When you decide to start a home-based business, there is one key ingredient that you must make absolutely sure you add to the mix. Commitment. Without it, the recipe for success is incomplete, and you will leave yourself exposed to the risk of failure.
A business is essentially a relationship, and as with all relationships, it requires dedication. The difference is that 99% of the commitment must come from you. It is not reciprocal because your business cannot be committed to you. Whether this is achieved through relationships with your clients, your partners or your suppliers, you must put forth your efforts fully, or things start to fall apart. This is not to say that you have to work 20 hours per day, 7 days per week (see Pitfall #1). I’m simply saying that when you contribute to the business, make sure that you give 110%.
Let me give you an example of what I have experienced when my dedication to the business faltered. A few years back, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We were both self-employed at the time, and because of his surgery and subsequent treatments, he was unable to work to earn income. I was forced to pick up the slack and perform the work of two people to ensure the income level did not drop. During this time, I was also enrolled in training courses which I had to continue to participate in. In addition to taking care of my husband during his illness, I was also responsible for caring for our two young children and running the household. To put the icing on the cake, I became pregnant with our third child.
Given the situation, it is easy to see that my time and energy were stretched very thin, and there were many days where I just wanted to curl up in bed, close the blinds and sleep for a very, very long time. Unfortunately, I was not able to do this because I was needed by someone, every minute of every day. I became sleep deprived, my weight dropped to the lowest it had been since my early twenties, and ultimately, I began to neglect my responsibilities when it came to our business.
Thankfully, *most* of our clients understood what we were going through, and provided us with enough slack to focus on our health and our family. However, this was not the case with one client. Now, I have to be honest and in his defence, he was not fully aware of what we were going through. I was doing everything in my power to leave my personal life out of the business, and carry on as if everything was fine. I was trying to maintain a level of professionalism with this particular client for two reasons: he was a relatively new client and because of this fact, I honestly did not feel he would be as understanding as the others. The second reason was that it was a very large contract for us and I did not want to run the risk of losing it because, now more than ever, we needed the income.
Looking back, I probably should have explained the situation to the client, as I’m sure he would have understood why my commitment to him was not 110%. I did not return his phone calls right away, I missed deadlines with projects, and I basically dropped the ball. However, when he was no longer receiving the attention he warranted, he simply severed our relationship. My first instinct was to explain what had been going on in our lives and beg for a second chance, but I ultimately decided that it was best to let him go. I did not wish to play the “poor me” card, and agreed to terminate our contract. It was a tough pill for me to swallow, as it was a revenue loss in excess $16,000, however, it taught me a very valuable lesson.
Regardless of how much effort you put into the business, make sure that your efforts are the best they can be. If you are going to commit to something, commit to it fully and never over-commit to anything that might jeopardize your business practice.
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