Why Do So Many Home Based Businesses Fail?

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 28th, 2010

Have you tried running your own home based business before? If you have, you are probably aware that a large percentage of home based businesses fail within a year's time. For many entrepreneurs, it's much sooner. At the same time, you probably know that the average successful home based business entrepreneur makes more money than the average employee. How do the successful entrepreneurs do it? Why are they the minority?

Well, the answer is quite simple. Each and every business model requires selling. Do you personally enjoy selling? If the answer is No, then you're not alone. Just ask 20 people on any busy street if they enjoy sales. 18 or 19 will tell you No. The fact is, most people dislike the sales process. This is quite natural, and there is absolutely no reason to feel inadequate if you want to own your own home based business, but hate sales.

Now think about this: Apparently you do not dislike sales people. And you know why? Because you and I normally buy stuff. We buy lots of stuff. Each and every item that we purchase requires a sales transaction. Now if you recently purchased cable TV service, you had to interact with a professional sales person. Did you dislike the cable TV representative? Of course not! The cable TV representative had a valuable service that you were willing and able to purchase. That is one of the reasons your transaction went so smoothly. But there is more to it than that.

It is not a coincidence that the cable TV sales representative made you feel good about your decision to purchase. The most successful sales people and sales organizations spend lots of time and money on self improvement, because they know that their personal development is directly proportionate to their sales success. Just ask any highly successful sales professional what or who they turn to for personal development, imitate them, and you will have opened your mind to an entire new way of thinking. Make it a routine to take in personal development material on a daily basis, apply it to your home based business. The odds are that you will join the elite minority that succeed in a home based business.

Now that we know that selling is OK, do you feel like becoming a professional sales person to support your home based business? If not, that's OK. You can do the next best thing. In fact, this particular 'thing' may be a superior model for you to follow: Hire your own professional sales staff.

Now if you're thinking 'Wow, that's a great idea' then you are probably familiar with the concept of leverage. Leverage in business means, very simply, that you get someone or something else to duplicate your efforts. Take your cable TV provider for example. The board of directors is smart enough to hire talented sales people to speak with potential customers. They feel great about the business, passionate about their products, but they still hire professionals to close the sales.

So there is your formula for success in a home based business. Become a sales professional, or hire your own professional sales staff. It has worked in every capitalist civilization in the past, and there's absolutely no reason that it wouldn't work for you.