Archive for the ‘work at home business’ Category
DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT?
Does your business have a mission statement? A mission statement is a way to define your business. It is a statement of who your company is, what you do, and why you do it.
Some companies use their mission statement as an advertising slogan. But the real purpose is to clarify what your company is all about. Who are your clients, and what benefits do you offer them? What are your business goals? What problems are you solving for your clients?
In fact, the first step is an awareness of exactly who your target market is. You can’t be all things to all people. You need to narrow down your market to a target group, or “niche”. Once you know who you’re targeting and what their needs are, you can work to clarify how you can fill their needs.
Spend some time reading the mission statements of other companies. Then define what makes your company unique.
The mission statement should be short and to the point. It is usually three to four sentences long, and it should be broad enough to change as your company changes. The words and message should be simple and able to be understood by anyone that reads it. Fancy language won’t impress your potential clients. Instead it may cause some to be confused or unsure of what you are offering.
What is the purpose of your business? Are you trying to provide a unique service? Are you trying to fill a void in the market?
There are many reasons to write a mission statement. It can be used for fund raising, or if you have employees, it helps them to know what your company is all about.
Above all, it should be meaningful to you. It should be a constant reminder of why you’re doing what you’re doing. Keep reviewing it and updating it until it sounds perfect. Once you have written the best mission statement you can, it will work like kind of a compass that keeps you moving in the right direction.
Persistence in Your Home Business
Many people have the desire to start their own business, but become discouraged when faced with obstacles. The answer to discouragement is persistence.
As Dale Carnegie said, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept trying when there was no hope at all.”
Starting a home business requires determination to see your goals through. The first sign of trouble doesn’t mean you’ve been defeated. It means you have to try different tactics.
Success doesn’t come overnight to most people. There is no such thing as getting rich quick. Starting your first business means you have to learn new skills. The learning curve always results in some mistakes, and mistakes are necessary to learn certain lessons. Mastering skills requires time and experience. There is no way around that.
As a new business owner, when success doesn’t come as quickly as you think it should, you may begin to doubt yourself and your ability to make your dreams come true. When you’re in that frame of mind, listen to the words of Harriet Beecher Stowe:
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
If you believed in yourself enough to start your own business, don’t give up on yourself when you make mistakes while you are inexperienced. Remember that every successful person has a history of early failures. We aren’t born knowing how to run our own business, and chances are we didn’t learn what we need to know in school. We can only learn by trial and error, by jumping in and participating, and by trusting that with persistence, we will not only rise above our mistakes but benefit from them.
Do You Have An Entrepeneurial Mind?
Do you have an entrepreneurial mind and spirit? The word itself “entrepreneur” sounds like someone larger than life. An entrepreneur is basically someone who takes on a business venture and all the risks and responsibilities that go with it.
What characteristics are needed to become an entrepreneur?
Determination. You must decide that failure is not an option. A very large percentage of small businesses fail, usually because of lack of capital or lack of experience. Your decision to start a home business will require all the determination you can muster.
Hard work. The funny thing is most people who want to work at home hope to work less than 40 hours a week, but in the early years, very likely you will work well over 40 hours a week. The phone will ring at all hours; there will be problem after problem that needs to be solved and all of them need to be solved by you. You have to be committed to getting the job done, even in the middle of the night at first.
Resourcefulness. All the answers you are looking for won’t be revealed immediately. You will have to find creative solutions from time to time. Chances are there won’t be anyone there to tell you what to do.
Ability to plan ahead. Your business isn’t going to just happen. You have to plan how it’s going to happen. You have to look at what might go wrong and what you’ll do if it does. You have to look at what your competitors are doing and consider what you should be doing to remain competitive.
Stay positive. There will definitely be bumps in the road. You can’t give up at the first sign of trouble – or at the second or third sign either.
Faith in yourself. The fact that you have the drive and the desire to start your own business is a very good sign that you believe in yourself enough to get started. Stay in your own corner no matter what. Don’t question yourself and your abilities whenever you make a mistake. You will make mistakes. You are doing something you never did before.
That’s what makes you an entrepreneur.