Avoid Attending your Business’ Funeral!

Maybe what many people don’t realize when they dream about opening a business is that they have to actually work. And work hard! You see, the number one way to kill a small business is to just sit there and do absolutely nothing.

I know what it takes to start up a business, but sometimes I get why so many home-based businesses fail. It’s so easy to take breaks, switch on the TV and go back to bed. Lunch breaks once consisted of me sitting at my desk or discussing business development strategies with co-workers (ok ok most likely going shopping with co-workers, who am I kidding?). But really, now my lunches consist of just me. Yes I get out and go for lunch with old co-workers and friends every now and then, but now after lunch I don’t have a boss to answer to and my comfortable couch is RIGHT THERE!  So of course I realize how easy it is to lose focus but all I have to do is think about where I was a year ago professionally….and that was the land of misery! I was going nowhere and my education and experience seemed to have been swept under the carpet…almost like it never existed. That’s when I held my breath and took the plunge to self-employment! And I haven’t looked back since (OK, maybe a glance over my shoulder every now and then).

So now that I’m here, I look back and I think “OK, how do I make sure things stay the way they are? And how do I make things even better?” Well the secret is to keep pushing. To never give up and to suck it up every now and then. If you are a small business owner, you have to move full force ahead at all times. Bill Gates, one of the most influential people in the world and among the top five richest men in the world still faces criticism and has even faced his fair share legal battles, which have included the U.S. government.  But he still remains extremely successful and people continue to purchase his products.

I used Bill Gates as an example because he started out small. Just like any business does. Even if you never reach Microsoft status, it’s important to dream big and to work with the mentality that you already are big. Many of us have that pesky voice in the back of our minds criticizing every step we take towards success but you have to just ignore it and take your chances. Trial and error is the trick to success. Microsoft wasn’t Gates’ first venture. His first business was actually something much smaller; a business called Traf-O-Data.

Working for yourself and being a small business allows you to take chances you wouldn’t be able to take with larger businesses. Use this freedom to take chances and if you fail, you can easily pick yourself up and give it, or something else, another try. Don’t sit there and wait for perfection or the “perfect timing”  to happen or nothing ever will. There is never the “perfect” time to do anything in life, is there?  Get out there and pursue your dreams! Because your dreams certainly won’t pursue you.

Published in Motivation and tagged with business development, Caroline Pigott, CP Style, entrepreneur, start-up, tips to launching a business