MikesHomeBiz Blog

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It is widely recognized that the vast majority of home businesses fail within the first year, for a number of reasons, such as failure to complete adequate research into the viability of the proposed business, little or no market research, insufficient business skills and others.

In reality, a very common cause of failure is simply a lack of self-discipline. Most business owners leave some form of employment before embarking on their dream of self-employment, and a possible motivation might well be to escape from the perceived injustice of a former boss. Having made the break, a very human reaction might then be to relax from the pressure.

This reaction could easily be the cause of downfall! We have discussed in an earlier series of articles the vital importance of clarifying one’s motivation for embarking on a home business.
Whether we like his methods or not, a hard-driving boss can be a reasonably effective substitute for motivation. If there is no driving-force or motivation, the result could easily be failure.

Be clear in your own mind why you are going it alone, and understand how important it is to you personally to succeed. Thus when the temptation is to “take the day off” be sure that this is for a good reason and make a personal decision to make up the time lost.

Some ideas which may be helpful to you in establishing your business on a sound footing as soon as possible:

• Try to make it a habit to work regular hours. Make a set time every morning to read and respond to e-mails and other correspondence. You should check again later in the day to deal with anything urgent that needs your attention.
• Try also to respond promptly to queries.
• Don’t even have your television turned on during your “working hours.” It’s too easy to be distracted by a sports programme or other interesting item.
• Remind family members and friends that although you’re working from home, you’re still working! Long personal telephone calls can break your concentration and waste your time. Suggest tactfully that the best time to contact you is between certain hours when you’re not busy at your computer.
• It is extremely difficult to handle the demands of small children at home, whilst you are trying to run a business. There is another article coming soon, aimed at helping the
“home-biz Mum” to find ways around this very real problem. For now, try to find ways of containing the element of distraction as far as possible. At least, tackle your most difficult tasks during rest-time, or when children are occupied under supervision.

In essence, it’s vital to treat your business with commitment and determination. Your personal circumstances will have a significant influence on the success or otherwise of your home business. Should you be able only to devote limited time and effort to it, you must expect your results to reflect this.

It is most unlikely that you will be able to enjoy a full-time income from a part-time business, at least until you have been able to develop your business to a stage where many functions operate “on auto-pilot.” Some highly successful owners of top home businesses are eventually able to make huge incomes while working part-time, but this takes considerable time and skill to achieve.

In our next article in this series we look at how to set, and manage some business targets.