"Drive thy business or it will drive thee," states Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac. Every great business started in the heart of a hopeful individual and then at the meeting table of important people, be they a husband and wife at the dinner table or a group of business people at a bar with cocktails. Eventually the idea blossomed into a genuine business, usually in a small office in the back of a home and eventually into a separate building in the heart of a business district. The successful business, though, first began as a successful home business. Those who created made it successful with a few basic skills.
First and foremost, hard work characterizes the successful home business. Just because an individual now works from home does not mean he has the right to sleep in until noon. The most successful home businesses owners distinguish themselves with their work ethic. They wake up early and maintain a strict schedule of opening their "office" at a specific time and even closing it at a specific time. The discipline that characterizes a successful business also characterizes the successful home business.
The strong desire for success also characterizes the successful home business. The driven individual will succeed at a home-based business adventure because his desire to succeed will lead him to basically do whatever he must to make his business succeed. His desire comes from the drive to simply succeed at whatever he does and prove to the world that he can make this business venture work. Furthermore, if he truly believes in his product, he has the drive to make the business work because he indeed believes he will contribute something great to the world.
The drive or desire leads to the willingness to sacrifice to make the home business a success. Many individuals are willing to sacrifice time and finances to make their home business work. Some empty their savings account because of their belief in the home business idea, and others work tirelessly, giving up previous recreational pursuits for the sake of the business. They see a glorious picture at the end of the hard road they are treading, and they thus willing sacrifice just about anything to reach that glorious end.
Prudence pairs itself with desire and sacrifice in the heart of a successful home business owner. This aspiring entrepreneur understands that in order to become wise, he must listen to wise people and do what wise and successful people do. This means growing his business slowly. Those businesses which grow too fast often crumble because they lack that solid foundation that only the business owner can build. Thus a successful home business will grow steadily but slowly, never jumping head by leaps and bounds. Instead, the business owner will strive to make wise business decisions everyday and stick with whatever short term and long term growth plans he has established.
Ultimately, the home business owner determines the success of his company. His desire, willingness to sacrifice, and even acquired wisdom will either help him to grow a successful business or hinder him from succeeding. He must establish disciplined habits early on and keep his eye on the end product, and in the end, he will find himself the owner of a successful company.