can do a lot of research before you make the plunge.
Do due diligence here.
No matter how good your business plan, no matter how much capital you have at your disposal, no matter how well-intended you are, if you don't have the right product, you will not succeed.
It really doesn't matter how badly a product is needed, if it isn't in demand it won't sell, and there will be nothing you can do to make it sell.
The history books are chock full of well-intended business people who had a needed product, but a product that was not in demand, and consequently the business model failed.
People are fickle! Most of the time, if there is a conflict, we will buy what we want rather than what we need! Remember this.
Starting, and running your own business, whether web based or geographical is not rocket science.
It is however a process, and if you follow the process, you will in all likelihood succeed.
I've tried to give you a brief overview of what is required to start and run your own successful business.
Please keep in mind this is not an all inclusive listing.
Volumes have been written on this subject, and many more thousands of volumes will be written on this subject in time, but I have at least given you some key issues that need to be considered before you take the leap.