Home Business Entrepreneurship 101 - Learning Is Useless Without Action

When I first got started as a home business entrepreneur, there was no shortage of opportunities to get training and instruction on how to run it successfully. The company I worked with offered hours of training every day. More than I could read or listen to and definitely more than I could absorb and implement. In fact, I saw a lot of people around me doing more home business training than home business building. As you might guess, they became very knowledgeable broke people. Do you know the difference? Not learning this distinction will cost you a fortune.

From my experience, the purpose of home business training and education is not knowledge. It's action. What good is learning if you do not apply what you have learned to get the desired result?

The secret to home business success? There is no secret anymore. Those who have been successful are usually very open about how they did it. Why? First, they understand that there is enough money and opportunity for everyone to prosper. Second, they know that 9 out of 10 people they train will not apply what they have learned and therefore will never be a threat of any kind.

When you are getting started in a new business, it is exciting. It can also be a little bit overwhelming once you figure out how much there is to learn. It seems like there is a lot to remember. Many new home business entrepreneurs react to this by finding ways to stay busy without doing anything productive to move their business forward. Doing "research" is a common way to stay busy without moving your business forward at all. Researching advertising, researching prospecting, researching team building, etc. At the end of the day, you haven't done anything to potentially put money in your pocket.

There are countless ways to advertise, prospect and network. Some will be a fit for you and some won't. You have to evaluate whether or not it fits in your schedule, budget, etc. To be successful, you will absolutely need to learn a new skill set and some of the activities you spend your time on absolutely should give you butterflies in your stomach. Butterflies in your stomach let you know that you are moving outside your comfort zone and stretching yourself as an entrepreneur and person. Examine your daily activities. If you are comfortable with everything you are doing, chances are you aren't making much progress with your business.

It's simple to determine if what you are doing is home business building or home business training. When you look back on your day, what activities did you engage in to move your business forward (i.e. did you sharpen all the pencils on your desk and rearrange your office or did you speak to five prospect/customers about your product?).

Examples of staying busy: arranging your desk, ordering business cards, researching advertising possibilities that you do not immediately implement. Training should be a cornerstone of your business, but not to the exclusion of the things that bring in income. Listening to training calls or recordings, researching advertising possibilities and the like are essential, but only to enhance your money making activities, not instead of them.

Examples of taking action: Placing advertisments, speaking to leads or customers, providing support for others in your enterprise.

If you are spending a lot of time on your business with little income to show for it, this is a great exercise to pinpoint the problem.

It comes down to this - It is a great deal easier (and more comfortable) to train than to take action. If you are always comfortable in your business, you are most likely not moving yourself forward.

Never forget that you learn so that you can take action. Here's how you do that. Learn something, then immediately apply it. Use what works and discard the rest. Repeat. Soon you will develop an arsenal of tools to help you become a successful home business owner.