Are You Creating a Job For Yourself or Building a Real Business?

Starting your own business is relatively straightforward. Most people have it in them to take the necessary steps towards self-employment. However, not everyone can make a livable income from their efforts. Even fewer are able to get past the owner/operator, one-man show stage.

While you may argue that some individuals have an unfair advantage by having the necessary capital to start and maintain a thriving business, money is not everything. There are many examples of entrepreneurs starting from nothing and growing million dollar businesses. In fact, there are many in-demand businesses that can be started for under $1000. Some, you can even start for a few hundred.

So how can one person starting with nothing more than a squeegee, a bucket, and a beat up van grow their window cleaning business into a thriving corporation with a commercial location, the best/biggest contracts in town, dozens of employees, and several trucks on the road? What separates this person from the individual who starts out the same, but succeeds in only creating a full-time job for themselves?

Have you maxed out your income potential? Do you find yourself working 12 hour days and making less than you did as an employee? If you weren’t able to work (or had to reduce your workload), would your business survive? Would you survive?

Here’s a question you should ask yourself: Is there any residual income built into my business? Residual income is income created as a result of something you have built up over time. It is income that is produced without any further effort on your part. If you’re working for every dollar you are making, chances are you’re not receiving any residual income from your business.

In fact, your biggest problem may be that you’re still operating with an employee mindset. Yes, you own your own business, but you have really only created a job for yourself.

Alternatively, people who concentrate on building their business instead of working in it, have the right mindset to leverage their resources and build something of true value: namely, residual income.