for those who love entrepreneurs...

for those who love us....

"Slide into bed with an entrepreneur, and you wind up cuddling his/her business. At a certain point, the entrepreneur's spouse has to answer the question: Are you in or are you out? In for as long as it takes to succeed? In for what is potentially a lifetime of financial risk? Or out of patience, out of tolerance, out of your mind with stress and the bitterness of dreams deferred? The entrepreneur doesn't pose the question overtly, but the spouse does answer it, by giving or withholding support, warmth and encouragement-the manifestations of love." -Meg Cadoux Hirshberg, Balancing Marriage and Business: When your marriage is hitched to a business, life is one long test of allegiance from companyofprayer.com

Do you have a good, working and encouraging support system? Some of you may and I consider you blessed...for those of us who have none or have dysfunctional ones...I offer the following thoughts:

There are several essential ingredients of the entrepreneur work-from-home success formula:

1. Support of your family, especially from your spouse or partner,
   
2. Passion, passion, passion,
   
3. Clear vision of business, and
   
4. Are comfortable with risk. 

A budding entrepreneur is often advised to remain flexible - these items are not. These are the non-negotiables. The ‘musts’ to succeed when things get rough and cash flow is small or non-existent. And at the top of the list is support from your family! 

Deciding to make the leap to self-employment is never easy, especially if it involves leaving employment with benefits position. Add in the work-from-home element or the mother element, and it suddenly gets much harder. 

Starting a business is stressful under the best of circumstances. Add being a mother to the mix is even more so. Trying to do it without the support and full buy-in from your spouse and other significant family members or friends, you’re almost guaranteed to struggle. 

A lot has been written about what you need to succeed as a home-based entrepreneur. From my experience, as well as the many clients I have mentored through this process, getting a new business off the ground can be the most frustrating and lonely period of your life. 

Even with burning passion, supreme confidence in the concept and a strong belief in the market potential, I often encountered huge resistance and sometimes laughter when I shared my ‘ground-breaking’ idea! During this laborious birthing process I had little or no support from my family and, in fact, a lot of my old friendships fell away. 

Those who remained gave fleeting moments of support or a shoulder to cry on. But, the turning point came when I found a paid personal coach and an unpaid spiritual director who walked with me throughout the entire process and helped me transform into the successful spiritual businessperson I am today. 

Those who are blessed enough to have an encouraging environment as they build and shape their business rarely realize their good fortune until much later. Mostly because they are so focused on creation, but also because they have a safe place to fall when everything seems ready to collapse, and it will. 

Having people in your corner in the early stages of launching a business is both comforting and cost-effective. Don’t despair if you are launching alone. You can find a critical support team who will serve as the emotional backers and/or advisors you need. Hire a coach or find a mentor. Join organizations with like-minded people who will often be a cheerleader or expert for you if you return the favor. Or you can join or start a mastermind group. You can also hire experts, tech support and even a virtual assistant to free you to do what you do best…birth a business.