Recipe for a Successful Home Business: Gratitude, Guts and Grace

What’s the secret to running a successful home based business? I am often asked this question and I find it funny because I never bothered to ask it myself when I opened my first home business at the age of 25. I didn’t wonder if I had what it took to succeed. I didn’t give it much thought at all, which is a good thing because I may have talked myself out of it.

People have all sorts of reasons (a.k.a. excuses) for why they would fail at running a home-based business. I hear things like:

“I would go crazy at home all day! I need to interact with people.”

“My kids would never let me get anything done.”

“I don’t have the discipline; I’d get too distracted.”

Yes, these are legitimate concerns. But I want to share a secret with you. If you really want to run a home business, you already have everything you need to succeed.

It doesn’t take any more discipline, organizational skills or focus than you already have the capacity to develop. That stuff’s easy to work on. It just takes a commitment to make it work. If you think you’re “not cut out” for the home-based business life, then I encourage you to take a closer look at your heart’s desire. Because if you really do want to work from home, it’s easier than you think.

I’ve run a successful home-based business for 18 years. I have three young children, a house to keep up with and way too many volunteer responsibilities. Most of my clients have the same story. So how do we do it? My experience is that the moms who are most successful (and by that, I mean, the most profitable and happiest), are the ones who have what I call The Triple G Recipe: Gratitude, Guts and Grace.

Three Ingredients for a Successful Home Based Business

1. Gratitude. Let’s face it – the grass is always greener on the other side. It’s easy to look at the stay-at-home mom and think she has it made. Or to long for the life of the corporate cubicle dweller and forget all the things you despise about it (long commutes, rigid schedules, limited income potential and pantyhose…just to name a few). So it takes a commitment to gratitude to keep us focused on our path. Successful and happy mompreneurs start and end their day in gratitude, thanking the Lord for the blessing of a home-based business. Now that’s not so difficult to do, right?

2. Guts. This is where many of us stumble. We want to know that everything is going to work out. We want assurance that if we invest in our business and take this leap of faith, that it will be profitable. We want absolute certainty of our success. Well, guess what? Running a business is risky – that’s what makes it rewarding! And while we should exhibit wisdom and knowledge in our business ventures, what we really need is a healthy dose of guts. We need the courage to take the risks and the faith to know that if we are truly following God’s plan, we will find peace and prosperity.

3. Grace. This is the one ingredient we need to give and receive as business owners. Sometimes we are quick to give grace to employees who don’t do their job well, vendors who don’t meet deadlines and customers who make our life difficult. The most successful business owners understand when to give grace and when to stop being treated like a doormat. They also know when they need to receive grace. They are humble and willing to admit when they have made an error, behaved poorly or simply didn’t do their best. And they are open to receiving the grace of God and the mercy of others so they can learn and grow from their failures.

How do you exhibit Gratitude, Guts and Grace in your business? I’d love to hear your success story!