Staying Motivated For Your Small Business

One of the biggest problems many small business owners have, is no one’s there to “crack the whip” and keep you working, in other words you don’t have a boss other than yourself. When you’re first starting your small business it can be very frustrating, and difficult (especially if you’re working from home, there are so many distractions).

You might put in quite a bit of work, and even cash before you get any results. So what happens if you run out of steam, and lose your motivation before your business can even get off the ground? How can you keep yourself focused on getting your business started, when it seems to be going no where?

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Here are a few suggestions to help you stay motivated, and keep moving your small business forward:

• Make sure you have a business plan, with specific goals and a time line. Then when something seems to be taking forever, and you think you’re going no where you can compare your progress to your plan. See where you’re at and keep working toward your goals.
• Give yourself little rewards along the way. Plan to reward yourself when your business achieves certain milestones. Your reward can be something as simple as taking a small break. Maybe a mini vacation, or treat yourself to a toy you’d like to have for yourself or your business.
• Stay organized! When things get messy and cluttered it can make you procrastinate and feel overwhelmed. So stay on top of the filing and keep your work space organized.
• Set a timer. On days when I’m not feeling motivated to get my work done, and I find myself slacking off I set a timer. I usually set the timer for 1 hour. During that hour I’m not allowed to do anything but work on my business to do list for that day. When the hour is up I take a little break (usually 10 to 15 minutes), then set the timer again.

I’d love to hear from you, how do you keep yourself motivated and working on achieving your small business dream?