Why Do You Want Your Own Business?

Why do you want your own business? Is it because you do not enjoy working for someone else and helping them to achieve their dreams at the expense of your own dreams and desires? Or perhaps you prefer to earn the full amount of money generated from your efforts as opposed to a mere fraction by working for someone else? Or maybe it’s because you are tired of spending your time running on the corporate treadmill and never getting ahead? Maybe you feel like you are not getting the recognition you deserve? Or better yet, you might even want to stay at home and raise your children full time instead of giving away those precious memories to strangers?

For as many people in this world who you ask this question to, you are bound to get an equal number of reasons. No matter what your reason may be, you need to be very clear on this right up front. If this is not 100% clear, then the odds are that when things get difficult (this is not a question of if, but when) you will not have a good enough reason to persevere. Not only is it important to understand why you are in business for yourself, your reason needs to be very strong, wherein the achievement of the result is non-negotiable—it must happen, no matter what. That kind of mindset will serve you well on the journey of success.

One way that I often use with people who are new to business is to have them start by writing down 100 things that they want to either Be, Do or Have as a result of the business they are about to undertake. You would be surprised at how easy this sounds, but actually how difficult it is for anyone over the age of 15. The age of 15 is right about the time where we start getting berated about the futility of dreaming. We are told to grow up and stop wasting time on such childishness, so we tend to put this valuable skill to rest. What most people fail to realise is that all of the great leaders in human history and business all had one single thing in common–they were all big dreamers. From the words of Napolean Hill: “That which a man can conceive, he can achieve.” If you are serious about going into business for yourself, you need to start dreaming again. If you do not conceive it, you cannot achieve it. This is a cause and effect relationship. Writing this down on paper will help you to focus on what you want. Once that is clear, it is merely a matter of putting an appropriate action plan in place to achieve these dreams.

Here’s to your success!

Bill