My father instilled in me at a very young age the desire to have
my own business and be my own boss. He owned his own business for
most of my childhood. As the daily breakfast cook, he sent
us off to school each day with a home cooked meal under our belts
and was home every day at lunch as well (and took a nap.)
He didn't punch a time clock, so he could be there.
Although he didn't realize it at the time, he was
grooming me to follow his example. I was never a good
candidate for Corporate America.
Like most of us, however, I did my time in Corporate
America and had a fun, promising career in Marketing,
primarily in the airline industry. No matter how much
I enjoyed my career, always in the back of my mind was
the idea of having my own business.
Over a ten year span, I started several small home
businesses, but soon realized the limits of being a
sole proprietor with limited time. There had to be a
way to leverage my time and increase my income.
Right about that same time, my first child was born.
One look at him and I knew that there was no way I was
ever going to leave him in someone else's care for
more than half of his waking hours.
Working from home seemed to be the only viable
alternative that would allow me to be home, be the boss and earn
a great income.
That was over six years ago, and today, with the power
of the Internet, the ability to be the CEO of your own
company is greater than ever.
Notice I didn't say easier? For some reason, having
your own business and working from home seems to
conjure up visions of get-rich-quick to many. Throw
in the Internet and many more seem to think there is
no work involved.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The reality of starting your own business looks like this -
You will work very hard in the beginning. Harder than you have ever
worked on anything in your life (except raising children!) You will
have MANY hours, days and weeks where you ask yourself if it is
really worth it.
You will question your judgment, your decision, your
abilities and your sanity. It seems to be raining obstacles and
set backs.
If you will just stick with it, however, the clouds
will begin to lift. The sun will peek out, the sky will clear and
you will see the rainbow.
If you follow this rainbow, working very hard as you
journey toward it, you will find your pot of gold sitting at the
very end. Next to it, there sits a desk plaque with the words
-Your Name Here, CEO- imprinted on it.
To get to this point, you must have faith, persistence,
belief in yourself, creativity in the face of disaster,
willingness to sacrifice, ability to seek out and ask for help and
true grit. Do not let any one or any thing stand in your way.
Jackie Ulmer,
a veteran Home Based Business Owner and author of StreetSmartWealth.com
Home Business News has coached and trained thousands of representatives
both inside and outside of her sales organization. One of her
primary goals is to help others succeed.
