Starting a Business Can Be Tough - Think it, Believe it and Live it - By Bisi Adepo-Bassey

You have done a lot of research as well as the homework required related to starting a new business. You finally summon the courage to take the entrepreneurial plunge. If only you did not have the "doubting Thomas’s" and nay sayers constantly swaying your already frail confidence. Rather than use them as an excuse to avoid accomplishing your dream, let them be your motivation to achieving it.

You will have to differentiate between constructive criticism and negativity/pessimism. Recognize that some people mean well but cannot see what you see (i.e. your dream) but understand that some cannot care less; so get over it and get to work.

The idea here is not to play down the risks involved in starting one’s own business. But you can spend so much time thinking about it that you never get to do it. Or you can talk yourself out of the chance to change your life and impact the rest of the world.

Here are a few points to consider:

Don’t launch a venture blindly, do the necessary research and assessment

Be open to the wisdom of others

What will it cost you (financially, physically, emotionally)

What is the worst-case scenario?

Make up your mind; are you starting a business or a hobby? There’s a big difference; one generates an income.

Know your strengths and limitations.

Get as much help as you can. Why re-invent the wheel?

Realize that your will, will be tested.

Finally, think it, believe it and live it.

About the Author

Bisi Adepo-Bassey is a business coach, workshop/group facilitator and owner of Business Aid, providers of business support services. http://www.mybusinessaid.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bisi_Adepo-Bassey

New Year Resolutions - Some Practical Guidelines for Internet Entrepreneurs - By Svend Nelson

Why would one write about New Year resolutions when the New Year has already passed?

1.) Because for most people New Year resolutions have already faded by the middle of January, which makes it a good time to reflect on why this might be the case.

2.) Because any day of the year is a good day for New Year resolutions. While the turn of the year only makes us more susceptible for life changing resolutions, we may in fact start over any given day of our existence.

Let us assume that the major goal in life is to achieve happiness in its multitude of facets. Whatever the individual semantics of happiness may be, money will be one of the necessary means to achieve it. Money is not an end but “only” an indispensable facilitator for personal freedom and growth, and hence, happiness.

Here are some suggestions to draw up goals and plans and to sustain the necessary motivation to realize them:

A. Take a blank A4 paper and write down “Patience and Focus” as the headline. Whatever it is you desire, patience and focus will be major ingredients on the way. A Muslim saying stipulates that “patience is half-way to heaven’ and this is only all too true. Focus is required to keep you on track in this world of noise and distractions.

B. Stay away from your computer for a while: It is magic to produce a handwritten document. Some of us may have almost forgotten what our handwriting looks like. When I started to handwrite again I felt a very interesting effect after the first awkward moves - my creativity seemed enhanced. I am definitely not a technophobe nor would I consider myself a romantic essentialist, but, handwriting rocks! I believe this is because of a better synchronization between the speed at which we are thinking and the speed at which we can note down our thoughts when handwriting.

C. Recognize your desires. I have read quite a few "how-to-get-rich-books" and most of them seem to have a common shortcoming: They will mention (if they don't they would be missing the point anyway...) something like "know thyself" or "find out what you like doing, then just do it and become rich" but not mention in any way how to know yourself. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the main tasks in life to know ourselves and I won't be able to resolve this issue here, but this is what I can say: You will need detachment and relaxation to awaken your desires, which is the exact reason why to seek a retreat. You will need your imagination to translate your desires into something tangible, and this is when you start smiling and write on the blank paper in front of you.

D. Formulate definite goals. Write down exactly how much money you want to make, imagine precisely what kind of person you want to be and how you wish to spend your time. Use your imagination, feel the money in your hands, smell the seats of your new car (I am actually not into cars at all...), see the smile on the face of your partner; make it as tangible as possible which will enhance your desires even further and prepare you to be persistent.

E. Establish a definite date when you will have achieved the definite goals you desire. Every sensible goal has to be time-based in order to be motivating. Keep in mind: we have a tendency to over-estimate the short term (e.g. 1 year) and to under-estimate the medium and long term, so your resolutions may as well cover the following years.

F. Formulate a concise plan to achieve your goals. This plan has to be detailed and realistic. I always write down all the activities I would like to do and then try to fit all these activities into my calendar. You will need to clarify your priorities on the way. Your plan needs to clearly state what you intend to give in return for achieving your goals. There is no "free lunch" and there are no shortcuts, so be prepared to put in the effort. And then start right away with carrying out your plan. There is no such thing as "being ready", just go for it. Somebody once said "Knowing and not doing is not-yet-knowing".

There is more than this to being happy and making it to riches, but this is a good start. I spent four complete days on the process I have described above, but what seems like a luxury is actually strategically well-spent time which, I am certain, will pay off manifold.

Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is an online marketing specialist active in various online industries; among his online presences in the real estate and home loan industry are Hawaii rentals and Hawaii Home Loan. Svend also just started a blog sharing his experience about how to make money online. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia before settling in Thailand.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Svend_Nelson

Ebay Income Possibilities. - By: Kirsten Hawkins

If you’ve ever read an article about eBay, you will have seen the kinds of incomes people make – it isn’t unusual to hear of people making thousands of dollars per month on eBay.

Next time you’re on eBay, take a look at how many PowerSellers there are: you’ll find quite a few. Now consider that every single one of one of them must be making at least $1,000 per month, as that’s eBay’s requirement for becoming a PowerSeller. Silver PowerSellers make at least $3,000 each month, while Gold PowerSellers make more than $10,000, and the Platinum level is $25,000. The top ranking is Titanium PowerSeller, and to qualify you must make at least $150,000 in sales every month!

The fact that these people exist gives you come idea of the income possibilities here. Most of them never set out to even set up a business on eBay – they simply started selling a few things, and then kept going. There are plenty of people whose full-time job is selling things on eBay, and some of them have been doing it for years now. Can you imagine that? Once they’ve bought the stock, everything else is pretty much pure profit for these people – they don’t need to pay for any business premises, staff, or anything else. There are multi-million pound businesses making less in actual profit than eBay PowerSellers do.

Even if you don’t want to quit your job and really go for it, you can still use eBay to make a significant second income. You can pack up orders during the week and take them down to the post office for delivery each Saturday. There are few other things you could be doing with your spare time that have anywhere near that kind of earning potential.

What’s more, eBay doesn’t care who you are, where you live, or what you look like: some PowerSellers are very old, or very young. Some live out in the middle of nowhere where selling on eBay is one of the few alternatives to farming or being very poor. eBay tears down the barriers to earning that the real world constantly puts up. There’s no job interview and no commuting involved – if you can post things, you can do it.

Put it this way: if you know where to get something reasonably cheaply that you could sell, then you can sell it on eBay – and since you can always get discounts for bulk at wholesale, that’s not exactly difficult. Buy a job lot of something in-demand cheaply, sell it on eBay, and you’re making money already, with no set-up costs.

If you want to dip your toe in the water before you commit to actually buying anything, then you can just sell things that you’ve got lying around in the house. Search through that cupboard of stuff you never use, and you’ll probably find you’ve got a few hundred dollars’ worth of stuff lying around in there! This is the power of eBay: there is always someone who wants what you’re selling, whatever it might be, and since they’ve come looking for you, you don’t even need to do anything to get them to buy it.

So you want to get started on eBay? Well, that’s great! There are only a few little things you need to learn to get started. Our next email will give you the lowdown.

About the Author:

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.

Source: www.isnare.com