We hear and read a lot about motivation is the key to success, or that only you can motivate yourself, nobody else can motivate you. Is all that really necessary or just a bunch of hype?
For those who still have their 9-5 jobs, I’d assume that it takes a bit of motivation to get out of bed each day and get to the workplace on time. What’s the real motivation? The paycheck? Do you have a job that you love so much you just can’t wait to get there? Anyway you look at it, the workplace would go on even if you were the next one laid off, or if you simply went on a vacation – unless you’re the owner there isn’t the motivation for YOU to keep the business running smoothly.
Now let’s change gears and talk about a home business. You ARE the business, and it’s up to YOU to keep it running, get the work done, pay the bills, order supplies, talk to customers, take orders and somehow manage to stay sane at the same time.
Here is where “motivation” really comes into play. It takes a great deal of self motivation to stick with the home business – setting up schedules to get the customers’ work done and out to them. Motivation to keep working when you’d really like to sit and watch a few soap operas during the day (one day or an hour or two of soaps might not kill a home business, but those things get addictive and as days and weeks of watching them instead of working at your business is a surefire way to end the home business).
When you own your own business, especially a home business, nobody else can motivate you until you motivate yourself.
Entrepreneurs have certain characteristics that separate them from people who remain 9-5 employees. Among the attributes of entrepreneurs are the willingness to take risks, ability to identify good business ideas, determination and confidence, ability to use “blinders” when necessary to focus on a particular goal and exclude everything else, and a willingness to work the hours needed to succeed — self motivation! Ask yourself if you have the attributes of a successful entrepreneur.