Internet Marketing & Home-Based Business

Posts Tagged ‘Entrepreneur’

Working from home presents many dangers to the solo entrepreneur. I’m going to outline seven of these dangers, hoping that you won’t make these mistakes. You see, I’ve recently moved to working from home full time. Before this, I did a combination of on-site contractor work and working from home. Now that I am at home full time, I’ve come across some trouble spots that could affect your business.

Read these, think on them, and see how these dangers fit into your own situation. If you haven’t yet made the transition to moving from your office to your home office, these items are of special importance.

1. You will be able to wake up when your body is ready to do so. What’s better: Getting enough sleep every night, or sitting at your desk at a certain time?

2. The TV calls. That television is just sitting there, calling you to it with movies, your favorite DVR’d shows, or your gaming console of choice. It’s there and it’s hard to resist. What’s the harm in a little indulgence? NOTHING. Well, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your daily cashflow. I watch TV or play a little bit of my current video game when I’m eating or just taking a break to clear my head. And I do that whenever I need to, not on someone else’s clock. Honestly, what’s the harm in goofing off in front of the TV if that’s what you need to do to maintain your own personal efficiency.

As a side note, I once knew a guy that — I swear — had the word “efficiency” confused with the phrase “work constantly without stopping no matter what.” Now that’s a seriously messed up outlook. If you need to give the TV some attention to give yourself a break and maintain efficiency, do it.

3. Hygiene. What’s the point? When you don’t have to be anywhere, why shower or brush your teeth? Until you can’t stand your own smell, is there really a point? OK, a couple of things come to mind: Cavities, fungus growing in weird places on your body, and burning holes in your clothing from your stench and the aforementioned fungus (also bacteria). Basically, you will become gross.

Don’t worry, though. You can shower and brush your teeth whenever you want. I usually wait until mid-morning. I get up, take some coffee, goof off, work some, then clean myself up. It works. Don’t neglect your personal hygiene, but keep in mind that you can do it whenever you want.

4. You will be tempted to buy things with all that gas money and lunch money you no longer have to spend. Those two things add up to a lot. What are you going to do with that extra money? Go out to eat every day anyway? Blow it on a new $60 video game each week, and then buy a bunch of candy just because you can?

No. Although all that is tempting, you should instead invest that money in your business. Either just save it as operating cash, or spend it on marketing.

5. You’re going to have time on your hands. Crave interruptions and useless meetings? You won’t find any here. When you work from your home office, you don’t get distractions or time wasters. You just get your work done and then live the lifestyle you want with all the “free time” you create by cutting out the nonsense.

6. Your stress levels will decrease to unheard-of levels. Never before has your stress been so low. This can cause some people to panic, as they are used to being in a state of “near-stroke” all the time. If you find yourself panicking, don’t worry. Just take a moment, watch some TV, take a nap, and forget about it. You’ll feel better. Not having to deal with all the crap associated with the modern workplace can drastically reduce your stress levels. Your body may react…strangely, but don’t worry. It will pass. There is hope, and you can learn to live with your decreased stress levels. People do it every day. You can, too.

7. What are you going to do with all that earning potential? That’s right, now that you are working from home, you can remove that earning cap previously placed on you by your corporate overlords (aka your “Boss”). How much you earn is up to you, and how much you pay yourself is also up to you. There are no limits except those you place on yourself.

If you haven’t yet broken free and started to work from home, make it your primary life goal. It’s so much better on the outside. It really is.

This is going to be largely theoretical, but bear with me. This should make sense to you by the end. You get paid at your job, right? Are you losing money by being there, getting paid?

Maybe.

How can you lose money while you are getting paid? Simple: If you could be making more outside your job, then you are potentially losing the difference between what you could be making and what you are making. If your earning potential is more than what you are currently earning, wouldn’t your time be better spent elsewhere?

Let’s run some numbers to put this into perspective. We’ll say that you are the following fictitious employee in this example situation:

• Job: 3D Computer Animator
• Status: Employee of mid-sized company
• Pay Rate: $20 per hour
• Time on the job: 8 hours + 1 hour lunch + 45 minute round-trip commute

$20 per hour for 8 hours is $160 per day. But your day isn’t just 8 hours long. Once you add in your lunch — which is part of the work day — and your commute, your day ends up being 9.75 hours long. When you look at the total time of your work day, you are really making $16.41 per hour, instead of $20. If your commute was an hour each way, your hourly rate would be even less. Remember, your commute and lunch break are really part of your work day because they are part of your daily money-wheel routine.

So, if you are making $16.41 per hour, how are you losing money? Well, literally speaking, you aren’t losing money, but you are losing potential earnings. I’ll explain.

Say that you hear about a guy who does the same thing you do, but he gets paid $100 per hour. When you find out about this, you want to know all the details. Since you’re only making (let’s round up) $17 per hour, you find the possibility of making $100 an hour very interesting. Upon further research, you find out that this individual works as a freelance computer animator, and he’s so busy that he turns away work.

Even more interested now, you dig a little deeper and find out that there is a whole market for independent computer animators. Furthermore, they make anywhere from $30 – $150 an hour, and sometimes more (I have no idea if this is accurate…remember, this is just an example). Even at the low end, freelance computer animators make more than you do. And this is where the concept of earning potential fits in.

After doing some research, you determine that your current skill level warrants a rate of $55 per hour. This puts you somewhere in the mid-range as far as rates go. If you were to go freelance, your starting hourly rate would be $55. Right now you are making $17 an hour, so this jump in pay — even when taking taxes into consideration — is big.

You then decide to test the market to see if jumping to freelancing full-time is a viable option. You create an online portfolio, business cards, and join a couple of freelance job sites. After a bit of work, you manage to land and complete a few small jobs. You have some extra cash in your pocket, and you’re feeling pretty good about it. After seeing the volume of work out there you’re capable of completing, and at your current rates, you determine that it’s a viable option.

The following week, while sitting at your desk, a thought strikes you: “I’m losing money right now.” Technically speaking, you aren’t losing money, because you’re making $17 per hour. What you are losing is the potential earnings of $55 per hour. This nets you a total loss potential of $38 per hour. That’s a lot of money that you are potentially losing.

You’ve already proven to yourself that you can make more money per hour by working freelance. Theoretically, every hour you spend at your “job” loses you $38. Could you use that time more wisely? Is keeping your current employment the best thing you can do for your own financial security?

Based on these example numbers, I feel safe saying the answer is no. Ultimately, it’s up to you. You’ll have to decide if your earning potential is enough of a change to push you to take action. I encourage you to take a long look at your situation to see if you could be better off by yourself. If you could be earning more, what would the smart move be?

My own experience is this: Working freelance got me more money per hour than working for someone else.

Thinking about starting your own business, but you don’t know where to begin? Start here, with this episode of Cube Escape.

In it, I talk about 7 simple steps to getting starting with your own business. Listen to them, put them into practice, and start on the road to personal and professional freedom.

Download the episode here: Cube Escape #17: An Introduction to Starting a Business

 

 Cube Escape#17: An Introduction to Starting a Business [20:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (607)

In this episode, I talk about the importance of keeping your focus on any business venture — new or ongoing. I also give a real-world example, from my own life, which communicates why it’s important to keep your focus.

Oh, and tips are included in this one. Five tips to help you keep your focus.

Download the episode here: Cube Escape #11

 

 Cube Escape #11: Keep Your Focus [13:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (360)