Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.  ~David Frost

I think too often people start an on-line business looking to make a killing on line.  They hear stories that they can quit their jobs, and work their own hours and make tons and tons of money doing this.  They listen to the gurus and buy into all of the schemes hoping that this time it will work.

I believe it is the wrong approach to starting your own business.  I have had several businesses in the past and they have all sprung out of doing something that I love.  In the early 70’s to the mid 80’s I ran an Antique business that allowed me to buy things that I loved, research things that I knew only a little about, and keep those things I could not live without and make a profit on those that I could.  It was a great business for a collector and lover of Antiques.  Because I loved it so much, I enjoyed all aspects of it, the buying and the research and the selling.  I was able to succeed at something that I loved and turn it into a business.

I did the same thing when one day at a quilt store I saw the most beautiful lamp shade.  I had to make one for myself, so I figured out how to do it, without taking a class, and it really came out well.  Other people saw the shade and loved it and wanted one.  I loved making them and soon was making them and putting them on Antique jugs and was able to sell them along with my Antiques.  I had again found a way to turn something I love, crafts, into a business.  It was fun, and because it was fun it was not a labor, but something I loved doing.  They were easy to sell, and the selling of something I made gave me a satisfaction that you cannot get from selling something else.

My love of crafts is what started me in my Art Rubber Stamp business.  I had taken a 2 hour class in Rubber Stamping in 1993 and fell in love with it. I was buying just about every stamp that I thought was interesting that I could find.  It was only a few months later that I started to research how to manufacture them and started my own line of stamps with my daughter Laura.  That line is still going today and we now have over 3000 images.  I loved stamping and crafts and it seemed natural to turn it into a business.

Even though you are doing what you love, it is still a lot of hard work.  In the last case, we had to design the product, make the product and then sell the product.  We put in long hours and every single week went over 40 hours.  It was not a quick get rich scheme, it was and still is a lot of hard work.  Yes, I can work the hours I want to work, so that is a big plus.

This is true in anything you attempt for a business.  You have to love what you are doing.  If you are miserable, it will be no different than working for someone else.  You will take it out on family and friends and even worse you will take it out on yourself.

If you are thinking about your own start up, think about what you love.  If you love the internet, then you will like a business that is related to it.  If you love crafts, there are lots of items you can make and sell on line on a craft site or even your own site.  If you love writing, there are lots of marketers looking for freelance writers.  Whatever it is that you love, that is where you should look to start thinking about your own business.

Owning your own business can really be a joy.  That is the secret to it though, you have to allow yourself to have fun with it and to be challenged by it. I know I am every day, and I look forward to the new challenges now as I develop with my daughter our new sites and our new businesses.