Many of the articles on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com are focused on entrepreneurship, personal development and self improvement. Why? Because starting any business requires an enormous amount of motivation and discipline in order to succeed.
The concepts of running most businesses are not difficult to grasp. Anyone can pick up a book and read about the mechanics of starting and running a business on their own. But why do so many people fail even though they have the necessary knowledge?
What sets apart the good entrepreneurs from the bad ones is their strength of will, perseverance, and willingness to adapt to the current situation. A common misconception is that good products make for a successful business or company. On the contrary, it’s all about the people who run the business that make the difference.
I hope that some of these articles will provide the necessary drive and inspiration for your business to succeed.
Starting A Business: Convincing Yourself To Take Action And The Key To Behavioral Change
I’ve been writing this blog and helping would be entrepreneurs for nearly two years now and one thing I’ve discovered is that you can’t really push someone to take the entrepreneurial plunge. Either you have the desire to start your own business or you don’t and most people can’t get over the uncertainty that’s...
10 Ways To Mitigate Risk When Starting An Online Store Or Business
When most people think about entrepreneurship or starting their own business, the first thing that comes to mind is the risk that is associated with being your own boss. Perhaps that is why entrepreneurship is such an exhilarating and sexy term. It takes guts to go out on your own.
Photo By Better Than...
Why Every Business Needs A Duct Tape Entrepreneur
Whenever I think of duct tape, I think of my favorite television superhero MacGyver. What?!? There’s a ticking time bomb set to explode in 10 seconds? Take that stick of chewing gum, some duct tape and disarm that bad boy. It wasn’t always pretty, but MacGyver always got the job done...
Why Most Online Businesses Fail And Why You Should Start One Anyways
Starting and running a successful small business does not require intellect so much as it requires common sense and perseverance. Don’t get me wrong, starting a business is hard but the reason most people fail is not because they aren’t smart enough but because they don’t follow through or they get distracted and...
What Type Of Entrepreneur Do You Want To Be?
The other day, I came across a heated forum discussion that went back and forth debating over the definition of a “true” entrepreneur versus just a regular small business owner. The thread was over 5 pages long and participating in this discussion were a wide variety of different business owners. Some of them...
Why These Businesses Aren’t Getting My Referral Even Though They Did A Good Job
Ever since my wife and I bought our new home, we’ve been using a variety of contractors to help change a few things around the house. For example, we had new tile and carpets put in, changed the layout of the house a little bit and had the outside of the house painted as...
Stop Thinking You Are Going To Fail Just Because Someone Says You Should
Many would be entrepreneurs don’t start their own venture because they are afraid of failure. And quite frankly, they have every right to be afraid. After all, we are constantly bombarded by vague sayings like “9 out of every 10 startups fail” or “chalk up your first startup as a learning experience”, or...
Why Being Frugal Can Only Take You So Far On Your Path To Wealth
In order to build wealth effectively, we all have to be frugal to a certain extent. We have to watch our spending. We have to analyze our expenditures and cut back on the fat. We have to make sacrifices to make sure that we can save enough money for college and retirement.
Photo...
How Much The Average American Can Save On Taxes By Having A Business
Many would be entrepreneurs hesitate to start their own business because they think it is too risky from a monetary perspective. In fact, most people don’t think starting a business is even worth trying unless they can come up with a grand slam profitable idea. Of course profitability is an extremely...
What Running A Business And Having A Baby Have In Common And Why It Matters
As many of you know, my wife and I recently gave birth to our second child Kyle. It’s only been about a month but we’ve already discovered that taking care of Kyle has been drastically different from taking care of our first child. For one thing, we are much more confident this time...
How To Find Time To Start A Side Business
Whenever I mention to anyone that I work a full time job, help my wife run our online store and maintain MyWifeQuitHerJob.com all while having two kids in the house, one of the first questions I always get is how I find the time to do all of these things.
Photo by Morbuto
Believe it or not,...
Things You Must Consider Before Starting Your Own Business
I’ve heard a ton of business ideas. I’ve listened to and read many business plans. And the one thing that always strikes me is how little most people think about the viability, profitability and end goals of their small business. Is the goal to become a millionaire? Is the goal to...
Prevent Your Online Store From Becoming a Money Pit By Learning Some Basic Skills
“I have no idea how to create and manage my own website and I have absolutely no interest in learning either. I’m just going to hire someone or pay for a service.”
Believe it or not, most people that I encounter who want to create their own online store or business have this attitude. ...
Starting Your Own Business Does Not Have To Be Risky
When most people think about starting a company or business, they think of the Microsofts, the Googles and the YouTubes of the world. They tend to think big because the media focuses on these multi-million dollar success stories and over glamorizes the risks and rewards.
Photo by MarkyBon
In fact, the media tends to portray entrepreneurs...
Step 0: The Key To Quitting Your Job For Good
This is a guest post by A-ron who quit his job over 2 years ago because he decided that cubicle life was just not right for him. He now shares his wisdom over at his blog So I Quit My Job and I highly recommend checking it out.
I’d like to think...
Are You A Cruise Control Addict?
For the past few years, our online wedding linens store has been a cash machine. The store website hasn’t required much work at all and sales have been more or less on autopilot. Each and everyday, orders come in, orders get packed and money is deposited into our bank account.
Photo by Gibsonclaire
In effect,...
A Less Scary Way to Look at Self-Employment
Every entrepreneur takes their own unique path and it’s always interesting to hear things from a different perspective . In this guest post by Jack Busch, Jack tells his story of how he became self-employed. Jack is a freelance writer and blogger specializing in debt loans, personal finance and credit cards and...
What Does It Take To Get You Off Your Butt?
Having recently finished writing 2 multi-part guides on how to start a small business and how to create a profitable online store, I must say that it felt good to get all of that information out on paper. Creating these guides was extremely satisfying for me on so many levels and allowed me to...
Habits Of Successful Entrepreneurs That I’ve Witnessed Personally
I’m not sure why, but my stumbleupon toolbar has been sending me mostly articles lately on entrepreneurship. In just the past few days alone, I’ve probably read more than 5 or 6 articles focusing strictly on the traits of successful entrepreneurs.
Even though I love articles about entrepreneurship, after reading just a few of these...
Did You Really Try? Or Did You Just Give Up?
“Oh yeah, I tried being an entrepreneur a few years back but it was just too hard.”
“I tried the whole blogging thing but couldn’t get it off the ground”
“I tried learning how to program PHP but I never could get the hang of it”
I don’t know why, but lately I’ve become increasingly sensitive to people...
How To Make Time Equal Money 24 Hours A Day
I never understood how the phrase “Time is money” could ever apply to my life. After all, no one was paying me 24 hours a day so how could my free time possibly translate to money? How could wasting time watching television or playing video games cost me anything when no one was...
How Working From Home Has Helped Me Get Through the Recession
This is a guest post by Kathryn Vercillo. Kathryn is a writer for Promotionalcodes.org.uk which gives away free coupon codes and also publishes a save money blog. She quit her day job long ago so she could work from home and discusses why she is now better able to cope with the recession...
Should You Stay At Your Cushy Job?
You may have experienced this pattern before. You start a brand new job and work extremely hard in the beginning to establish yourself and your reputation. At first, the nature of the work is extremely challenging. You are constantly learning and trying to keep up with your coworkers. You find yourself staying...
Reader Response: Overcoming Negative Thoughts About Starting A Business
This particular reader was feeling a bit discouraged about her situation so I thought that I would try to lend a few words of encouragement. A, Thank you for emailing me. This post is for you.
I have been following your blog for about 3 months now, I work retail so I absolutely love...
Do You Feel Stuck At Your Job Because Of The Economy?
I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of people bitch about their jobs. And honestly, I’m getting a little tired of it. “I hate going to work, but I gotta to pay the bills somehow.” “I want to change jobs, but I’m afraid of getting laid off.”...
Things About Our Business That Didn’t Go According To Plan
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from starting our online wedding linens business, it’s that good planning can only get you so far. You can spend hours and hours putting together the most intricate and well thought out plan only to have it blow up in your face because of one false assumption.
In...
Is Your Business Just a Job?
A reader emailed the other day asking whether our business could continue to function if my wife and I took an extended vacation away from it all. He then followed up that question with a proclaimation stating that our business was really just a J-O-B disguised as a true business.
“A business is only real...
The 6th Age Of A Business – Leadership
I’m proud to present a guest post from Dragos Roua. He’s doing something extremely unique here today. Dragos has put together a 7 part series on the 7 stages of a business all to be simultaneously published on 7 different entrepreneurship blogs. And I’m proud to be one of the 7 blogs...
Entrepreneurship Doesn’t Have To Be About The Next Big Thing
I admit it. I used to be ashamed of telling other people about our wedding linens business. When we first opened our online store, not only did we not receive many orders in the first 4-6 months, but the idea of opening an online wedding linens store seemed almost silly compared to what...
Growing Pains That We Are Experiencing With Our Online Business
There’s a point with every successful business where the level of sales slowly begins to exceed the infrastructure required to support it. While this generally indicates that business is good and fundamentally strong, the volume of customer support issues can be overwhelming especially if you don’t have the necessary manpower or capital equipment.
Overwhelmed is...
How Giving Up $70,000 a Year is the Right Financial Choice
This is a guest post from David Ning, who runs a well established personal finance blog aimed at helping people spend responsibly, invest intelligently and live happily.
In fact, David’s blog at www.MoneyNing.com was one of the first blogs that inspired me to start a blog of my own. So it is a great honor...
Powerful Quotes And Why They Resonate With Me
Starting and running any small business requires inspiration and constant dedication. But maintaining a high level of intensity can be extremely difficult at times especially when things don’t go as planned.
Whenever I’m down about my business, I always take a step back and look for outside sources of inspiration. Sometimes just talking to...
What Motivates Me And Why I Love Running Our Business
My wife and I run an online wedding linens store and I absolutely love the products that we have to offer. I love weddings and the clientele I interact with on a day to day basis. I love helping customers make their weddings special.
But I’ll be honest with you. While I...
Starting A Business Is Like Asking Out A Girl For The First Time
Perhaps it’s due to the bad economy, but many of my friends lately have become increasingly frustrated with their day jobs. Taking an informal poll, over 80% of them would much rather be working for themselves than for their current employers. Of these 80%, many of them are staying at their current...
Mental Tips On How To Start A Business For Lazy People
Most people are lazy. When it comes to doing something relaxing and leisurely versus something you consider work, your inclination is to always choose the path of least resistance. That is why it is so difficult to make progress on any project even though deep down you truly want to do it.
Take it...
How We Stopped Short Of Becoming Lazy Pieces Of Crap
I admit it. I’m a lazy person at heart. If I’m watching television and I can’t find the remote, I’ll watch whatever channel happens to be on. If I have a craving for a certain food but have to cook it myself, I’ll just eat leftovers instead. If I’m lying in...
Are You Stuck In A Mental Rut With Your Small Business? Learn How We Got Out
Every entrepreneur has gone through it at least once. It’s not pleasant. It’s not fun. But things will go wrong and you will feel like quitting.
Especially early on when your business is fragile, it doesn’t take much to get yourself into a rut. It could be something as simple as...
Your Small Business: 3 Ways To Take Advantage Of Being Small
One of the many worries of starting your own business is getting stomped on by large hulking competitors in your market space. Large companies have more money, more manpower and more resources so how could a small business possibly compete?
First of all, if you are trying to go head on against a large company,...
Starting Your Own Business: How To Improve Your Luck
Every business requires a little bit of luck in order to be successful. Most of the time, it’s a matter of timing or being at the right place at the right time. But do you ever wonder how some people keep getting lucky over and over again? It might just be a...
Healthy Sacrifices We Made To Start Our Online Business
There are only 24 hours in a day so something in your schedule usually has to give in order to find the time to start your own business. When my wife and I first started our online business, both of us had full time jobs which left only about 3 hours of free time...
Starting Your Own Business: Do You Have To Risk Your Life Savings?
Most people think that starting their own business has to be an expensive endeavor. While it is true that many successful entrepreneurs self-fund their startups by racking up massive debt on their credit cards, it definitely does not have to be that way.
Thanks to the internet, starting your own online business is as inexpensive...
MyWifeQuitHerJob.com Featured On Television – The Rise To The Top
I’m very proud to announce that MyWifeQuitHerJob.com was featured on the January 4th episode of The Rise To The Top hosted by David Siteman Garland.
I’ve been a big fan of The Rise To The Top since it started airing Sunday mornings on ABC(Check your local listings) several months ago and I even published my own...
Reader Response: Should I Go To College Or Start A Business?
Much to my surprise, a good number of my readers are either in high school or college and I regularly receive questions about our online store from students currently in school.
This one particular student became inspired after reading about our story and now wants to start a business venture of his own. The only...
Dealing With People Who Doubt Your Business Ideas
“I don’t think that your business is going to work”
“Your chances of success are very slim”
“I had an Uncle that tried to do that and failed”
Anytime you start your own business or take any risks for that matter, you’ll inevitably meet people who will doubt you. These people often mean well, but their negative...
How These Businesses Made Me A Customer For Life
Are you a loyal customer of a particular store or business? Are there any services or restaurants that you would go out of your way to recommend to friends? What do these businesses do to attract repeat business and referrals?
In a previous article, I discussed ways that stores and businesses alienate their customers...
The Hidden Benefits Of Owning Your Own Business
Most people start their own business hoping to find the answers to a few key questions. How can I be my own boss and make money doing things that I enjoy? How can I be in control of my own destiny? How can I become wealthy and rich?
Don’t get me wrong, these...
Review: The Rise To The Top With David Siteman Garland
These days, television is all about sex, drugs and action more than anything else. There aren’t many educational shows at all let alone shows about entrepreneurship so I was pleasantly surprised to discover the hit show “The Rise To The Top” hosted by David Siteman Garland the other day via the web.
The Rise To...
Why Your Job Conditions You To Take Things For Granted
Last Friday, an engineer in the office complex where I work brutally gunned down the CEO, VP of Operations, and the Head of Human Resources of his company before fleeing the premises. This engineer, named Jing Wu, had recently gotten laid off from his job and decided to take revenge on the executives who...
A Peek Into The Glamorous Life Of A Small Business Owner
Everyone knows that starting and running a small business is glamorous. In the past few weeks alone, I’ve read at least a half a dozen stories ranging from “How I made $1027.53 in a single day!” to “How you can work 4 hours a day and be rich with a small business!”.
Clearly, these...
When Getting Good Grades And Entrepreneurship Don’t Mix
Students often have to make certain sacrifices in order to earn good grades in school. I used to be a model student in both high school and college and I always thought that earning good grades would take me the distance in life. It was only when I graduated did I realize that...
The Secret To A Healthy Relationship With Money
Do you believe that money is the ultimate panacea? Have you ever thought to yourself, “If I just had more money, my life would be so much easier and less worrisome?” Most people tend to think this way until they amass some wealth and the opposite happens. Their life gets harder...
Why Our Online Business Almost Failed And How We Recovered
In a previous article entitled mistakes we made early on with our online store, we outlined 5 early decisions that hindered the growth of our business. While those mistakes slowed us down, none of them were showstoppers by any means.
In this article, I’d like to talk about decisions that nearly put us out...
Starting Your Own Business: Getting Beyond The Excuses
Everyday as we slip further and further into recession, I’m hearing more and more complaints from my friends and coworkers about their job security and overall satisfaction in the workplace. The level of concern and panic is very real, even worse than I can remember from the dot com bust of 2002. Most...
Reader Response: Do They Teach True Collaboration In Schools?
I received an extremely well written and thoughtful comment from Bleu Panda regarding my article on 5 Crucial Subjects Schools Don’t Cover That You Should At Home so I thought I’d respond to his comment in a blog entry as a token of my appreciation. Please take the time to read his...
Entrepreneurship: What Is Your Definition Of Failure?
Thanks to social media sites like Stumble Upon, Digg and Reddit, I’ve been able to easily find and read more than my fair share of articles on entrepreneurship in just this past month. I really love reading about entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship emphasizes taking action through self-motivation. There’s no better way to push...
5 Crucial Subjects Schools Don’t Cover That You Should At Home
If you take the time to sit back and reflect on all of the knowledge and experience you’ve gained throughout your life, you’ll inevitably come to the conclusion that only a very small fraction of practical knowledge was actually learned in school.
Looking back, I used to think school was the be all and end all...
The Secrets to Building Wealth – Do You Have The Right Mindset?
Everyone wants to build wealth but why do very few ever succeed in doing so? It’s because most people don’t take the time to establish a proper game plan on how to grow their money. Building wealth requires planning, budgeting and an awareness of how money can work for itself. The sooner...
Personality Traits That Can Doom A Would Be Entrepreneur
Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. When I look back and analyze some of the startup companies that my friends tried to start and why they failed, I can immediately recognize certain character traits and decisions that doomed their companies from the start. All of my friends possessed the drive...
Why Writing A Business Plan Is An Overrated Practice
All of the books I’ve read on how to start a business always focus on writing a thorough business plan prior to taking any other action. Having read quite a few of these books and having written a fair share of business plans, I’ve found that writing these documents have largely been a waste...
Are You Cut Out To Be An Entrepreneur?
I used to think that entrepreneurship was only about creating unique and groundbreaking technologies and coming up with new and innovative products. Having studied entrepreneurship in graduate school, I was always surrounded by gung-ho entrepreneurs. Some of my peers went on to start web technology companies whereas others created startup companies in...
How To Determine If Your Online Business Idea Even Has a Chance
Before you begin any sort of implementation, it’s important to assess the viability of your business plan. Is there a large enough market for you to take a small slice of the pie? Are there too many competitors for you to be successful?
Determining your target customer and the size of the market you...
Business Ideas That Didn’t Pan Out For Us – Part 1
Anyone who tells you that they got their business right on their first try is probably lying, forgetful, or trying to sell you something. My wife and I went through a multitude of ideas in the first month alone that went absolutely nowhere. A few of these ideas actually made us a few...
Why You Should Worry About Your Topline More Than Your Bottom Line
My wife and I constantly discuss different ways to build our overall wealth. Our goal is to retire and be able to spend all of our time with our children. We’ve tried a lot of different things over the years, but our most miserable experience arose when we decided to drastically cut back...
5 Reasons Why You Should Quit Your Job
For some reason, it was especially difficult for me to get up out of bed this morning to get ready for work. As I was getting dressed, I stood there looking at my wife who was sleeping blissfully on the bed and I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous....
Choosing the Right Shopping Cart Software Package
So you’ve decided to host your own website and open up your online store. Where do you go from here? There are a multitude of shopping cart packages out there and it’s extremely difficult to compare them all. Hopefully, I can save you some time and tell you what to look for.
At...
Why You Should Never Start an Ebay Store
If you are going to take your online store seriously, you need to register your own domain and implement your own website. Many people who don’t consider themselves tech saavy often question their own abilities and end up relying on 3rd party sites such as Ebay, Yahoo etc… to implement their website store for...
3 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Start Your Own Business
While everyone has different ways to motivate themselves, here are 3 unique ways to give yourself that little extra kick to jumpstart your business.
Look at Your Tax Return
Go ahead and dig up your last years tax return and paste it up on the wall directly in front of your desk. Make sure you highlight...
Finding a Niche Market for Your Online Store
Often times, finding the right market to pursue is the hardest part of starting your store. Here are 5 things to consider when choosing which market segment to attack.
Choose an Area or Set of Products That You Are Passionate About
Many people make the mistake of opening a store and selling a product just because...
How We Got Motivated to Start Our Own Business
In theory, it shouldn’t have required much courage at all for us to start an online business. Opening a business, especially on the web, is about as cheap and easy as it gets. All it takes is 10 bucks for a domain name and as little as 5 bucks a month for...
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