I cannot overemphasize the importance of collaboration when it comes to floating and running your home-based businesses. Sometimes, it takes the ideas and inputs of two or more people to brainstorm ideas and business plans before you can come up with the very best ideas and strategies that can fly without crashing. Most of the success stories you hear today which began with home-based businesses worked well because two or more good thinkers with good ideas came together and started something. Many women do it with their boyfriend or a family member, and I can heartily recommend something similar. The great thing about starting with someone else is that you eliminate some of the challenges/cons that come with working alone, e.g., loneliness and lack of motivation.
Let's see how you can go about finding the best people to collaborate with:
· Start with your friends
While it is possible for you to have the home based business idea of the century, liaising with someone with a great sense among your circle of friends has proved to be another great way you can generate the business idea you need to create the success you want from home.
Therefore, engage your colleagues, classmates, and friends in business discussions. Take time off every activity you engage in with friends who do not show any sign of desiring the type of life you want. You should make new friends and spend more time with people who are always thinking and talking about how to be their bosses, how to attain financial independence and how to make a huge success working from home.
I didn't succeed with my home-based businesses in the beginning because I was a CEO of a quite a big organization. Most of the ideas, which helped me breakthrough with my home-based business ideas came either from seminars or interactions with friends. There are those friends who seem to be natural generators of the most fantastic business ideas. Some drop business ideas on a per-minute-basis even when they don't wish to pursue them immediately! During your interaction with such people, you will hear them talk about how lucrative this business is, how it will be great to invest in that idea, and what they would have loved to get involved in if they had the skills, capital or whatever the particular business requires to start.
Ideas can drop when you least expect them, and from there, you can bring up the issue of your desire to invest in that plan with them. If they have a unique approach and you have the money, skills or office space, collaborate with them and create the success you need. There is no need for selfishness here because you can't go far with such attitude. Don't steal anyone's idea either, let them know that the ideas they have are great and that you will love to be a part of it. Sometimes they may not be interested in pursuing a career along that line, and that makes your task easier. However, once they show interest in the partnership, start talking and draw out the business plans. You can begin your home-based business journey in a team of two or more; that won't in any way stop you from pursuing your dreams and creating your business ideas and working with them.
Working from home, would you prefer working alone or in a small group? Please comment!
· Look at neighboring firms and industries
Apart from the business ideas you gain from workshops and seminars, another significant benefit that comes with participating in as many as possible, especially those organized within the confines of your industry and in line with your business interests is: you will have the opportunity to interact with other great minds from sister companies. You may not find the right people with the right ideologies with whom you can start your home based business as a team in your present place of work. However, your chances of finding the right people with the right ideas increases when you meet more people. Every opportunity you get to meet and talk with people who are not under employees of your present organization is a chance to find someone with whom you can kick-start that home-based business you have been dreaming about for so long.
If there are no such opportunities where you work, initiate them. Organize an event with the approval of your management and send out invitations to other employees of organizations in your industry. For instance, you could be a banker with an interest in starting a home-based forex business during the weekends. Get the management to agree to organize a fiscal workshop for employees and let some customers and friends from other banks attend. You could arrange a sales workshop and invite sales representatives from other firms to be in attendance. During such events, make as many new acquaintances as possible. Exchange contacts with them and start talking. Ask them what they would do if they were not employees of their present employer. Discuss retirement plans and other related issues. If such physical workshops aren't possible where you work, create an online forum and make sure you get the information out for others to join. This way, you will get to know those who think along the same lines with you and find time to hang out with them to share ideas and opinions.
Now it is time to make a list of your different ideas. I will talk about that in the next chapter.
See you there on Friday.
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