4 Business Start-Up Tips for Home-Based Businesses Every Young Entrepreneur Should Know
The following is a guest post by Alex Papa. if you would like to write for this blog, please check out the guidelines here.
For twenty years, I have followed an entrepreneurial path I began in my late teens. In these twenty years, working mostly from home, I built a real estate empire and a virtual real estate business. Reflecting back over those years, I now realize many mistakes I made on that journey, even though at the time I made choices as best I could, knowing what I knew then.
If I had it to do over again, I’d do several things differently. If you are in your teens or early twenties wishing to start a home based business, I hope this can help you.
Education
Having remained a devoted entrepreneur throughout my professional years, I can see now that 3 years in college would have been sufficient for my needs. A college degree is a useful achievement if you plan to seek a position as an employee for someone else in the professional sector. However, many things I learned in 5 years in college and post graduate study didn’t have much practicable use in my home-based business ventures. Years spent in school, working hard earning 3 degrees, nobody ever asked to see my Bachelor or Master degrees when it came to my business dealings.
What counted most were my other achievements, namely my bank balances and assets. Joint Venture partners and other potential investors did not consider my education achievements as assets, but handicaps instead. In the entrepreneurial world, university education may confine you to thinking “inside the box.” In real world business applications, innovative thinking is essential. If I had bypassed college at 19 or 20, my imagination would have remained intact instead of being restricted by an overload of education, as in the real world of entrepreneurship, thinking “outside the box” is a much more effective strategy.
The Value of Mentors
My “real” education evolved based on what I learned from other successful entrepreneurs. Spending time with these individuals, whether leisurely or on a professional level, was extremely advantageous to me in the early years. Their perspectives on things, their thought processes, were totally different from the mainstream. I learned that what determines our success in our chosen path is our way of thinking. People think different depending on their choice of life, and the outcome of our life is a direct result of our thinking. Even if you work from home, the major key to success in your business is to think like a business owner, not an employee! Who you evolve into is based on what you think of the most. It took years for me to shift my thinking to be more like theirs. If I had it to do over, I’d begin relationship-building with mentor entrepreneurs much sooner.
Seeking Part-Time Employment
I understand many people seek a part-time job until their home based business takes off. If I had it to do over, I would be much more selective of part-time employment positions I accepted in my years after college. As an eager aspiring entrepreneur, joining the sales and marketing team of a successful company, even in a part-time role, would have been an invaluable skill builder for my future endeavors. If you want to learn skills to apply in your home based business, then flipping burgers at McDonalds will not give you any skill. If you have to get a part-time job, get one that gives you knowledge you can apply in your business. Absorb all the marketing and sales skills you can while working for someone else. When you’ve learned what you need to know, go out on your own. The sooner you begin working on your own prospects and ventures independently, the better.
Giving to Others
If I had it to do over, I would have given more to others, and I am not referring solely to money. You can donate time, thoughtfulness, a business tip, a helping hand, or simply letting someone know you care. There is much reward and satisfaction in giving to others as opposed to being self-involved and insensitive to others around you. In today’s economic environment, there are thousands of people that need to start a business from home. If you become successful, take time to show others.
I wish you every success in your home based business.
About the Author: Alex Papa often speaks in seminars about entrepreneurial start-ups, cost-reduction, internet business solutions, and internet security for small businesses. In his own website he gives you the chance to get the latest Norton Internet Security code. Alex also recommends the new GotoMeeting discount code to reduce costs of your e-conferences and customer presentations.
