The Accidental Business

I have obtained a couple of (free) audio programs that can be obtained from the website of Bob Proctor, one of the teachers on the book and movie The Secret. I enjoy listening to it because it makes and explains two very important points:

1. You are generally paid in this world according to the value that you provide, so if you wish to be paid more you have to find a way to provide increased value, or the same value to more people. Combine this with the following quote from Robert Kiyosaki: Money always flows to the Leader. If you want more money, become more of a Leader.

2. You can and should have multiple streams of income. Your creative thought should be placed on how you could develop your next one without adversely effecting any of the current one(s).

Well, with these ideas flowing around in my mind, I have been sort of keeping my eyes open for something that I might enjoy doing that could become an additional source of income for me.

And I attribute the fact that I was looking for what happened next. Now I had been looking for a while, and I had run across a couple of things, but the learning curve was too high and I did not really know how to do them.

Then one day, about a month ago, I saw someone posting in our community group about how they were looking for someone to help them with their computer, because they were at their wits end! I had seen messsages like this before and kind of ignored them, but this time I thought I should reply.

So I did. I replied stating that I had a business where I helped people with their computers, and that I had a special rate for the group members per hour. I was not necessairly expecting anything to come of it, but I did reply.

Well I got my first call the very next day. The next call that same day as well. Neither call was from the person who had posted at first asking for help, but both had learned about me from this community mailing list. It helps that this community mailing list has more than 1000 members.

Since I have 17 years of experience in all kinds of tech support, and currently work supporting network operating systems and other very complex pieces of software, helping folks with their home computers is like a breath of fresh air. I am really able to do something for them that they are not able to do for themselves, I can make some money at it, but the most important part of all is how I go home from every job feeling great because I have used my talents and provided some real value to other folks which they were only too happy to pay me for.

You see, I had my doubts about whether I had much to offer folks that they would be willing to pay for. I grew up in the work for someone else world and almost everyone else I know is militantly in the work for someone else world and it took some effort on my part to change my thinking some to believe that people would actually be willing to pay me.

Well I have ten customers now, less than 30 days later. All of them have been very happy to pay me for what I have been able to do for them. I guess when you save their data that they thought was lost it makes them really happy. But again the best part is that I have a blast doing it! I am meeting neighbors in my area that I would have never had a chance to meet otherwise.

Now I could not start this so successfully if I did not have some clue what I was doing, and this is where the things I have learned as a result of my wife's Network Marketing business are paying off. I never figured out how to sponsor anyone, but I did learn several things that one needs to do to run their own business. Like how and when to follow up with someone.

I share all of this to make two points. This has worked so well for me for two specific reasons:

1. I was looking for something

2. I was learning the basics of running a personal business before I had found one I could do.

I believe that everyone, and that means everyone, should be looking for a business that they could do from their home on a part time basis to start. Something that they are talented in and enjoy doing. There are things that we need to learn that just cannot be learned in any other way.

So what are you good at doing?

Joseph