What Do Stay at Home Entrepreneurs Require?

If you conduct a survey of how people get started as an entrepreneur, and what they have in place, you may be surprised! Everything does not have to be perfect, and successful entrepreneurs know this.

I have been an entrepreneur for over 23 years, working out of my home. I had one business for 18 years while our children were small, and my current business since 2005. The number one thing that I required to start both of these businesses was an absolute desire to reach my goal, which was my driving force. My goal in the first business was to be able to be at home to raise our children, and make some extra money to contribute to our family expenses. That business grew to a 6 figure/yr business...not bad for just wanting some extra money once a week to buy a pizza! My focus was always on being able to be home with our kids so that I didn't have to go out in the traditional work world and leave the kids. That focus, that passion was what drove me to do the things I required to live that dream. Did I have everything perfect....not at all...the first two years, my office consisted of a card table for a desk, a box for a filing cabinet and this was at one end of our rec room.

As that business grew, I bought a real desk, had a dedicated phone line to keep our business and family life seperate, a daytimer (to stay organized and be sure that I was able to keep balance in every area of my life) and we eventually moved to another home where I had a "real" office, with a door that I could close and "a do not disturb" sign. I also had a wonderful lady come into our home to entertain the kids when I was in my "prime" work hours (a couple of days per week). This allowed the kids to be in their own home, my office was right beside their playroom, and they could see me whenever they wanted. THAT is the beauty of being self employed from home!

So here I am 23 years later, kids are grown, still loving being self employed from home....and really the same tools are in place....a home office, a dedicated phone line, printer, and of course in today's business high speed internet is a must. Skype is a fabulous tool that allows us to do business all over the world, right from an 8" tiny laptop that actually fits in my purse and weights about 1 lb! There is so much new technology available to entrepreneurs today.....skype, (www.skype.com) efax (www.efax.com) (virtual dedicated fax line - so you don't have to have a fax machine and can receive faxes directly to your email wherever you are on the planet)

Being a successful entrepreneur starts with a burning desire to achieve your goals, and being willing to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes to reach that goal....tools in place are great, but mean nothing if you don't have that burning, driving force deep in your heart....that leads to greatness in anything you do!

In Your Service,

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050

Recession - Over or Not? YOU Be The Expert!

We are living in a world where we are bombarded with "information" and "experts" telling us "the way it is"....

How do you actually know WHAT is true?

Within the last two days I read these two articles:

#1 -"The bank failure total for the year is now 95 and includes three of the largest and most troubled -- Guaranty Bank in Austin, Colonial Bank in Birmingham and Corus in Chicago.

We project the number will top 1,000 over the next year and a half. The majority of the banks that will fail are Community Banks and Regional Banks where the impact will devastate entire communities. The FDIC is running out of money and will soon have to tap taxpayers - only the second time in the 75 year history of the FDIC that it had to do so.

-Personal bankruptcies will hit a record 1.4 million this year.
-Business bankruptcies are 250% over their previous high - and rising.
-Unemployment is at 9.7 - heading for 10% (Department of Labor says real unemployment rate is 16%).
-Credit Card charge-offs are at 10.5% and Moody's predicts they will go to 12%.
-Mortgage foreclosures and "walk-aways" continue at record pace.

Any discussion of the Recession ending and the recovery beginning are based on wishful thinking, while ignoring the brutal facts."

#2 - "It's official: Household wealth is on the rise. Goodbye Recession!
An article in the Financial Times reported today that household wealth is increasing! Great News! Over the past 90 days, US household wealth increased by over $2 Trillion dollars, demonstrating that America is once again gaining momentum. "

According to the Bloomberg News, "Gains in Wealth will help Americans rebuild finances more quickly, shortening the time when consumers will again be able to lead economic growth. Economists project spending may take years to fully recover from the worst slump since 1980 after stocks and home values plunged."

So... WHO do you believe? Which article is correct, is the recession over or not? This is just one topic of discussion and you could find conflicting articles and information on any topic you choose.

It is important for individuals to WAKE UP and realize that they CAN become their own experts.....here is a simple exercise - Drive to your local mall or favorite restaurant and simply LOOK with your OWN eyes.....is it busy, are people buying, are people eating out....if things are really so gloomy out there, WHY are there people out there spending and enjoying life?

You can take control of the information that filters into your mind...you do not have to be spoon fed by the media. You can learn to Know For Yourself, and learn how to create your own economy and your own results in life. The answers are within you and you can learn to become your own expert. Visit http://www.KnowForYourself.com This is the newest DVD on the market that is designed to assist individuals in becoming their own expert, to create internal confidence and self empowerment and to really live into their full potential. My gift to you....enter COUPON CODE 112243 for a $5 discount....This DVD is the next revolution in human potential!

In Your Service

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050

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Successful Entrepreneurs - Work Through Challenges

One major difference in an "employee mindset" and the mindset of a "successful entrepreneur" is that when challenges arise, employees tend to go through a series of emotions.....fear, avoidance, frustration, sometimes anger.

Here is a very basic example: An employee (let's call him "Joe") working in a customer service position has an upset customer to deal with. Joe is just there to make his hourly wage and really doesn't care about the customer, or their problem. Joe is not sure how to handle the situation..he experiences some fear in picking up the phone, unsure as to what he is going to say to this customer.....he feels anger building and wonders why should he have to deal with this? Joe's anger turns to frustration and so he just avoids the whole thing....after all he is not getting paid to worry about this.

Succcessful entrepreneurs have trained themselves to push through these emotions....mainly because their goals are so much bigger than any challenge they could face, and they take responsibility for building a successful business. Here is the different way this successful entrepreneur may handle the exact same challenge- let's call this person Mary. Mary learns there is an upset customer.....she calls in anyone that may have been involved in the situation to get clarity on the situation...Mary masterminds with key people on a viable solution and either makes the call to the customer herself or delegates it to someone that is fully capable and informed on how to handle it. Now here is the key point - Mary could have had the same initial emotions as Joe did, however, Mary is thinking so much bigger than Joe...Mary takes responsibility for the future of her business, she believes in win/win situations, she knows there is a solution and even if she doesn't initially know what that solution is, she will figure it out to come to a positive solution.

Now, take this example a step further.....because of the way Joe handled the challenge, he personally went through the range of emotions, fear, avoidance, frustration, anger, stress, and most likely affected his co-workers in a very negative way, and then probably went home and took it out on his family.

Mary on the other hand, went home after a great day of work and even though she had some challenges to deal with, felt empowered, created some great relationships with her staff members and allowed them to feel the win of building something great together, and the customer was taken care of in the best possible way. A win/win situation.

We all have the choice to make powerful decisions like Mary did...even if you are currently the employee...developing this type of skill is a stepping stone to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

In Your Service

Debbie Ruston
1-519-342-4050 or 1-800-576-2917