More Habits for a Successful Home Based Business

Yesterday we covered two habits for creating a successful home based business, persistence and beginning with the end in mind. Today we are going to back up just a bit and go over what you need in order to create good habits to create a successful home based business - knowledge, skills and desire.

Stephen Covey defines a habit as, "the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire." Let's break down those three items tonight with an eye towards your home based business. You need a knowledge of what it is you want to promote or sell. Knowledge is what you may have learned through talking with other people who are currently working in the particular area you are interested in. You may have also picked up your knowledge from books on how to market, or promote your business.

Knowledge is the theoretical information. You have learned from gathering information, but at this point in time, you may or may not have the experience from the knowledge that you gathered. You have learned what to do, but you have not yet done anything with that knowledge. You need to have the knowledge of the products or services you plan on providing before beginning your home based business.

Skill is the ability to do what you have gathered in the knowledge phase. Are you effective at marketing yourself or your business? Are you good at talking with people on a stage? If it is a service you are providing, are you very experienced in providing that service? You should not be a high-wire walker if you are afraid of heights. Also, if you do not know how to clean cars effectively, going out and starting a detailing business may not be the best thing to do. You need to have the skills to do the task if you expect your home based business to grow and develop.

The third piece of this puzzle is the desire. If you have a very strong desire to do something, like start a home based business, you will find the means to get the business off the ground. If you have the knowledge and skill but no desire, your business will go nowhere. It is the desire that fuels your driving of the business, but it not just desire by itself. You may have a strong desire to be a high-wire walker, but if you do not have the skills (i.e. you are afraid of heights) you will not get very far in that chosen career. Also, if you have the desire and the skill to be a high-wire walker, but don't have the slightest idea how to do it, then again, you will not succeed in your chosen endeavor.

According to Stephen Covey, the various habits we are discussing are formed when your knowledge, skills and desire converge. You need all three in order to develop a useful habit. Otherwise, you will probably not be successful in your new business. The good news is that as you acquire knowledge, skills and desire, you will also develop better and better habits. It becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophesy, as you succeed, you work more to succeed, and that then adds more success to the equation. This is a upward spiral, and an awesome thing to experience. This upward spiral, the acquisition of knowledge, skill, desire and the subsequent habits, may not always be fun to do, but in the end, you will reap the rewards of a successful home based business.

Tomorrow we will go back to discussing more habits to help your business either become successful, or become more successful. Usually the more successful you are, you may find you can attract more income to you and other people will be attracted to you. Your success will help draw other successful people to you who you can then also learn from.

Until tomorrow...