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Tell
me if this sounds familiar to you:
Step
1: You decide you're sick of your job.
You're
tired of waking up every morning to do something you don't
enjoy.
You're
tired of being mistreated.
You're
tired of being a slave.
You're
tired.
You
realize it will take you years to get the money you need to
live your dreams.
When
I decided to go into business for myself my motivations were
very much the same. Army pay, even as an officer, wasn't so
great ...
Step
2: You decide "enough is enough". You
look for other options.
Maybe
you can go into business for yourself? There has to
be a better way, right?
You
start doing research and you're overwhelmed with the options.
You decide, though, that it's better to work for yourself
than someone else, so you know that one way or another you
will quit your "day job".
| Big
Lie #1: "Be your own boss
and your life will be easier."
There
is a truer saying that goes, "the toughest
boss you'll ever have is yourself."
Working
for yourself has a tremendous amount of uncertainty,
and requires a tremendous amount of effort.
It
can be rewarding, but it's all up to you at this
point. Most self-employed people I know work
more hours - not less. The one nice
thing you can't deny, though, is that it does put
you in control of your destiny (but only
if you avoid the following pitfalls!). |
Step
3: You make the big choice: start your own business or
participate in a business opportunity (franchise, network
marketing, affiliate, etc ...)
Like
most people, you probably went the easy route first.
You started promoting a business opportunity, or maybe even
several of them ...
You
spent a heap of money on books and tools. You worked
late into the night. You neglected your social life
("Hey, I'm pursuing my dream - my life can wait.")
And
in the end for what?
After
a few months you do the math ... If you had put the same hours
into overtime at your job you would have made more
money ...
And
then someone tells you the "big secret": "the
only way to make money is to sell your own product!"
| Big
Lie #2: "The only way to
make real money is to sell your own product."
Well,
you may gross more money ... but you probably
won't make more money.
The
cost of running a business, even when you are the
only employee, can be quite high.
At
our peak of 40 employees, Aesop.com (and all of
our subsidiaries) cost $250,000 per month to operate!
Even
when you're doing millions of dollars per year in
business, you may not end up with much at the end
of the day ... |
Step
4: You
go into business for yourself.
You're
now totally in control.
The
money goes straight to you and you're happy. When you
get those first few sales you're fired up!
At
the end of the first couple months, though, you realize that
your business is getting out of control. There is too
much to do and you're now sleeping even less than before.
Someone
tells you: "Why do all the work yourself? Hire
some employees and let them do the work!"
| Big
Lie #3: "Just hire some
employees and you can kick back while they do the
work."
I
can assure you that anyone who gives that advice
doesn't have any employees of their own. It's
a great theory, but in reality it doesn't end up
that way.
Looking
back on it, there is not one day that I've had to
work less because of the people in my employ.
No
offense to them ... I've had some great employees
- some of them were superb. But ultimately
(and ironically) my life was never easier as a result.
In
fact, I don't think I've worked less than 12 hours
a day (usually more like 16 hours) in the last several
years ... And that's almost every single day
- including weekends.
Now,
I did have my staff develop some pretty amazing
systems to automate our business and that helped
tremendously. My problem was that we kept
growing and building. If anything, we should
have used the automation to its fullest and kept
things simple. |
Step
5: Where the heck are you now?
Now
you're working more hours, your life is more complex than
ever before, you experience stress every moment you're awake
and when you sleep you don't really rest - you toss and turn
every night worrying about business "issues" (but
we're so brainwashed into believing running a business is
our key to happiness that we call them "issues"
instead of "problems").
Does
that sound like you?
Of
course it does. This is the story I hear from almost
every business owner I know. There are a few exceptions
who have used a skillful combination of automation and outsourcing,
but the vast majority have relived the above story to one
degree or another.
I
personally lost track of my own dream along the way ...
I started down my entrepreneurial path to get personal freedom,
but I ended up losing freedom rather than gaining it.
"Freedom
to do what," you ask?
Well,
I don't even have to tell you what my dream is ... You know
what I mean because you have your own dream. It's what
got you walking down this path to begin with.
Maybe
you wanted to buy a boat and live on the water ...
Maybe
you wanted to go back to school ...
Maybe
you wanted to be an artist ...
Maybe
you just wanted to have more time to spend with your children
...
But
it all went back to money, didn't it? You didn't have
enough money or time to pursue this dream, so you got into
business - thinking that it would take your troubles away.
Instead
you woke up one day and realized that you weren't living your
dream at all. In fact, your life had become much much
harder.
Is
There an Answer?
In
Part II I'll tell you about how I'm addressing this
problem in my own life.
I'll
show you my theory and what I believe to be a great solution
to this problem.
Let
me tell you right now, though - if you're looking for an answer
that won't take any time and effort on your part, you won't
hear that from me. Such a thing doesn't exist.
What
I will show you, though, is a path that will allow
you to set up income streams that will give you a certain
amount of freedom.
It's
a realistic plan that definitely works.
Stay
tuned for Part II - The Answer.
All
the best,
Mark
Mark
Joyner
#1 Best-Selling Author, "MindControlMarketing.com"
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