You hear about people working from home more and more these days, on the news, and in magazine articles. Or perhaps we hear about them from our friends. It sounds great doesn't it? Making your own hours... being your own boss... and choosing your own paths. Maybe you've even toyed with the idea yourself, and wondered if you might have what it takes to launch a home-based business. So what DOES it take?... and how in the world do you get started?
Their are lots of traits necessary for a successful home business launch, but in my estimation, the most important of all, is a clear vision. Most everyone who starts a business has a general vision of where they want to end up, but the person with a clear vision has made the effort to map out what it's going to take to get from step A to step Z. They realize they do not have all the skills they will need just yet... they know they don't have all the answers, and most important of all, they recognize right up front that their original vision just might change along the way, and that's OK, because acquiring a clear vision is a process. (Would it surprise you to know that I STILL feel like I'm in the process of refining my vision? I figure I'm probably on step M now.)
When I first starting thinking about the idea of starting a business (over 8 years ago), I originally envisioned myself in a home-sewing business, designing draperies and other home decorating items, mainly for area clients. I never saw the internet in my future. The pattern business wasn't even a gleam in my eye. But I had the luxury of time, and the safety-net of a full-time job (with the City), so I just rolled along with the process.
Which brings me back to my point...so why do so many small businesses fail?
Some folks stall at the starting line. They never really even get a foothold because they are overwhelmed by fear of their own limitations. They just can't think of their life without the piles of limitations they've build up in their minds over the last 40 (or more) some odd years. "I could never learn that." I'd be too scared to try this." "What if I fail?" Sound familiar?
On the other hand, some folks are in such a big hurry to start, that they circumvent the whole process. They run 90 miles an hour with the first idea they think of, so in no time they're exhausted and discouraged. They give up because, "I knew I couldn't do it." "I should never have tried anything new." "I guess I'm just not a manager." Sound familiar?
Suppose I had run headlong into the home-sewing thing, my original vision? You know, invested money in advertising, bought supplies... the whole nine yards (no pun intended). I can tell you I would have been miserable, because guess what?... I found out along the way, that I really didn't like the 'dealing with clients' thing at ALL. So I stepped back and changed my direction just a bit. Along the way I must have 'tweaked' my vision 5 or 6 times. I messed around with making handbags and selling them locally and on the internet. I was easily 18 months into the process before I was clearly focused on independent pattern design as my vision, (which by the way, had never, ever occurred to me prior to this process).
And you know what? I have found in talking to other small business owners, that my experience is really quite typical. Most of them have worked through a very similar process of their own, gradually refining their vision before finally achieving success. Rather than getting bogged down in the process, they have reveled in it... even flourished in it... because overall it's a good thing. It's the process that shows us where we need to focus our energies and it keeps us from spreading ourselves too thin. Additionally, it helps us focus on who we need to meet and what experts we need in our lives in order to achieve success.
So... Remember this, if nothing else; your vision is your own. No one can define or refine it but you. So don't give in to the worries about 'reality' just yet. For now it's enough to simply map out where you want to start and how you want to proceed.
(Stay tuned- next time we'll start discussing methods which help develop YOUR clear vision!)
(This post part of a continuing series focusing on home-based business startups.)
Their are lots of traits necessary for a successful home business launch, but in my estimation, the most important of all, is a clear vision. Most everyone who starts a business has a general vision of where they want to end up, but the person with a clear vision has made the effort to map out what it's going to take to get from step A to step Z. They realize they do not have all the skills they will need just yet... they know they don't have all the answers, and most important of all, they recognize right up front that their original vision just might change along the way, and that's OK, because acquiring a clear vision is a process. (Would it surprise you to know that I STILL feel like I'm in the process of refining my vision? I figure I'm probably on step M now.)
When I first starting thinking about the idea of starting a business (over 8 years ago), I originally envisioned myself in a home-sewing business, designing draperies and other home decorating items, mainly for area clients. I never saw the internet in my future. The pattern business wasn't even a gleam in my eye. But I had the luxury of time, and the safety-net of a full-time job (with the City), so I just rolled along with the process.
Which brings me back to my point...so why do so many small businesses fail?
Some folks stall at the starting line. They never really even get a foothold because they are overwhelmed by fear of their own limitations. They just can't think of their life without the piles of limitations they've build up in their minds over the last 40 (or more) some odd years. "I could never learn that." I'd be too scared to try this." "What if I fail?" Sound familiar?
On the other hand, some folks are in such a big hurry to start, that they circumvent the whole process. They run 90 miles an hour with the first idea they think of, so in no time they're exhausted and discouraged. They give up because, "I knew I couldn't do it." "I should never have tried anything new." "I guess I'm just not a manager." Sound familiar?
Suppose I had run headlong into the home-sewing thing, my original vision? You know, invested money in advertising, bought supplies... the whole nine yards (no pun intended). I can tell you I would have been miserable, because guess what?... I found out along the way, that I really didn't like the 'dealing with clients' thing at ALL. So I stepped back and changed my direction just a bit. Along the way I must have 'tweaked' my vision 5 or 6 times. I messed around with making handbags and selling them locally and on the internet. I was easily 18 months into the process before I was clearly focused on independent pattern design as my vision, (which by the way, had never, ever occurred to me prior to this process).
And you know what? I have found in talking to other small business owners, that my experience is really quite typical. Most of them have worked through a very similar process of their own, gradually refining their vision before finally achieving success. Rather than getting bogged down in the process, they have reveled in it... even flourished in it... because overall it's a good thing. It's the process that shows us where we need to focus our energies and it keeps us from spreading ourselves too thin. Additionally, it helps us focus on who we need to meet and what experts we need in our lives in order to achieve success.
So... Remember this, if nothing else; your vision is your own. No one can define or refine it but you. So don't give in to the worries about 'reality' just yet. For now it's enough to simply map out where you want to start and how you want to proceed.
(Stay tuned- next time we'll start discussing methods which help develop YOUR clear vision!)
(This post part of a continuing series focusing on home-based business startups.)
Thanks, just for giving me the hope again I needed. I started, re-started my biz again several times. I can't live with it or without it. I worked for awhile for another newly started biz and saw the same thing: they had to redefine and refocus. This time I also knew, it it just part of it. Never give up!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful column/blog today. I'm saving this and forwarding it to a friend or two who need to hear it, if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI love getting your blogs, I love your attitude toward what you do. Now I know why.
Thank you.