Building a successful home-based business is a lot like making an award winning pie for the State Fair. A recipe is followed and when mixed with the special ingredients of love and belief, a winner is created. The failure rates of new businesses are staggering and these failures are produced because important ingredients to the recipe of success have been completely omitted or thrown together in a haphazard fashion. Whether or not a delicious cake turns out depends on first, having the correct ingredients and second, combining them properly. Substituting ingredients can also make the difference between a flop or fabulous cake. Business is no different. A successful business is made up of: - a certain mindset
- a clear vision
- specific skills
- self-discipline
- a powerful support system
- continuous action
- structures and processes And when the ingredients making up each of these components are brought together at the right time and in the right order, success is created. If even one of these components is missing from the mix, an unwanted outcome will result and when combinations are not made in the correct order, disaster may occur. For example, kidney beans are an extremely healthy source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, but if they are not pre-soaked for hours but added straight into a recipe during the last hour of cooking, they will be a source of great pain and discomfort as your digestive system has trouble absorbing them. The same result would occur in business. If you are action-oriented and disciplined in your efforts and work hard and consistently every day, it won't amount to any success if you never created a clear vision of where you want to go. You need to have your vision first, so you know exactly what you are working so hard for. Timing is critical to business success and patience is essential. When baking bread, it takes an hour or more for the yeast to rise, but you know that if you don't allow it to process, you will have flat, heavy bread. The one hour of wait time will ensure light, fluffy bread that makes your mouth water. To succeed in business, timing is everything and impatience must be replaced by self-discipline. Due diligence must be completed by creating a vision, conducting research, developing a plan, and remaining steadfast to carry it out in a specific sequence of steps. Many businesses fail because the owner creates a product and starts to promote it, then wonders why no one is buying it. By failing to do proper research to find out if there is a demand for the product, who has a need for it and where to find them, the business owner has guaranteed his failure. As you begin to build your business or if you are in the early stages, make sure you are aware of all the ingredients needed to build a successful enterprise. This is where the guidance of mentors and coaches can be invaluable. Get your hands on the proper recipe, follow it to the letter and create the "award winning pie" you know you're capable of. 2006 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source Laurie Hayes, founder and director of The HBB Source, helps freedom seekers cross the bridge from employee to home-based entrepreneur. Subscribe to her FREE e-zine for valuable tips and resources designed to create business success, at http://www.thehbbsource.com |
