I write in the book about meeting a man at a chamber event who started a business purely for the money. He had no interest or passion for what he was doing. That struck me as bizarre. Why would you want to spend all of your time doing something you cared nothing about? Turns out, lots of people do it.

I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal on http://www.wsj.com titled: Why are Women-Owned Firms Smaller Than Men-Owned Ones? They site several reasons, one of them that men “. . start businesses to be the “boss,” and they aim to grow their businesses as big as possible. Women start businesses to be personally challenged, to integrate work and family, and they want to stay at a size where they personally can oversee all aspects of the business.”

Although I do agree that women in general don’t think big enough, I have to wonder if the WSJ is getting an honest answer from their survey. Would anyone want to say, “I’m afraid of doing what is necessary to succeed in a big way?” I doubt it. I also think that many may not even be aware that that is their mindset.

That’s why you want be certain that you clearly define what success looks like to you; whether it is a growing into a big business, (remember, Bill Gates started in his garage!) or keeping a small manageable operation that provides a good living and low stress.

And remember, nothing is set in stone. It is your business. If your life and your goals change, so can your business. You’re the boss!

Today’s technology makes it easy and affordable for small or micro-businesses to appear much larger than they are. This makes it possible to land accounts that small or home-based businesses in times past could only dream about! An increasing number of people all over the world are harnessing technology and starting their own, often single-person, businesses in hopes of:

• Having more fun
• Having more time for family
• Having more control of their personal and professional lives
• Having more opportunities to exercise their own values in the marketplace
• Increasing personal and professional satisfaction and growth
• Changing or saving the world!
• Having a more balanced life
• Making more money
• In short—having more choices and more freedom!

Whatever your reason(s) for wanting to go out on your own, the trend away from huge corporations toward small business is real. And it has never been easier. Speaking from experience, however, once you’ve been in business for yourself for a while, the structured world of the “real job” with regular paychecks, regular hours, built-in support teams, and organizational goals can begin to look pretty good. Not to mention a little gossip around the water cooler.
To get many of the things you may miss about the world of “real jobs,” without having to put up with all the baggage that made you decide to leave that world in the first place, find a POW!er Partner.

A POW!er Partnership is 2 independent business people supporting each others success. Each business person keeps 100% of his or her own profits. The only thing binding this new partnership together is a strong commitment to success.