EnTrends

PICTURE THIS

Let's all go out to the lake for a moment. It's a beautiful mid-summer day and floating effortlessly across the water is a gorgeous snow
white swan. The water gently ripples behind him as he moves swiftly toward the shore. He is proceeding with such ease and grace
it's as if he is simply sitting back and allowing himself to be propelled by some unseen force.

Now let's look beneath the surface. There we see two webbed swan feet paddling away with such intensity that the water beneath
him is actually churning. What looks so smooth and simple on the surface is the product of diligent labor behind (beneath) the scene.

"IT MUST BE NICE!"

Quite frankly, I make a comfortable living in my home business. My family and I take several trips together each year and I enjoy that
most desirable of commodities, time freedom. People look at us and say, "It must be nice!" Their implication is that I have it so easy
while they have to slave away at a

traditional job just to make ends meet. Usually my response to this statement is, "Yes, it is nice!" And it is, but let's\ go beneath the
surface of this or any successful home business.

NO STRAIN, NO GAIN

There are two types of readers who can benefit from what I am saying here. The first is the individual who is investigating a home
business. The second is the individual who is currently working from home.

To the first I say, "Don't buy a single one of the deals that say you can get rich with no effort on your part." It just doesn't happen. In
fact, it really shouldn't happen because one of the true measures of wealth in this life is the wealth of satisfaction that results from a
job well done.

To build your business to the level you desire will take time, training and tenacity. You can do it. You can make your business
everything you ever dreamed it could be. You can be the swan that you see on the lake's surface, but there will be a great number of
little, day to day acts that you must perform in order to get there and to stay there. For instance, picking up the phone to call
prospective clients doesn't seem like much of a job, does it? Now try it after you've been told "no" for the hundredth time and have
been laughed at by friends and family. All of a sudden that telephone becomes as heavy as a thousand pound set of barbells. But you
must go on.

Then there is the day-to-day routine of answering the phone, taking care of taxes, tracking deductible expenses, etc. Each of these
tasks is a far cry from spending the day on the golf course, but they're all a part of the paddling that makes the swan float.

Now I'll address the second category of reader, the one who is currently in business from home. Yes, the going gets tough from time to
time. But suppose the swan stopped paddling in the middle of the lake. He'd stop in the middle of the lake, right? If you're in the throes
of a slow down or you're not reaching

the goals you set for your home business as quickly as you had originally intended, you may need to reassess your methods or even
redouble your efforts, but if your heart still holds the dream it cherished when you started your business, this is no time to stop. The
shoreline of your success is probably much, much closer than you realize. Paddle a little harder.

I wish I could count the number of times that I thought our business had leveled off or even dried up. On second thought, no I don't. It
would depress me. I prefer instead to think of the number of times we intensified our efforts in the face of these apparent downturns and
how every time we came out stronger and better than if these seemingly discouraging times had never happened.

A SWAN OR AN UGLY DUCKLING?

We're accustomed to hearing about the ugly duckling becoming the elegant swan. I've seen home businesses which at the outset were
given little or no chance for survival by friends and family but in time became outstanding entities. I've also seen ugly duckling start-ups
remain and die ugly ducklings. As

well, I've witnessed the home business swans revert to ugly ducklings. More often than not, the failures sabotaged themselves. Those
who succeed are those who continually and routinely do those often unglamorous, usually tedious and sometimes stress-filled tasks
that make it appear that everything comes so easy for them. They even do them (better to say, "especially" do them) when they really
don't feel like

doing them.

With regard to all the goals in life which are worth attaining, Winston Churchill said it best in his commencement speech when he simply
exhorted, "Never, never, never, never, never give up."

Keep paddling!

Michael Gifford has operated successful home businesses for

over 20 years. He currently supports himself full-time from

home. He is the owner of http://www.nobizlikehomebiz.com - an

unbiased, "business opportunity free" site dedicated to helping

people succeed in business from home. He can be reached at

expectgreatness@nobizlikehomebiz.com or by calling

770-606-9195.