When you’re running your own internet business from home it can be tough at times. There are highs but also definitely there are the lows also. One thing which helps is getting clear on your ‘WHY’? The reasons that you keep doing it and not doing something else. Here are my reasons for running an online business.
1. Time freedom – One of the main reasons I choose to run an online business is that I can choose how I spend my time. Of course I need to prioritize my time so I am running an efficient and effective business, otherwise I won’t achieve anything. I can work at any time I choose and if I’m having a difficult day I can take time off and do something different. My time is my own and if I decide to take a week off I can do so without having to check with ‘the boss’. My days are my own and if something comes up I can down tools and take off at a minutes notice.
2. Financial freedom – Of course time freedom isn’t so appealing without money. Without money you are limited to certain activities like sitting around the house and worrying about how to pay the bills! The whole reason for a business is usually in order to make money and pay for the necessities of life – and hopefully a few luxuries too. However financial freedom is something different to simply covering your costs and keeping you in the circumstances in which you find yourself. Having a job usually keeps you in it. You become accustomed to your lifestyle and learn to depend on your job. You live to your means or more likely slightly above them and this keeps you in a perpetual state of ‘mental’ poverty – always spending more than you earn. Financial freedom for me means living below your means and building wealth but you often can’t do this with a regular type ‘job’. Financial freedom for me means not having to worry about money, being relaxed enough to enjoy a lifestyle of your choice, without limitations. This is what the internet offers – a way to leverage your time and ultimately it can offer an income which is only limited by your own thinking.
3. No boss – Not having a boss is something which is so appealing that it is a ‘no-brainer’ for me. I have always wanted to be my own boss. I have had many jobs where I did have a boss but having no boss means you have no-one to answer to except yourself. Which means you can just be yourself. One thing I struggled with when having a boss was the constant feeling of trying to please. I found it exhausting. I couldn’t really please myself and my boss at the same time and the sense of conflict within myself became really demoralizing for me. Being your own boss allows you to choose who you want to be in a much less inhibiting way than when you are making choices based on what someone else wants.
4. Self development – What I find fascinating is learning new skills and developing as a person. I have always been interested in self development books and have been reading them for years. Making an income from the internet has forced me to look quite hard at myself and into the reasons behind my results – or lack of them. This is an aspect of SFM which has truly helped me move forward in leaps and bounds in my internet business. I was never very motivated towards working 9-5 in a ‘normal job’. For me that never held any long term appeal. I liked the pressure of having to find a solution myself to my financial issues. It was me against the computer! I have had to learn and grow as a person to make this work and when it wasn’t working I had to look into my beliefs, attitudes and thoughts in order to better understand my limiting ideas which were holding me from success. The real success is the personal growth and not simply the money which is often regarded as the end product. A sense of achievement and real ‘growth’ as a person is something you can’t put a price on.
5. Helping others achieve – Although an internet business can be quite a lonely pursuit, having overcome my own personal obstacles and fought through some tough times, I am definitely better prepared to help others on the same journey. Being able to make a living through the internet is a huge achievement and although I am still learning and developing as a person and an internet marketer, one of my motivating factors is to help others overcome their own financial problems by using the internet to create income.