Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

We’ve almost nutted out the bugs with the new design and I must say I’m very happy with how everything looks. I’ll talk more about the design process (and reveal who did my blog design) in a later post, now I want to tell you about a little free report I’m giving away to my RSS subscribers as part of the new blog design launch.

My First E-Book (unreleased until now)

Several years ago around early 2006 I had just begun blogging seriously and had spent the previous six months pumping out some of my early pillar articles.

At this time my proofreading business BetterEdit was my main focus (I sold it in 2007) and I was not a professional blogger. I don’t think I was making much, if anything from my blog yet, but my other business was doing well and I made a good living from it.

Those who have read this blog from the beginning might remember back during the early days I talked a lot more about entrepreneurship, setting up a business and general passive income strategies - and not so much about blogging (though I was starting to write about it even then).

It was around that time I decided to write my first e-book. I had no idea what I would do with it, but I felt with the several years experience running a few different businesses and I had enough content to produce a short book.

How to Start an Internet Business by Yaro Starak

Over the course of a couple of months I wrote a 50 page report detailing some of the key lessons I learned about starting and running my business and what I felt were the foundation principles necessary that all entrepreneurs understood and practiced.

The end result was a book I titled “How To Start An Internet Business…and stay happy doing it“.

For the new release today, I decided to change the tile to something a little more appealing to most people’s desires -

“How To Start An Internet Business…and make your first $1,000 online“.

The book is not about basic tutorials on the practical aspects like setting up websites, choosing domain names, etc. It talks more about mindset and business strategy, although I include 12 steps necessary to start an online business at the end which are quite practical.

The book is a companion to this blog. You can read it and gain a grasp of what you need to do and how you should think when starting your Internet business, and then use the content from within this blog to find information on the finer details about Internet marketing.

Create A Passive Income Business

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I was just alerted to a neat feature from BusinessForSale.com where you can subscribe to an RSS feed of business for sale in your local area or by industry in your country.

If you are considering buying a business take a look at the full selection of RSS feeds available.

The service claims they add over 5,000 new or updated businesses for sale every month, so this is a fantastic way to conduct market research using the power of feeds.

If anyone ends up buying a business through this service I’d love to hear about it!

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Are you considering the life of an Internet business business owner? Well before your eyes gloss over with dreams of endless free time and images of sitting on your couch with your laptop clicking away earning you thousands let me show you the reality of the situation.

A certain image has been promoted of the Internet business owner. It’s often glorified as the great dream, leaving your old job, with the long hours and annoying boss in exchange for a flexible lifestyle that you are in control of.

Well let me tell you - it’s all true!

Well sort of. It’s not by any means easy to do and you lose many things you might have not realised you valued in your old secure job. Let me point out the things you lose that you might want to think about before quitting your job.

1. Say good bye to a reliable and predictable income.

No job is 100% secure and there is a good argument that being in control of your income via your own small business is more secure than a job (you’re not at the risk of downsizing etc) however it doesn’t feel like that, especially when you start out. Even the oldest most established business cannot be certain sales will keep coming. From week to week you go up and down and are never sure when or where your next sale will come from. You can have great months and bad months and the only constant is unpredictability. A steady pay cheque feels a lot more secure than the ups and downs of your own business.

2. Your business is your life.

When you leave work you leave work. Most small business owners live and breath their business so they don’t ever really leave work. Now I’ve got it pretty good at the moment because I love what I do and I don’t *have* to work much though I choose to work online a lot. That being said I am trapped to checking my email day in and day out, 24 hours a day, which is not ideal. Chances are when you start your business you won’t be working 9-5 or even 8-6. Early on you will most likely carry the show and until you can justify hiring others your hours will be long and you won’t have a weekend. However if you are smart, set realistic expectations and remember life is a balance, then running your own business can definitely be less work than a normal job, if you choose it to be.

3. You may never make real money until you sell your business.

An unfortunate situation in many small businesses is that the owner often doesn’t make much more than an average salary, sometimes less. Now if you are evaluating starting a small business based purely on financial rewards then you might want to change your assessment criteria. Many small business owners don’t make a big windfall until they sell their business and often by the time they are making the sale they will be using the money for retirement. Although it is also true that the only way to become really, really wealthy, besides inheritance and lotto, is by starting your own business.

The reality is that only a small percentage of businesses make their owner really wealthy, the rest stumble along earning an average wage. Of course many of those business owners earning an average wage love their lifestyle and only work as hard as they want to. Running your own business has the greatest potential to make you rich and may never make you rich, but here is the important part, your own business is very likely to make you a happier person if you keep your goals simple and aim for lifestyle over riches. Anyone can get rich but the contented people are rich without material wealth.

4. There is no superannuation, paid leave or sick leave.

You may not think about superannuation very much but it’s nice to know that when you have a job your employer is planning for your future by contributing to your superannuation. As a business owner your employer is you and besides looking after your employee superannuation you are also in charge of your own retirement. This is an added worry that you don’t have when you are working for another business.

Having time off is a concept not familiar to many business owners. Being paid when you have time off is like a dream for a business owner. There are some common myths about business owners working 7 days a week even when sick. If you do things right your business should still function without you when you need time off because of illness or even if you dare to take a holiday. However that being said most business owners find themselves as the most critical wheel in the business system and if you remove that wheel things fall apart. The important skill to learn is that the business owner should work on the business, not in it, but that’s easier said than done and especially early on when funds are tight it’s very like you will be working in the business. Don’t expect a paid holiday.

5. Workmates

There are no work mates for the solopreneur. You can hire employees that may hopefully become friends but the dynamic is always you the boss and them the employees. If you have been used to working in a busy, lively, talkative office full of peers that share the same perspective as you, with Friday afternoon drinks, group functions and shared time complaining about the boss — you can kiss all this goodbye.

Okay, that’s not entirely true.

Things are definitely different from working in someone else’s business but I’ve seen many small businesses that have great working environments. The difference is as the boss you have to create your own socialisation. You can do this by creating an amazing business culture where all employees are mates and the office is like a party that happens to get work done too. Of if you do not require employees then it’s your job to make sure you don’t turn into a lonely home based business bum. This means flexing your socialising muscles and organising events with other business people (if that’s whom you like to associate with), making sure you stay actively involved in groups and clubs and that you leave the home office now and then to interact with real live people. Much like everything else with running your own business, you are in charge of your social life too.

A day in the life of an Internet Business Entrepreneur.

Now you are familiar with what you lose when starting your own business you can continue to read my next article about a typical day in my life as an Internet business entrepreneur.Here you can read about what sort of lifestyle you can attain if you choose to start your own business. I’m not saying mine is an ideal lifestyle and there are things I’m working to change, but my example does provide you with a working model of the home based business owner.

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Last year I had an office in downtown Brisbane (well almost, up a hill downtown Brisbane is more accurate). I needed an office to run an English school but after I shut that down the school in the second half of 2004 I was running a home based Internet business from an office. I was paying $1400 a month for the privilege too. I spent a lot of time scheming ways to either reduce my rent bill by inviting sub-tenants or breaking my lease early and seeing how much that hurt. I tried the first with little success and then negotiated to break my lease a few months before contract end. I left the office in 2004 after throwing a lot of money away on rent. It was a lesson learnt of course and one of the main things I reaffirmed was that I did not require an office for what I wanted to do and would not likely get one again in the near future.

A lot of small business owners worry that running a home based business can hinder their ability to convince clients to buy because of the perception that they are not professional if they do not have an office. Another possible concern is hiring new employees - will they be willing to come work at your home? Obviously the industry you work in will determine how much the “office” factor impacts you but I do not believe having an office is justifiable unless you are starting to grow into a multiple employee business.

If you are a solopreneur you do not need an office. Rent is wasted money. If you absolutely have to convey professionalism to a specific client put on your suit and arrange drinks at a classy venue. Then impress them with your personality and let your product or service do the talking. If the client sees you and what you do as valuable to them they are not going to care where exactly you go to work.

When it comes to hiring employees you simply tell them that they must be prepared to work from your home office as part of a condition of employment. A good employee will be excited to land your job and unless they are considering a lengthy commute to get to work at your place, the home office factor should not be a concern.

Sometimes the lack of a physical address for mail is a worry since you don’t want to be listing your home address publicly. I maintain a city post office box which I use for all mail, even when I had an office. I do this for two reasons - 1) I would not want to list my home address on a website and 2) if I ever move the postal box doesn’t, as long as I keep paying the rental fee (about $150 annually - it’s a tax deduction too!) I have a permanent address for mail that I can use for both business and personal purposes. Occasionally you cannot use a postal box for a particular service or delivery in which case I give out my home address.

I used to be concerned about the psychological impact of the home office. My housemate works a standard 9-5er at a big Australian company. One of the things that she really enjoys about her work is the clear definition of when she is “on” and “off” work. When she leaves the office that’s it, no more thinking about work. With a home based business I roll out of my bed and switch on my computer to be at work. This could be a considered a bad thing since whenever I am at home I am also at work. The lines are blurred. Worse still I take my laptop to cafes and restaurants so it appears that work is invading all aspects of my life.

Of course though if you are a true entrepreneur you will know the “my business is my baby” feeling. If your business is your hobby, what you love and enjoy then you would choose to be at work doing what you love anyway. My housemate wouldn’t make this choice - who would choose to be at work?!? Having the lines blurred is only a problem when you don’t know how to stop working. I for one am very good at recreational activities and have no problem finding time for them. If that’s not you and you are at your computer in your office all the time then perhaps you need to set yourself some strict time guidelines to control your working day. Discipline is a good skill to have in business and a little self imposed structure can go a long way to beat both the procrastination and overwork demons.

Adding to the benefits of having a home based business is having all your familiar amenities available to you. You are able to cook a fresh meal cheaply whenever you are hungry and listen to your music as loud as you like without worrying about disturbing anyone around you. Heck if your house is empty during the day while you are working at home you can even go to work in your underwear and walk around half naked. Okay maybe that’s not a good idea and maybe some self discipline in this area is a good thing, but I think I make my point about the freedoms available to a home based business entrepreneur.

The benefits of a home based business are significant and the drawbacks of having an office (rent, lease contracts, having to be somewhere at a certain time) are added worries that you don’t need to opt for unless you can see a clear reason why you need an office. Personally I am glad I have been there and done that regarding an office so I know what it takes to locate and contract for commercial space. One day if I ever want to start my own retail business or restaurant I will have skills to fall back on. For the time being I’m happy working from home and enjoy watching my bank balance increase rather than syphoned away to rent.

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