When starting a home-based business, or any small business, there are factors within yourself you must consider, and consider truthfully, if you want to succeed. Per the Small Business Administration, here are five questions to ask yourself to determine your strengths and weaknesses to see if you have what it takes.

1. Are you a self-starter? Do you begin projects on your own or do you operate best by having someone else tell you what, when and how to do a project?  Remember, you are going to be working for yourself, no one else. If you don’t do it, it does not get done. You have to be able to find the what, when and how within yourself to succeed.

2. Do you like meeting people and developing relationships? You’re going to be meeting clients, customers and other business people. You have to be able to deal with different personalities and situations. For example, how would you handle a customer complaint? Being in business is about obtaining and retaining customers. If you lack interpersonal skills, your might lose your customer and your business might suffer.

3. Are you good at making decisions? It’s your business; the buck stops with you. Yes, you can always ask advice but you still have to make the final call.

4. Do you have the physical and emotional stamina to work twelve hours or more a day, six or seven days a week? When starting out, it’s all on your shoulders to get everything done until you can afford to hire someone to help. Do you physically have the endurance? Do you have the drive or motivation to keep going?

5. Are you organized? Do you have a business plan? In any project, you need to have a structure, a plan on how to proceed from point A to B to C and so on.  So, once you have a plan, can you follow it or do you tend to go off in multiple directions at once? Being unorganized with no concept of where you are or any vision of where you are going, will get you nowhere fast except possible bankruptcy.

This last point leads into the topic for my next article in this series which is on the importance of having a business plan.  Please stay tuned.

I recently watched the 2009 remake of the movie Fame.  In it, one of the characters gives her impression of what success is and is not.

The passage is very inspiring.  It speaks not only to the material but the spiritual side of success.  It reveals the underlying feelings you get from true success.

Simply stated, you can have all the materials possessions which can come with money, wealth and power but if you don’t have joy in your heart, if you don’t love what you are doing, if you don’t help others, then success is a hollow victory in your life.

Here is the passage for your review:

Some things success is not:  it’s not fame, it’s not money or power

Success is waking up in the morning so excited about what you have to do, that you literally fly out the door.

It’s getting to work with people you love.

Success is connecting with the world and make people feel.

It’s finding a way to bind together people who have nothing in common, but a dream.

It’s falling asleep at night knowing you did the best job you could.

Success is joy and freedom and friendship and…

Success is love…

So, you have decided to start your own home-based business and stop working 9 to 5 for someone else.  Congratulations!!

Now, the first question, or questions, you must ask yourself are, “Do I really want to do this?”  ”Do I really love or, at least, really like what I am going to do?”

Why ask these questions?  The answer is motivation.  If you are going to stay motivated to work, willing to put in the extra hours (yes, more than 40 hours a week), do the marketing, sales, bookkeeping, clerical work, etc, that goes with any business, then you should have a passion or, at least, a strong liking for what you are going to do if you want to be successful.  Without this passion, you will over time loose your motivation and interest and eventually your business will fail. You will be back to square one with only a depleted bank account to show for it, if not worse, and will have wasted a lot of your precious time.

With passion for what you are doing, you happily put in the time to grow and maintain your business.  Just think of how many times in your life you had to do a chore.  Did it feel like a chore when you liked doing it?  How about when you did not like what you had to do?  Which was easier?  The former I bet.

To paraphrase a quote I just read, do what you love and is easiest for you and charge for it.  Believe me, in the end, you will have more of a chance of succeeding  and you will be happy and enjoy the ride while getting there.

Now that you have asked yourself these first questions and decided what you are going to do, what is the second question you must ask yourself and consider?……………..

(This article is the first in a series of articles about starting and maintaining a home-based business.  Come back later to read the second and subsequent articles.)

How many of you have a “To Do” list?  I bet most of you do.  I know I do. We have such busy lives, we need a plan to stayed focused on what’s needed, what’s important.

In business, especially a business that markets through the Internet, you must have a plan of action or you spend too much time and resources doing other things that bring in little money for the effort.

That is where Strategic Internet Marketing comes in to help you get to where you want to be in your business success.  This article, “What is Strategic Internet Marketing?” by Kasey Traeger, explains how and why it works.  I invite you to read it and reply in the comments how you are using this in your business and, if not, how could it be of use to you if you started.

Networking is founded on building relationships.  What better way to build a relationship than by being of service to your business partner or colleague and they, in turn, are also of service to you.  This exchange or giving to one another is called reciprocity and is a very powerful tool in building and keeping your network of contacts and connections.

I recently ran across an excellent article on this subject by Harrison Monarth called, “Harness the Power of Gratitude with the Reciprocity Technique.” This is an excellent article, which I invite you to read. It contains a wealth of useful information.

Have you ever met someone who used words you did not understand? I am sure you have because I know I have. These words seem like they are fresh out of a dictionary and you would certainly need one to know what they meant. Or, on the other hand, the person may be using slang terms and unusual phrases which don’t make sense.

In any event, even though they may be using proper English, they are not communicating effectively if you do not understand them. And if they are not understood, just think how this is effecting their business and personal relationships.

Here are some quick tips to help avoid communication difficulties in your initial contact with someone:

- until you get to know who you are speaking to, use more conversational, common, everyday language

- don’t assume a colorful turn of a phrase or a slang term is understood by all since it may be understood only regionally or in a particular group

- in business, don’t use company terms or abbreviations with customers or other colleagues outside your company.

Everyone wants and needs to be understood. Learn to be flexible with your words and conversations. Use the words which work,  fit the situation and person being spoken to. It is a very effective communication skill, as well as an interpersonal relationship skill, to master which will serve you and the people you come in contact with over and over.

With the holidays fast approaching, you may not be looking forward to them if you have a chronic condition.  You possibly, may already be feeling guilty or frustrated just thinking about:

•    Shopping for your family and having to ask someone else to do it for you
•    Being able to attend the events your child is participating in
•    Being able to fix dinner or your favorite holiday recipe
•    The difficulty in going to your family member’s home for dinner
•    Wanting the house nicely decorated but cannot do it yourself

Well to help you with your inner turmoil, here are my three C’s for the holidays:

Communication – Let your family know ahead of time what you can do, what they can expect from you, what you need from them, and make plans with them around your Can’s.  If you’re going to another family member’s home for the holidays, they will be very appreciative to know what to expect and it will be easier for everyone and more enjoyable.

Creativity – Get creative!  Make new family traditions; new ways of doing things that are fun for everyone.  Plan them so your Can’s are met.  If you have children, you know how imaginative and creative they can be.  Talk to them about your Can’s and see what they come up with.

Compassion – Have compassion for yourself!  Realize you are doing the best you can and that it’s okay to only do that and no more!  Also, take time to rest and take care of yourself so you can be as healthy as possible.

With a little forethought and planning, you can have a happier, less stressful holiday season.

My Best Wishes for happier, healthier holidays this year!

After you have worked hard to reach the point of acceptance of your chronic condition, what do you do next? What will help you the most?

The answer is YOU! You become your own advocate for your wellness and peace of mind.

You:

• discuss your condition with your doctor and ask how you can best be proactive, support yourself, and participate in your care;

• research and learn all you can about your condition, including all terminology and medications, their effects and side-effects;

• don’t give up! Get up instead! Move, take part, talk to others with the same or similar condition, join a support group, ask questions.

You know YOU and your body and what you are feeling and going through better than anyone else. There is no better advocate for your care, happiness, and well being. And don’t be afraid or feel self-conscience or feel guilty to ask for help. You deserve the best outcome possible for your life!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is the time for us to stop and take stock of this disease and how it is effecting the lives of so many people in this world. There is hardly any person that does not know at least one individual, be it a woman or a man (and yes, men get this too), that is effected by this disease.

The best ways to stop breast cancer is through awareness and research.

• Learn all you can about this disease
• Know the warning signs
• Learn how to give yourself a regular breast self-exam
• Know your family history and your genetics
• Donate to your favorite breast cancer charity
• Donate to the American Cancer Society
• Plan or participate in a local charity event

To find out more about this disease and how to help, go to www.nbcam.org.

If anyone you know has this disease, support them, be a friend to them. It is one of the best ways you can help them personally. They need strength during this time to fight this and heal. Your helping them will allow them to use their strength for this purpose and not for concern or worry about other things in their life that need to get done.

Also, LAUGH, for it is one of the most healing activities we can do. Rent funny movies, do dumb things, but laugh, laugh, laugh.

I recently ran across a saying on a bracelet on Catalog Favorites about cancer. It is very inspirational so I thought it would be appropriate to recognize it here. It reads:

What Cancer Cannot Do…..

It Cannot…..

• invade the Soul
• suppress memories
• kill friendship
• destroy peace
• conquer the spirit
• shatter hope
• cripple love
• corrode faith
• steal eternal life
• silence courage

In an attempt to raise awareness on Musculoskeletal Pain, which is the most common of all pain, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has designated the year beginning on October 19, 2009 until October 19, 2010 as the Global Year Against Musculoskeletal Pain.

There will be a variety of resources and educational materials available through the IASP for those who want more information on this topic.

The IASP chooses a different pain topic to focus on each year in their mission to educate and raise awareness.

For more information on this and the ISAP, go to www.isap-pain.org.