Staying Paid

8 Reasons Why I Know You Deserve To Work From Home

Posted on May 12th, 2008 in Breaking Fear, Business, Creation Station, Empowerment, Marketing energy, entrepreneurship, mental focus, motivation

Whether I’m out doing the laundry or standing in line at the post office, I find multiple opportunities to go “in the trenches” and talk to people about the one thing they desire: working from home. Their reasons all differ, and I’m deeply moved that I talk to so many people that could potentially be dancers in the self-employment shuffle.

I was talking to a young lady who wanted to leave and become a graphic designer, working from home and loving the time freedom. We talked for a little while, as I mentioned to her some tactics she could take to get the word out about her portfolio and services, until she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Who am I kidding, I don’t deserve to work from home.” she said quietly, looking at me like we were suddenly on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon.

No jokes here, my friend. But if you’re nodding your head along with my acquaintance, here are some reasons why you do deserve to work from home:

1) You have a burning desire to create value

Remember that conversation we had about that V word? Yeah, it’s back again. A business is all about value, and without a clear sense of what value we create for others, your business is doomed before you net a single client. I can tell you from experience (and the losses from that year *ahem*) that my first business crashed because I felt that everyone had to be my customer, when I only provided a clear value for a particular segment of the population. I was designing websites for people that didn’t have a clear need for them, and it was like bringing a fruitcake to a birthday party. In July.

It’s important to have a burning desire to do this, as you will undoubtedly run up against obstacles, including but not limited to slow days, costs, criticism from people you’ve never met, and of course my very favorite, the “I Don’t Wanna” days. Gotta love those.

2) You know how to find answers

Desiring to be an expert has nothing to do with knowing everything. Starting a business doesn’t mean you will have all the answers; it means that you will do everything in your power to find the right answer for the customer. If the right answer means you have to write an email to a strategic partner (what? did you think running a business meant being an island? Shame on you!) to get the answer, so be it. If it means drinking enough caffeine your eyes look like coffee beans while your fingers fall off from Googling, so be it. In either case, the takeaway isn’t the search for the answer, but how you present the answer to your customer.

For example: In 2003, I started creating webpages. My first client wanted a site that had a similar look and feel to another site that he liked the structure of. I had no idea how to do that at the time. I confidently gave him a time estimation anyway, that included enough time to research how to do what he requested, while delivering a quality product. The presentation was a little choppy — looking back, I wish I had provided more reasoning — but he was impressed with the site and I went onward $50 wealthier. Did I mention pricing is part of value too? That little venture taught me to charge enough to make it worthwhile. Lesson learned.

3) You are not afraid of hard work

Yes, you can automate a business — but unless you’re already an outsourcing guru, starting a business is going to mean a lot of bootstrapping from you. Even “working smart” tends to mean putting mental energy to the test, something that 90% of the people I speak with about starting a company are amazed by.

There’s a lot of things your boss at work does for you behind the scenes — meeting with clients, setting appointments, outlining expectations, measuring results. Falling into the world of the entrepreneur means managing your time and your results, two things that can be daunting when you start out.

Don’t expect a four hour work week out of the gate — you can work less over time, but expect to put in some long hours to start with.

4) You want to make the lives of others easier

The most successful entrepreneurs I know all have one thing in common: they love helping others do things easier, better, or faster. The best businesspeople know how to help people do all three. This goes hand in hand with the first point about creating value, but you have to want to help people.

I spend a lot of time talking to people in real time about the emotional hurdles they face when starting a business, because I want to ease that transition from employee to entrepreneur and see relaxed, confident individuals making the leap. Even though one could argue this lets me become an “authority” in a sense, that’s not why I open my mouth - I speak because I truly desire to make that person’s life easier.

When you’re helping others, you build yourself up. I used to struggle with the idea of blogging because I felt like it was throwing “dollars out the window” — giving great content for free without being paid for that content. Now, I write because I want to inspire and to create, and it’s paid off quite well.

5) You have a system

I’m not just talking about outlook rules and cute metal separators from Staples — I’m talking about your business as a whole. Building a strong funnel from start to finish is the secret that keeps the big players in business — the small business owner can join in too.

To build the system starts with a question: “What do I want them to do?” If you post an ad, do you want them to call? Email? Do you want them to view a short presentation before speaking further with you about their problem?

6) You love information

I always cringe when people mention how much they hate looking up information. I cringe twice when these same people want to run a business. It goes back to the “You know how to find answers” point — the desire to search for information, whether via Google or your “expert” friend George is paramount to business success online and off. No one is an island.

7) You take calculated risks

There’s an inherent value in testing what works and what doesn’t: it filters out 90% of the chatter you’ll hear on blogs, forums, and other places people mingle together. I’m not saying that these places don’t have value (ahem, Staying Paid is part of that category, you know). What I am saying is that new entrepreneurs tend to let the “X on forum Q said that Solution Z is bad” issue devour their business. X may be a great source of information, but I’d take comments on software and solutions with a grain of salt and vow to test ideas that you’re interested in, if you’re convinced it’ll work.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes — I’ve made thousands of mistakes before getting to the point where I can share all of them with a straight face. :)

8) You can sell without selling

We all have stories about that guy that keeps calling your house selling you something crazy you don’t need — bugs the heck out of you, doesn’t it? Don’t be that guy. Instead, begin a conversation by listening to the needs of the person, and learning something about them. I get people to call me about my services because I asked them about their kids, about the reasons why they want to start their own company — my reason for doing this is probably far far different than the grandmother looking for passive income or the stay at home dad who is trying to generate extra income to spoiling the kiddies.

The best products I’ve purchased came from salespeople that knew that creating an experience that was filled with positive emotion opened my wallet better than any quick, off the cuff, one-size-fits all approach.

Being an entrepreneur means that you will have more options, controls, knobs and gears at your disposal than you’ll sometimes know what to do with. That’s OK. Changing the way we think about the entire concept of “deserve to” is the first key ingredient to business and personal success.

I didn’t include #9 and #10 because I want YOU to create those last two. Tell me: why do you deserve to work from home?