5 Steps to Work At Home Success

In 2004, 62 million Americans worked at home at least
part-time in a job or home business. Nevertheless, millions
of other people who want to work at home don't seem to be
able to make it happen. If you have been struggling to work
at home, here are the five steps you must follow to be
successful.

 

1) How much to you need to make? Too many people falsely
believe they need to replace their current incomes in order
to stay or work at home. In reality, most people can earn
less yet live better while working at home. But to know for
sure, you need to run the numbers. It's boring. It's
tedious. It's usually depressing. But failure to understand
what it would take financially to work at home is
irresponsible and can get you in financial trouble. So,
first you want to determine how much of your current
expenditures are related to your job. These are expense you
won't have or will be lessened by working at home and
include childcare, commuting costs, clothing, dining out,
etc. You may be surprised at just how much your income
actually funds your job!

 

Next you need to do a detailed budget of your expenses,
minus your job-related expenses. This is a good time to see
what areas you can save in such as groceries,
non-essentials, and utilities. The more you save, the less
you have to earn from home!

 

When you know your monthly expenses, subtract the income
your partner brings in or is paid to you outside your job.
The number left over is the amount you need to earn from
home. If you need $3000 a month to cover your expenses, and
your partner earns $2500 per month, you need to earn $500
from home.

 

2) What can you do? You wouldn't use a search engine and
sign up for the first thing that sounded good in a
traditional job search; yet, so many people take this
approach to working at home. People who are successful at
working at home maximize their skills or interests. So the
next step is to outline all your skills and experiences, as
well as your interests, talents and hobbies. An employer
with a work-at-home job is like any other employer; he
wants someone with skills to do a specific job. The only
way to know what jobs you can do is to create a resume. The
same is true in a home business. Many people turn their
talents and interests into a home business. But they didn't
do it just by signing up somewhere. They took an inventory
of what they had to offer the world.

 

3) Search and Research. Once you know what you have to
offer an employer or customer, you need to determine if
there is a need for your skills. You may be the best typist
in the world but if no on wants a typist, it won't matter.
You can use job search sites to learn about what jobs are
most prevalent. If you re thinking of a home business,
identify the people who would most likely use your service,
and survey them to find out what they need and what they
would pay. If you are interested in building a website,
joining a home business opportunity or working on eBay,
research how to make money at it. Millions of people jump
online to do these things and most of them don't make money
not because they join scams but because they don't do
adequate research to determine what it takes to be
successful.

 

4) Make a Plan. There is a great saying that goes, "If you
fail to plan, you plan to fail." No statement is truer when
it comes to finding a way to work at home. Plans are the
road maps that provide focus and direction to your goal.
How will you find a telecommuting job? Where will you look?
How long and how often will you search? Plans are necessary
for home businesses as well. What product or service will
you offer? How much will it cost? Who is going to buy it?
How will you find them and let them know of your offer?
This is probably the area that most people's work-at-home
dreams fall apart. Whether you believe in goal-setting or
success principles or not, you need to know what to do
every day that will result in your earning an income at
home. It only happens with a plan.

 

5) Do it! Plans are only good if you actually take action.
You must make a commitment to your plan and then do it. Our
lives are so busy that often our work-at-home goals get set
aside. I can't tell you how many people I have helped start
a job search or a home business that never found success
because the kids got sick, the weather turned bad, the
mother-in-law came to visit, the oven broke, and so on. On
the other hand, they had time to watch Oprah or ER. Perhaps
they finished a newly released hardback book or found time
to make crafts. The reality is that life happens to
everyone, but there is always enough time for your dream if
they are important enough to you. You must schedule time
for your job search or building your business. Get up an
hour earlier or stay up an hour later. Stop watching
television or give up relaxing time. Just find a way to do
it.

 

The reason only 2-10% of the human population ever achieves
huge success in any thing whether its business, sports, or
entertainment is because only 2-10% are willing to do what
it takes. They sacrifice things. They plod on even when it
seems hopeless. They prioritize and work efficiently. And
they never, ever quit!

 

You can be one of the 2-10% who live the dream of working
at home. All it takes is following the 5 steps outlined
above.

 

Leslie Truex owns Work-At-Home Success and wrote Jobs At
Home. She has been helping others work at home in a job or
home business since 1998. Get "eJobs At Home" free by
signing up for her ezine filled with work-at-home advice,
trends and jobs! Visit http://www.workathomesuccess.com to
sign up.