This is an article I wrote to help in the promotion of my home based business book:

******

From the outside, owning a home based business looks pretty easy, doesn’t it? I mean, what’s so hard about being home all day? Working in your shorts and sandals; drinking coffee whenever you’d like; taking off to catch the kid’s ballgame… really, is that so difficult? 

As a home based business owner, I can tell you that owning a home based business is a lot harder than it seems. There are a million different things I could go over, but for now, let’s focus on one: The simple question of “where will the work come from?”

It’s a question that not many people are prepared to answer. This is because throughout our lives, we’re conditioned to being “given” something to do – from school to almost every “job” imaginable, tasks are provided for you. Yes, some of these tasks are mundane (Moby Dick in 10^th grade English; the “pep me up” meetings at my first sales job; and every spreadsheet I’ve ever looked at come to mind), but my point remains.

For example, when you have a job, you show up, and (as if by magic), there’s work for you to do. In fact, work comes at you from all different angles: your company landed a new account, so there are new product numbers to enter and customers to service… your company opened a new division, so there’s work to be done to support it… Debbie is out with a bad foot (so she claims), and everyone will have to cover for her… etc etc.

All of this stops when you have your own business. The work comes from you – 100% of it. It’s a pretty daunting thought – unlike a job, you cannot just show up and have something to do. It ALL comes from you and your efforts.

Now, I can’t specifically tell you how to go about making work come – for every business, the answer will be different. However, there are three basic points that are true for all businesses looking for customers / work:

·       Define (specifically) who needs your product or service.

·       Figure out how and where to reach them.

·       Reach them with an appealing message.  

If you do all three, the chances are the work will begin to appear. But you have to do them. In other words, there is no hoping or wishing – your efforts, and your efforts alone, are going to make the work appear. You cannot just start the business and hope for the best – it doesn’t work that way. And Debbie will be no help at all (not that she ever was.)