I Own My Own Business, and I Work Hard

I Own My Own Business, and I Work Hard
I just finished reading The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy
Ferris. I have to admit I was fascinated by the headline,
and a little offended, too.

As a business owner, I happen to believe in the value of
hard work. One of the major challenges of running a
business is finding other people to hire that also
understand that "work" is not a dirty word. I am tired of
dealing with incompetent, lazy people with glowing resumes
and recommendations. I like hanging around people who are
not afraid to work.

Our country was founded on the backs of people who were
willing to work hard for their futures and their beliefs.
Fifty years ago, or even twenty years ago, most of our
citizens understood that they did not have the inalienable
right to HDTV and video games. Most people were happy to
put in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

After reading a few chapters of "The 4-Hour Work Week", I
found out the truth. The title was an excellent marketing
ploy. The entire premise of the book is not to avoid the
fact that work must be done, but to find other hard-working
businesses and individuals to perform the work on your
behalf.

Mr. Ferris clearly understands the value of hard work. He
has paid his dues and put in his time. He has also figured
out that work for work's sake is a waste of time.

The number one role of a business owner is to work him or
herself out of a job. If you want to own a strong,
successful business, you must learn to put systems in place
that allow the business to run effectively without you. If
your business is dependent on you, you are the weak link
that could lead to its failure.

And guess what. Working yourself out of a job is hard
work. It cannot be done overnight. You will make
mistakes, and learn from them. Hopefully, your successes
will outweigh your mistakes, so your business will prosper
long term.

As for myself, I am willing to work hard now in order to
need to work less later. I am willing to set up systems to
manage my business so I don't have to handle everything
personally. I expect that these systems will fail at some
point, and I am willing put backup plans in place for every
critical area of my business operations, just in case. I
am willing to do whatever it takes to earn the right to
work less than forty hours a week.

When I have earned the right to work less, I may or may not
choose that path. I like to work. I have plans, things I
want to do, and work I want to accomplish. If I work
smart, I will work myself out of doing those things I do
not want to do, so I have more time to work on the things I
like.

I choose to work on those things that matter to me, so I
can do my part to help make our world a better place to
live.

Care to join me?

----------------------------------------------------
Todd Jensen, "The Profit Engineer", has helped hundreds of
business owners make their business more successful and
profitable. For tips and strategies on how to boost your
business success as well as increase your profits, visit
http://www.theprofitengineer.com or
http://www.freebusinessstartupinfo.com

It is so hard to be successful in MLM now that every thing depends on the internet.

It is so hard to be successful in MLM now that every thing depends on the internet.
Dear Online Success Seeker,

Wouldn't it be great to only have to work for about 3-5
years, build a life long residual income, and be able to
will it to your grandchildren? Well, this idea is what
network marketing has been based on, which sounds good, but
is it really?

In this article I will try to lay out some of the the
downside of trying to build a residual income using any MLM
company. While there are many great MLM companies to work
with, it is good to know what you are getting yourself into.

Well, the unfortunate thing is, this is not a true idea or
concept. Yes, it may have been in the past, but it isn't
anymore.

So, how can I make such a bold statement? There is a vast
number of people who are traded from one company to another
every 9 to 12 months. At one time, these people were
referred to as MLM junkies, but now, their uplines are in
the same shoes.

Unfortunately, network marketing has become obsessed with
timing, pre-launches, and the next big thing. So, what is
causing this obsession?

It is simply a numbers game. The number of new people
coming into network marketing is out of proportion to the
number of new company start-ups. If you want to, you can
start your own company any time you want. The problem is,
there are only a certain number of people to go around.
This then opens you up to the Pre-Launch. This is the
company's chance to catch the networkers and get them away
from what they are currently marketing. The Pre-Launch
gives them a promise of getting started right when the
company is getting off its feet, and there aren't many
people involved.

Now, as the marketer switches gears to start up with this
new company, another Pre-Launch is offered, this time
giving promises to be the biggest and best with their
product, that it will change the world. There you have it,
the cycle begins. Networkers want to be on top, right?

As this cycle continues, more and more companies will
pre-launch every 9 to 12 months, the people in the other
companies scramble to get to the top, and the companies
they leave fail. Obviously, you can see how this puts
companies at each others throats trying to get warm bodies.
This can involve much ugly name calling, back-stabbing,
and lawsuits to boot.

Remember, in network marketing, people are the hot
commodity that is traded, making you very valuable to all
of these companies.

----------------------------------------------------
Find Out More Information About Generating Immediate Cash
Online http://www.grammond.perfectwealthformula.com
Warmly,
Roger Grammond
Phone: 406-778-3430
Email Me:rgrammond@yahoo.com

The State of Texas and Business

The State of Texas and Business
It is not hard to find evidence that supports the claim
that Texas is growing. It is a state that is wide open for
business. Other states might make it difficult for people
to open a business but Texas is not one of them.

For starters, the state only requires that four easy steps
be met to open one's own business. First, a person must
choose a business structure. This requires choosing a
business structure that best meets your needs from a list
of seven possible structures. The next step that must be
met is receiving an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
from the state. This, of course, requires a lot of forms
that need signatures but isn't that difficult. Next, a new
business needs to file state tax information. The final
step involves educating one's self concerning employers and
employment.

Once these four steps are met, it is reasonably easy to
open one's own business. Once the business is open, the
state's laws, other than the franchise tax, favor business'
interests. There is not technically an income tax, and,
generally speaking, the state's tax levels are relativity
low. The state's courts also have been known to bend over
backwards for business' interests.

The ease with which people can open businesses is evident
in the number of small businesses that exist in the state.
Also, the growth rate is somewhat indicative as well. The
state also favors business by having a low cost of living
and cheap land. This allows people to buy land for their
business at a cheap rate (relatively speaking) which allows
for more money to be invested into the growth of the
business. The low cost of living means people can pay their
employees less than in other states but the employees are
still able to live at a high level.

The one down side of the State and business involves the
state's favoring of landlords over tenants. Generally
speaking, the laws of the state favor the person that owns
the property when dealing with rent disputes. A downside of
the state's tax structure is that business franchise taxes
often go up to correct the funding problems for the state's
schools. Businesses are given higher rates to ease the
pressure from the general populace. When one considers that
the general populace votes and not the businesses, this tax
policy sort of makes sense.

Generally speaking, Texas is a great place to open a new
business. There is tremendous growth throughout the state
even considering the recent downturn in the real estate
market.

----------------------------------------------------
Joe Devine
http://www.slaterandkennon.com

Business Owners with ADD: Tips for Handling Distractions During the Workday

Business Owners with ADD: Tips for Handling Distractions During the Workday
"Not now." "I'm not there yet." "I can't think about that
right now."

These are some of the most popular phrases that come out of
my mouth during the business day. Like most adults with
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I measure time in one of
two ways: Now, and Not Now.

This can be an effective strategy when dealing with crises,
but it can also hold an ADDer back in their business. When
you have ADD, there is always something grabbing your
attention. You can spend way too much time allowing
distractions to take over in the Now, and important things
without deadlines attached can easily become the Not Now.

Here's a great example: Cash flow is slow and you know that
you're going to be in trouble in a couple of weeks if you
don't come up with a solution to solve the temporary
problem. You start off your Monday morning thinking that
this problem will be the first one you deal with...

...but when you sit down at your desk and find your email
Inbox overflowing. It feels more important in the moment
and answering email becomes your Now, while the cash flow
problem becomes your Not Now.

I see it over and over and over again: the biggest obstacle
in the lives of ADD business owners is email! It never
stops, and it never slows down. Emails are probably the
number one distraction for us in our businesses. While
email distracts, interrupts, and annoys just about everyone
with a job, it's actually worse for the adult with ADD.
Because of our attention inconsistencies, we're more likely
to have our concentration broken by the knowledge of a new
email, prompting us to read the email, and often making us
feel pressured to respond right away. All this time on
email leaves little time to get in the flow and get some
real work done. However, there is a way to break this
cycle: shutting email down and eliminating the distraction.

For me, the best course of action is to start out my day
answering emails for one hour. I get through what I can,
and then I shut it down. First I answer team emails, then
client emails, vendor emails, and so on. Emails that aren't
important--those that don't affect client servicing or the
bottom line--don't get answered quickly. I will often check
email once again at the end of the day but, for the most
part, just read and not respond.

Contrary to what you may think, this isn't a difficult
habit to cultivate. There are a few steps you may need to
take to get there:

1. Make the decision to eliminate the continuous
distraction of email.

2. Inform the people who email you that you'll only be
responding to email once a day, and that it may take a day
or two for you to respond.

3. Get help answering emails that don't need to be answered
by you. You'll be amazed by how much more you can actually
get done when your email isn't open all day long!

If email was your only distraction, you might be okay. But
when you have adult ADD, a busted copier, a lost phone
number, or a great article can easily occupy your Now,
perpetually knocking the important stuff into Not Now.

Prioritizing and planning your day certainly help, but
there's a strategy for this challenge that is often
overlooked. It involves a form of "time" other than Now and
Not Now: the Business Development Day.

Business Development Days are scheduled work
days--preferably once a week on the same day--in which you
shut out all the distractions and allow the bigger,
long-term issues to become Nows before it's too late.

When you employ this strategy, you not only ensure that
your business grows and prospers, you also reduce a great
deal of stress!

----------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Koretsky is the Founder of the ADD Management
Group, Inc. and the author of Odd One Out: The Maverick's
Guide to Adult ADD. Jennifer and her team work with ADD
adults who are overwhelmed with everyday life in order to
help them simplify, focus, and succeed. For free resources
and information on adult ADD, visit
http://www.ADDmanagement.com .