Tips To Get Your Entrepreneurship Off And Running

by: Michael Johnson

One of the best of the small business associations is the University of Central Arkansas Small Business Advancement National Center (SBANC.)

While the ideal way of starting a small business would be to free yourself up from every other venture, problem, time consuming effort and obligation and throw yourself into starting a small business every waking moment, this isn't an ideal world. Few of us can afford the luxury of setting everything else aside to devote all our time and efforts, as well as capital - to starting a small business.

Some of us have the itch to become an entrepreneur but have to "keep our day jobs" while we give this starting a small business idea a go. It may well be, in fact, that starting a small business part time is the most common entrepreneurial process.

Part of succeeding at starting a small business if you have to do so part time is to know your schedule and your time limitations and choose a business concept that you enjoy, have some training or expertise in and can be accomplished around your work schedule. The other alternative is to change your work schedule either with your current employer or choose an alternative employer. Starting a small business takes effort and focus as well as time.

It may be that your current job is not only time consuming but also the type of work that requires a great deal of energy, a great deal of concentration, a very regimented schedule and perhaps the responsibility that tends to have you taking your work home with you either actually or mentally. This sort of work style doesn't lend itself well to starting a small business part time.

Let's look at an example of a journalist who has a successful writing and editing business from her home office. When she decided she was interested in starting a small business she had been working for many years in newspaper management. Her executive responsibilities required 70 and 80 hour workweeks and even then she took work home.

After many years of this she began to think more and more about her dream of starting a small writing business. It called to her more and more urgently. But how was she to even think of starting a small business when she had little time, energy or focus left in her busy work week? Besides, she had to work to keep the roof over her head.

What she did to determine if starting a small business was even possible, was to sit down and write out a budget, deciding where she could eliminate some non-essential expenses in her life, and what she absolutely had to have to live on. She then looked for, and found, a job that not only brought in enough money to live on but freed up a lot of her daytime work week hours as well as her mental focus. She took a customer service job in a call center.

Starting a small business was going to be possible with this job where it had not been with her newspaper career for a number of reasons. It required considerably less mental acumen, it didn't require that she take her work home with her, it was easy, the hours were flexible (she worked 3pm-midnight Thursday through Sunday) and the dress code was highly casual. She could work all day starting her small business and then don her jeans and go into the call center in the evening. Now she's quit that call center job and her dream of starting a small business has been fulfilled. Her business is thriving and she works at it full time.

You will find links to other small business associations from the SBANC site. These small business associations include the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offering one on one counseling in person or online, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Small Business Development Centers which provide a ton of small business assistance including mentoring, training, publications, tapes, workshops and financing, Allied Academies - a worldwide research and training group, the Small Business Institute which provides entrepreneurial teaching and training, and the Federation of Business Disciplines, a group of educators devoted to small business teaching conferences.

About The Author
Michael Johnson operates a variety of small business websites and newsletters. Visit the website for many business start up ideas. http://www.smallbiztipscenter.com.

mikej_094@yahoo.com

Embrace Entrepreneurship - Five Solid Reasons to Become a Home-Based Business Entrepreneur

by: Cheryl Neithercott

Embrace Entrepreneurship

1. Opportunity for Unlimited Income
2. Overcome Fear
3. Personal Growth
4. Empowerment
5. Enhance the Lives of Others

Opportunity for Unlimited Income

Life is full of opportunity if we allow ourselves to welcome it. New ideas and direction come to us each and every day of our lives. Often we don't have much time to think about opportunity that could enhance our life and greatly improve quality of life for others. We are so caught up with our everyday shuffle. Rather than consuming life, life seems to be consuming us.

Working from home as a home-based business entrepreneur offers many advantages worth considering. Unlimited income potential, tax benefits, working when you choose and with whom are just a few. There are numerous companies within the home based business industry (also referred to as the Direct Sales Industry, Network Marketing Industry, Multi-Level Marketing Industry) that offer unique products and services to choose from. These products and/or services can become a vehicle to create substantial residual walk-away income - income without a ceiling that can lead to full income replacement and well beyond. Being your own C.E.O. and earning income for you rather than for a Corporate dynasty with limited personal and financial advancement, is unthinkable for some and a reality for many.

Sound enticing? Take a little time to explore the booming home-based business industry. Say Yes to opportunity. Yes to your entrepreneurial calling. Accept challenges along the way. Enhance your life and the lives of others.

Embrace opportunity and start creating your own future.

Overcome Fear

Overcoming Fear allows us to move forward. Fear is a very big and challenging obstacle for many, especially women. Entrepreneurship within the home-based business industry is the perfect vehicle for assisting us in letting go of fear. Numerous resources and support within the industry abound to assist in overcoming this obstacle. Overcoming fear builds strength and a strong foundation for momentum.

Embrace your fear and experience the joy of letting go.

Personal Growth

Entrepreneurship naturally brings out personal growth. Many people in the home-based business industry summarize success in two words - Personal Development. Numerous resources are available to assist in this area.

Self-confidence and self-esteem issues, common for women, will strengthen into building blocks for leadership skills. Success is the outcome of personal growth. The joy along the way is rewarding, will be noticed by others and attract many to your business.

Learn how to get out of your own way. If you find yourself in a place in life where you are ready to receive, learn, willing to grow, the home-based industry is the perfect vehicle. It encourages you to work on yourself, and commit to lifelong learning.

Embrace desire for growth. Embrace your own personal development.

Empowerment

Taking control of your own life is very empowering. Time freedom and financial freedom allow you to create and live life on your own terms. Thinking 'outside of the box' is a common mindset within the home-based business industry. Owning your days, your future, thinking big and dreaming big are frequent topics of discussion. Empower yourself - a shift in mindset towards building your own future can change the quality of your life.

Embrace life, your dreams, and your freedom.

Enhance the Lives of Others

Enhancing the lives of others by helping others along the way is often the most rewarding aspect of building a business within the home-based business industry. For women, we are nurturers in our own way just by being women. Eighty percent of the people within the home-based business industry are women. As we build our business, we have an opportunity to take others with us, build cohesiveness and assist them in achieving personal and financial goals. Network marketing is relational marketing. Making new friends and building lifelong relationships is the core of our business. Unlimited abundance naturally follows for those with vision, belief and persistence. Impacting others makes a difference on a personal, community and global level.

Embrace your ability to make a difference. Abundance will follow.

Have Faith in Yourself.

Believe in your Dreams.

Become a Home-Based Business Entrepreneur.


About The Author
Businesswoman, Friend, Collaborator, and Team player Cheryl Neithercott fulfills her Entrepreneurial calling by offering a great service that enriches the lives of others. Together with other fellow BraveHeart Community members, her goal is to empower Women to be multi-dimensional success stories and inspiration to others. Be Sure to Visit: http://BraveHeartWomen.com/Cheryl

5 characteristics of winning entrepreneurs

5 characteristics of winning entrepreneurs
A reader of this blog sent me this note recently asking for help:

"I just started small business management and entrepreneurship at Mohawk College and I would like to hear some of your ideas and experience on owners of small businesses, entrepreneurs and the top people you have guided that have been successful. I am very interested in any advice you may have."

My reply suggested that her query was rather too open-ended fr me to deal with well. But that sounded harsh, so I added the following to try to sum up what I've learned about entrepreneurs in the past 20 years. It turned out okay, so I decided to share it with you:

"For what it's worth, here are the five most important characteristics I think most entrepreneurs can have:

1) Vision. The ability to see a goal or objective, and then make it clear enough so that others (employees, bankers, customers, etc.) can make that vision their own.
2) Passion. This gives them the courage to begin and the strength to persist.
3) Genuine interest in people. Others will be more likely to help you when you show interest in them.
4) Relentless curiosity. Entrepreneurs must always ask themselves, how does this work? How could it work better? How did they do it? How can I learn more about this? And they must feed this curiosity by reading and absorbing all the knowledge and information they can.
5) Self-Awareness. This tells them when to talk and when to shut up and listen."

And then of course I directed her to my book, which is available still in some libraries: Secrets of Success from Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies.