Starting a Home Based Business & The Price of Procrastination

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Did you know procrastination has a price tag … particularly when  starting a home based business?

Furthermore is could be costing you in more ways than one.

You see, this last week I’ve spent some time reviewing some of the ‘interviews’ I’ve had with people who have contacted me about getting started on a home bases business.

I found it amazing  how many people confessed that they have ‘thought’ about starting a home based business for quite a while.  In fact one fellow told me he has been ‘thinking’ about it “for a very long time” – his “long time” happens to be over 4 years!

There have been others who have told me they’ve been ‘looking’ for months, and some who said they considered getting started a few years ago, but put the idea on the back burner, and are now revisiting the possibilities.

Can you imagine how costly this might have been?  Imagine what they ‘might’ have earned during this time if they had only stopped “thinking” and started doing!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know we all procrastinate from time to time.  I do it too.  There are some things I just don’t know ‘how’ to do, and the thoughts of having to learn it are daunting.

For example, I’m not all that techy.  Granted I have learned a lot these last few years, i.e.: erecting a few blogs, learning HTML, and many other things I never thought I’d ever do.

While I know I do have the ability to learn these other tasks, I don’t always know who to ask, sometimes I feel like I might be inconveniencing those who do if I ask, and other times it just seems like too much work, especially when there are other things to do that feel easier and more exciting.  When it comes right down to it though, it’s all a poor excuse and I know it.

The problem is, we always pay a price for procrastination, even if it’s not pertaining to business.

We might procrastinate on tidying the house, or cleaning a closet.  Sometimes these things just seem to take more energy than we ‘feel’ we want to exert, so we choose to do something easier or perhaps more attractive at the time.

The thing is whatever we choose NOT to do, loom over us like a dark cloud.  We never become free of the thought… especially if its something that deep inside we know we should do… or it’s something we want to do.

We almost always find that once we get started on “dreaded” task, it’s not nearly as unpleasant as we think it will be and it often it moves quicker and more smoothly than we anticipate. 

Furthermore, at the end of it or even if we’ve only chipped away at it, we usually feel awesome and wished we’d have started sooner!

This goes for starting a home based business.  If we have no experience, we never know ‘how” to start right off the bat and there always feels to be ‘so much’ to learn.

What you have to remember though, if this is your fear, is that nobody starts knowing it all, and we have to learn in steps in order to progress.

We always get better and improve along the way… so why not start now?  In a month from now, you’ll be over the initial hurdle and getting better as each day passes!

I find a helpful motivator to consider when stalling on getting started, is to imagine what it might be costing you monetarily!

If its not bad enough that the fact you haven’t started might be niggling you,  it can be almost scary to look back a few years later when so much time has passed and imagine where we could have been and what we ‘might’ have earned.

Even I ‘wish’ I had started much earlier… and while I didn’t have a problem with procrastination when it came to starting my business, I still wish I had the insight to know how fulfilling it can be and how much further ahead I might have been.

As I’ve mentioned, we all do it, and quite often, our reasons are similar.  I find that people procrastinate due to the following:

Lack of knowledge, which brings on the fear of failure, which brings on the fear of possible effects on our self esteem … and often we worry about what others might think “if” we don’t succeed.

In order to calm these thoughts, I would like to suggest a few things:

If you really want to start an online business, you really need to address the reasons why… also known as your BIG WHY.

For me, it was to provide a wonderful life for my children and have the ability to stay at home and remain present in their growing years.  To me, that is important enough to brush any uncertainty to the side and dive in head long!

Though your reasons might be different than mine, I’m guessing that they are equally as important to you.

The second step is to calm your inner critic and abolish all limiting beliefs.  You simply must realize that nobody has instant knowledge, and if others can succeed, so can you.  It really is a matter of working on your mindset and building your self esteem.

Worrying about what others think should never be a factor.  This is about you and nobody else.

Third, realize there are people who are more than willing to help you (I’m one of them!).  I find working online is a wonderful way to meet people, and you would be amazed at the generosity and assistance that is available to you.  Even at this stage of the game, I still have to remind myself of this, and reach out occasionally and ask for help with some things

Fourth, Ask yourself “what harm could there possibly be in starting a home based business?”  I am sure you will realize there is no harm at all; in fact I am sure you will find there are so many positives and life enhancing opportunities instead.

Fifth, alleviate overwhelm and recognize that although you have to learn a few skills, you will learn much faster once you start.  Remind yourself you do not have to learn everything instantaneously.  Simply make a list and start to tackle one small step at a time.

Once you start to put one foot I front of the other, you will find that you will be crossing the hurdles off your list a lot faster than if you remain stagnant.  Even baby steps give you a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and dissipate that feeling of ‘stress’ almost immediately.

Once the ball is rolling, it will start to pick up speed.  You will then find you might be kicking yourself wondering why allowed yourself to be stuck in a rut and why you didn’t do it sooner.

I know procrastination is human nature, but the only way to move forward is to kick it to the curb.

For all you know, you may have missed out of thousands of dollars that you ‘could’ have been earning if you had only turned your thoughts to action.

There really is no time like the present to start a home based business and these days even ‘lack of money’ can’t be used as an excuse either.  There are so many low cost business ideas for shoestring budgets, that can at get you off to the races with minute capital outlay.

If you need some help or suggestions to move you forward and end procrastination NOW… contact me at any time and let’s get you on your way to an exciting new beginning.

I would also love to hear your comments on how procrastination affects you, and what price you feel you might have paid in the past.  I’d also be interested to learn how you tackle it today, or how you managed to break free to make some positive life changes.

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