Have you been thinking about leaving your job and starting a work at home enterprise? If you have mentioned your desire to anyone other than another entrepreneur you may have been discouraged. For many people it is hard to understand why anyone would want to leave “the safety and security” of a job and “risk their lively hood.” But if you have ever been hit by an entrepreneurial seizure there is something that happens which is unexplainable.
If you are willing to respond to this deep emotion you will never be happy living your life by a job description. You want more. A cubicle will feel like a prison and until you create something you can call your own you will feel like each day a part of you is making a deal with the devil.
For most people starting a business is a scary proposition. So how do you create an environment that pulls you towards success? What can you do to inspire yourself to take your life back and build wealth from home? Creating a purpose driven home based business is the winning combination that blends living your passion and profiting from it.
Here are 7 seven steps you can take towards a purpose driven work at home career:
1. You can create a vision and mission for your home based enterprise that inspires you. Life is too short. When you make the decision to leave the rat race you don’t want to create a business that’s simply another job. So why are you taking this journey? What do you want your business to look like?
For example, I am clear that my home based venture is as much about lifestyle as it is profit. When ever I work on my business I look at my mission that includes income developed through passive income and working no more than 25 hours a week.
Why? Because after 15+ years in Corporate America I learned that what are important to me are my personal relationships. I no longer wanted to trade my time for money. At the end of my life I don’t want to remember how many hours I worked for someone else or the sacrifices I made for a company. As a result, my vision is to create a lifestyle that allows me to enjoy life with the people I care about.
What is your vision for your business? Try to include all of your senses. What will it look like when you get there? How will you feel? Who will be there to celebrate with you? With you smell the breeze of the ocean water or the pungent fragrance of swaying honeysuckle? The more you connect with your vision the more you will be inspired.
2. Create your business based around something you are passionate about. There is something magical that happens when you are operating in something you love to do and are uniquely good at. Have you ever had a job you hated? How did you feel? You will never live a life of purpose doing something you don't like. Discover your passion and give it all you've got.
For years I worked in jobs that I was good at but hated. However, when I struck out on my own I wanted to have a life I loved. I uncovered my unique talents and went to work. And what happened for me can happen for you.
When you start to live the life you were born to do the universe makes all of the resources available to you that you need to be successful. So what are you passionate about? What skills and talents do you have you can create a life and business around? Write down two or three skills have that would be utilized in your purpose driven business.
3. Make your business a business that is bigger than you. What would it feel like to know that your business was directly responsible for impacting the world in some way? How would you feel to know that when you passed on people from around the world would thank you for the part you played in creating something of value that was important to them?
At first, this line of thinking can be overwhelming. However, not when you start to think of what is at the core of any business. Your goal is to find a solution to your customers’ problems. And in exchange they are willing to pay you for it. To the extent that you get to know their hopes, desires, dreams and pains and you help to successfully maneuver the maze of life they will be forever grateful.
So how can your venture make its mark in the world? My goal is to help people discover their passion, monetize it and live a life they love. I personally want to help 1000 people in the next 3 years take their life back and build wealth from home. The very thought that I could play a small part in helping someone else do this gives my business a purpose much bigger than me.
Write down one goal that you have for your business that is bigger than you. Make sure you keep the goal in front of you where you can see it everyday.
4. Develop a business plan that supports your values and beliefs. Whenever you are working to accomplish something great you must have a plan. The creation of your business plan is the map that you will use to guide you through your journey. One of the keys to a successful plan is to make sure everything you do is consistent with your values and beliefs.
For example, if you have a family and want to spend more time with them you don’t want to build a business that requires you to spend long amounts of time away from them to build.
Don’t get me wrong. You will make choices and sacrifices. However, those should be things that are short term and spelled out. You want to be clear what you are giving up or making adjustments and what you will get in return.
"Strive for integrity--that means knowing your values in life and behaving in a way that is consistent with these values." ---author unknown. When you are building something that is consistent with who you are as a person your daily actions will feed your soul.
5. Consider giving a percentage of the profits to an organization you love. I love the quote, "No one has ever become poor by giving." --Anne Frank. Actually our lives are enriched when we give.
For example, maybe you have a religious organization you would like to tithe to. Or you might like to help a cause that is close to your heart. One of my favorite charitable organizations is the Junior Achievement.
Junior Achievement uses hands-on experiences to help young people understand the economics of life. This organization partners with business leaders and educators. The mission of Junior Achievement is to bring the real world to students and open their mind to their potential.
I chose to contribute to this organization because I love to see young people find their passion and follow it early in life. I feel like my life is enriched when I can help a young person discover their passion and avoid the rat race.
Do you have an organization you would like to contribute to? Think about how you would feel if your company was contributing to an organization that was helping to make a difference in the world.
6. Extend your hand to help someone who wants to do what you do. One of the ways to give purpose to your business is to teach, coach or mentor a person. There are people who would love to benefit from the knowledge and expertise you have acquired.
You might want to teach a class or create a coaching club. You can impact several people at once and leverage your time.
Who can you reach out to and help? What vehicle will you use to make a difference for someone else? Write down 3 ideas and implement one immediately.
7. Create a community by enrolling others to make it happen. Have you ever experienced the power of what happens when several people are committed to one goal? There is a powerful force that happens when you speak your purpose out loud and invite others to become a part of it.
Look for opportunities to have customers, friends, family and colleagues to become a part of the mission of your business. Your company could become a cause for change in the world.
For example, who would ever imagine that the purpose of a greeting card company was to change peoples lives one card at a time? Well it’s true. I had the privileged of hearing the CEO of this greeting card speak.
He told the story of how he had a prompting to say goodbye one more time to his brother when he was moving and failed to do so. Shortly after the move he got a phone call that his brother had died tragically. He was haunted by the fact he had failed to say good bye.
Later he was inspired to create a greeting card company that allows people to act on their promptings. Never again, would anyone miss any opportunity to send someone they care about a card. His passion and commitment about his business is contagious. He truly embodies the characteristics of a purposed driven home based business.
So the choice is yours. You can create a business that focuses solely on making a buck and during the difficult times it might not be enough to get you through. Or you can create something with purpose. These 7 traits are a winning combination. Life is truly a joy when you can have a home based business with purpose and profit from it.
7 Steps to a Purpose Driven Home Based Business: The Winning Combination of Passion and Profit
The Platinum Business From American Express For Business Purpose
The American Express has credit cards that offer financial services and great travel rewards and other beneficial services.
The Platinum Business from American Express is perfect for the business owner. The card has a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on the balance transfers and purchases. This helps in holding a balance for a couple of months without incurring additional debts.
Benefits Of The Card
The credit card is good for you if you plan to carry a revolving balance and wish to manage all your business expenditure on only one credit card. If you qualify, you will gain a low interest rate (at the end of the introductory phase) and you will also be allowed a low-cost option for the over time payment of your business expenses.
The Membership Reward Options’ Program
As a cardholder, you will get access to the Membership Reward Options’ Program without having to pay any annual fee. The program permits you to redeem points for enjoying the different services and benefits. It also comes without any yearly limit and there is no expiry-limit applicable. This makes the program flexible. The program also offers security features, travel accident insurance and exclusive discounts (available at select stores and service centers including AT&T, FedEx, Hertz, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. and some similar stores).
Other Benefits
If you want to be blessed with a low APR and want to benefit from a good rebate deal, then make use of the Platinum Business Cash Rebate Card of the OPEN small business program. The OPEN network also offers you online account management tools for the supervision of your account. Moreover, with direct access to credit professionals, you will get ready help in making smart business decisions.
You get excellent introductory phase (for six months) offers of 0% on purchases and 7.99% on balance transfers as part of the card benefits. Nonetheless, the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the Platinum Business from American Express is its cash back reward.
As such purchases with the card, assures you 2.5% cash back. Purchases made within the OPEN small business network, however, have a maximum rebate of 5%. When you are done with spending $15000 on the card, the percentage rates will reduce to 1% in cases of general purchases, whereas for purchases made within the OPEN network, the percentage rates will decrease to 2%.
More Perks
The Platinum Business from American Express provides the cardholder many Internet account related services, extended warranty for purchases, lost luggage insurance, auto rental insurance, purchase protection, purchase protection, emergency card replacement, a maximum of $100000 travel accident insurance and many other services and benefits.
Business Strategy: Clarify Your Purpose And Vision
Whether it's the beginning of a new year or we're half way through, you want it to be your best year ever. You are no doubt doing some planning for how to make that happen. You are doing some planning aren't you?
I'd like to recommend you take some time to really clarify your Purpose and Vision.
Clear purpose and vision are the keys to giving you a focus and direction. Unfortunately, that's something that is all too often lacking from small businesses. What you need to do is quite simple, but may challenge you if you've never taken the step before.
Here are a few ideas to help you make this your best year ever.
A clear purpose describes what you are out to cause with your business. Have you lost track of your purpose? Do you remember what led you to start or get into your business in the first place?
* Three questions to ponder as you seek to re-ignite the purpose in your business:
What do you really want out of life?
What do you really not want in your life?
What would you be willing to give up in order to live the life you want?
Answer these questions honestly and build your business around the life you want to live. Talk about a purpose that would set you on fire.
* Here's an idea for creating your vision. Think of the absolute greatest outcome that you can possible imagine that your best clients would really want from your service. Build your vision around being "the resource" that works to deliver that.
* Examine your values and principles and then determine what you want your business to be in the future. Find your favorite way to relax quietly and let your mind open to dwell in what's possible.
* Imagine yourself in a private movie theater watching a movie of your future self in 10 years. As the movie ends you notice you've been joined by the star of the show. Ask them any question you want about how they got to that place of great success in the movie. What was your future self's purpose and vision.
This may seem silly to you at first, but if you open your mind up to accept that the visioning process will work, you'll be amazed at the answers that will emerge.
Business Ethics And Purpose
The purpose of business is to generate maximum returns for its owners and shareholders. So therefore should the business pursue all activities that enhance profitability and increase the value of the business for the owners and / or shareholders?
I also believe that a business should behave ethically in achieving the above purpose. It is not right just to operate within the letter of the law. Businesses should also try and serve their local community and help its employees lead better lives. They should examine every decision they make based on profitability, long term business value and social responsibility.
By having real policies in place that take care of your employees and the local community it might be argued that long term this will enhance your business brand and over time lead to higher profitability.
By constantly training members of staff and wherever possible promoting from within the organisation will lead to employees that feel empowered to work harder and make better decisions. Having regards to the true well being of your employees will lead to a healthier and therefore happier workforce.
By reducing waste and promoting recycling at every opportunity, overheads will be reduced and in the longer term lead to better shareholder value. It is staggering how much resources including energy are wasted by larger companies. Having a regular energy audit and investing long term to reduce demand can only serve to make the business more efficient.
Many businesses try to serve their community by supporting local charities and sponsoring local people to better their lives. There are many ways to do this including education, sports and the environment. In the short term there will be very few perceivable benefits in terms of profitability but these actions will serve to enhance the business brand and increase profitability over the longer term.
Greed is no longer good and focusing purely on profits is unacceptable to your existing and potential customers. By embracing business ethics and social responsibility the business can benefit from increased goodwill.