Do you dream of owning your own business and working for yourself? Before you make this huge leap of faith and finances, ask yourself this question…could you imagine working for someone else if you were offered your dream job?

If this is the case then you should spend more time looking for the job you truly want and less time dreaming about becoming an entrepreneur. There are certain considerations that can give you great insight and help you decide if you do have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

1. What is your motivation? Ask yourself if you would want to be an entrepreneur regardless of how much money you might make as you build your business. If your goal is simply to achieve an income your chances of success, and more importantly, personal satisfaction are limited. Your real motivation must come from something inside you, not from external rewards like monetary goals or praise from others.

2. Who will it benefit? Is your dream based on something you want to give, or is it more about something you want to receive? A true entrepreneurial spirit includes a desire to do something that reaches beyond oneself. This is the reward that spurs the spirit of an entrepreneur.

3. How hard are you willing to work? One of the biggest misconceptions about becoming an entrepreneur is that life will be easier than working for someone else. Rarely is this the case. Becoming successful requires tremendous commitment and usually the hours reflect the level of dedication to your dream.

4. Are you prepared? What are you bringing to the table? Even if this is your own company, you need to have the experience and knowledge required to succeed. Ask yourself if you would hire yourself? If the answer is no, then spend some time educating yourself at what you want to really do. If this doesn’t sound compelling then entrepreneurship may not be for you.

5. Can you handle success? How comfortable are you with personal success? One of the number one reasons independent businesses fail is the fact that many people are their own worst enemy. Some people like the idea of success and independence, but as their new business grows, self-sabotage becomes a factor and dreams become financial nightmares. Know right from the start that you are not someone who gets in his or her own way. Be certain that you know that you will always be your own advocate and that you are willing to go the distance to protect and fight for your dreams. You will encounter obstacles and negativity and doubt somewhere along the path. True entrepreneurs never accept defeat, and they never create it for themselves. Their entrepreneurial spirit pushes them past any difficulties and their greatest joy comes from the pride and sense of satisfaction that comes from living your dreams.

Anne Leedom is the Founder of www.parentingbookmark.com and www.netconnectpublicity.com. She is a graduate of San Jose State University. Her work has been featured in national print and radio and she is frequent contributor to DrLaura.com and other national websites. She lives in Northern California and is the mother of two daughters.

Starting a home based business requires that several factors are taken into consideration to see if building a business is something you can actually do. For instance, do you have the time to dedicate to working? No one becomes successful without consistent activity over time. Can you put 10 – 15 hours a week into your own business? If you where going to purchase an expensive franchise, you would make sure you had the time to see it grow. The principle is equally applicable to your own home based business.

Secondly, do you have initial capitol to begin your business? There has never been a successful business built that has not had initial capitol investment upfront. Most traditional businesses take 5-7 years before they are generating a profit. The incredible opportunity in the direct sales industry is that you can begin a legitimate business at home with a much smaller amount of money. You need to be clear on what you want. Do you want to make a little extra money for Christmas presents? Do you want to make and extra $100 a month to put into savings or pay off debt? Or do you want to make a full time income by working from home? All of these scenarios can be achieved by working from home if you have the right team, the right company, and the right attitude about your business. What is even more incredible , it that you even have the opportunity over time to start out just needing extra money for Christmas and graduate to complete financial freedom within 5-7 years. It all depends on you.

Now you have determined whether you have the time and you understand that it takes a little money to get going. Now how do you know if the business you are looking at is a legitimate, reputable, ethical company that will stand the test of time? Look at the company and its leadership. Have they been around and are they established. Most network marketing companies do not last more than 3 years. There are pros and cons to going with companies with a long established name or a newer company just starting to gather momentum and name status. The bottom line remains. What do you want? What do you like? Can you be passionate about the companies’ product? Would you buy the product even if you did not want to build a business around it? Then you are getting close to making a decision.

Does the company have consumable product? This is a very important point to consider. You will save yourself time and money in the long run, if you build a network of consumers that love to use your businesses product over and over again. If they get to the bottom of a container and can’t survive without your product again, then you are starting to build a distribution system with ongoing product sales that provide passive residual income. Does your company offer a way to sell their product online or allow clients to order products themselves? Think long term. Act as if your business is a multimillion dollar international business that is servicing hundreds of thousands of clients around the world. This is bigger than asking a friend to throw you a party. This is big business.

What are the timing and trends in culture? You surely do not want to be selling VCR’s right about now. You would be in the poor house. “Health and Wellness” is this decades and the next decade’s business boom. “Why?” you may ask… because of the Baby Boomers. They want to look younger, feel younger and stay fit and energetic well into their 80’s. Does the company you are thinking about representing, provide products that hit that market?

Do you have the ability to leverage your time? Leverage is the key ingredient that makes good businesses take off. CEO’s get paid off of the efforts of their employees, and there can only be one CEO of a company. However with direct sales, you can teach and train others to do what you do. They get all the benefits of being their own CEO while you get a percentage for teaching and training them how to do it. It truly is a brilliant business model. Everyone wins.

Do you have strong corporate leadership and up line support? These are vital components for long term success. You want to join a team that know where they are going, and have the ability to show you what to do as you are first starting out. More importantly, do you have strong personal leadership? Do you know what you want? Are you going to let anything or anyone stop you? That will get you through the bumps and bruises of your first year in business. If you are committed to working on yourself, developing the skills needed to be successful and give your business time and consistent effort, the sky is the limit.

The New Year is a time when WAHM business consultants can revamp their office and add some new organizational techniques to their direct sales business systems. The classic New Year’s resolution is a perfect excuse to add some new systems to your home party office management repertoire.

Becoming More Organized in Party Plan Businesses Next Year
The old year is almost over and the new year is right around the corner. Time to think about a New Year’s resolution or two. If you own a home party business, one of the most common resolutions is to become more organized in the new year. Home based business office organization is one of the best things you can do for your business and your stress level!

As a party plan business owner, it is important to think of January as “Get Organized Month.” Home party plan Business owners often get so busy and consumed by the actual operation of their business that organization begins to crumble and things start to get messy. Use the start of 2012 to get your business organized.

Get Your Party Plan Business Organized In New Year

• Create a home party business plan. Every business needs one to succeed. Even if you already have a business plan, the start of a new year is the ideal time to revise the old one. A business plan is the outline for your business and should incorporate all aspects of your business.
• Create a filing system for all your papers and documents. If you already have a filing system, the new year marks a great time to clean it out. Your filing should consist of papers that require immediate action, papers that are important but are not of immediate concern, important documents, reference materials, and stuff you should have thrown out a long time ago. Throw that old junk out!
• For all your papers that you need for reference, create an easy to use system. Many business owners spend an inordinate amount of time looking for information or documents. Start the new year by organizing these papers and you’ll save tons of time during the remainder of the year.
• Go through all your papers, documents, and materials one more time. A large percentage of all saved materials are never used again. When people clean out their closets, they apply the rule that if it hasn’t been worn during the past year, it can be eliminated. This rule works for much of your paperwork, though there are obviously some documents you will need as long as you are in business.

When you take the time to clean house you will be more effective in the new year. All businesses are a work in progress and yours should be no exception. A short afternoon of office re-organization will kick your home business business off on a good track for the new year.

When you incorporate these home based and other direct selling business tips into your business you will create a consistent income year round. Learn more work at home business success systems that work for all companies at: http://www.CreateACashFlowShow.com

By: Kara Kelso

I know most of us have held our own online party, been to one, or at least read about them. Many of the materials online are general, and the average online party (for individuals) has around 5-10 guests at the most. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on several factors. But really for those that do not belong to party groups, and are holding their first party the attendance is going to be very low.

After some thought, I realized the way we are holding these parties is wrong. In a previous article we talked about stepping out of the wahm zone, and searching for your specific customers. When looking for guests for your online party, it should be no different. Instead of mass submitting party invites to wahm groups, let’s take a step back and see what should be done FIRST.

1. BUILD a newsletter – Before you have your next party or even start to plan it, set up a newsletter. This is something you should have already for your business, no matter if it’s an informational newsletter or one that lists your specials – you NEED a list of potential customers. If you haven’t started to build one, start now! I could go into detail as to HOW, but newsletters are an entirely different subject of their own.

2. USE your newsletter list – No I don’t mean take advantage of them, but I do mean send your party notices to your list. Your list is the most important, targeted sources of free advertisement you have!

3. Give good REASONS to attend – Simply saying "online party – join us" isn’t enough. Not even saying "games and prizes" is enough anymore. Get creative and have a good reason for having your party. Such as announcing a new product not released yet, giving away free items (be specific in your email!), or featuring a specific type of product on your website. Informational chats are good as well, such as one that explains what a certain non-familiar product is.

4. Make a SCHEDULE – If you have monthly parties introducing or featuring specific products, the attendance is going to be better than if you just have them at random. Weekly is the best for repeat guests, but you also do not want to burn your guests out offering them the same products. Monthly would work best, since it’s not as often but still creates that habit. Make sure you have it on the same day every month (such as the 1st, 10th, 15th…something easy to remember).

Don’t forget to get creative with your parties! With so many offering online parties today, you really need to make yourself stand out. Granted if you do follow the first two steps, you WILL have a much better response since instead of just other wahms you will have a targeted group that may not be familiar with online parties. Even still, there is always room for improvement.

Good luck with your next online party!

About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. Learn how you can be successful in your company by visiting: http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com

What is Shaklee?

Naturally safe, proven effective.

Direct Sales Business Education

The CashFlowShow – Direct Sales Radio will offer topics that teach work at home Moms(WAHM) home business & direct sales consultants how to create a consistent cash flow from home, using proven systems that work for all businesses no matter what the product line is. The show is a talk format with special guests on alternating weeks. Listeners may call in for audience Q & A, and Deb loves audience participation.

Win Direct Sales Training Program

The success of the show depends on YOU the listeners. With direct sales growing on a worldwide scale this move for The CashFlowShow from teleseminars to internet radio will fill a huge need internationally. Share The CashFlowShow – Home Based Business & Direct Saless Radio with your friends all around the world and win The CashFlowShow program for building your business and finding BOOKINGS! Share this link with your team and friends and get an entry for all new referrals and all international referrals. http://www.createacashflowshow.com/sweepstakes/radio.htm The Power UP For Professional Results grand prize is valued at $97!! How does that sound? You will get paid $97 for a referral!