It wasn't that many years ago that I had bosses, a 50 hour workweek, and a one hour commute to and from work each day. I spent very little time with my wife and kids, since I'd leave home at 7 in the morning, and often didn't get back until 8 or 9 at night. My weekends we just a blur of frenzied activity, trying to make up for lost time during the week with my family, and suddenly it was Monday morning again, and I was on my way back to work.
Today, I'm an owner, and the CEO, of a highly successful Corporation. I make my own hours, I work from home when I choose, and I can afford the things I always wanted to give my kids. Most importantly, I can afford to give them the time I always wanted to spend with them.
I actually work more now than I did then, but I'm working for myself, and for the most part I can pick and choose when I work, which makes a big difference. There is an American Dream, still very much alive and kicking out there, folks. I found it. So can you.
It's not in a box, or in a book. You can't buy it online. You won't find it in an infomercial. No one will hand it to you in exchange for a few easy credit card payments.
You don't need to get it from somebody else. You already have it. It's in your heart, and in your mind. If you have a desire to move beyond your current circumstances, to make a better life for yourself, to really succeed in this world, you already have the Dream. It's there, waiting for you, and it's ready to be yours whenever you want it. You only need to do one thing.
You need to get started.
I started my company at exactly this time of year, several years ago. The Holidays were winding down, I was starting to think about having to pay Christmas credit card bills for the next 8 months or so until I had to start shopping for the next Christmas, and I realized I was getting older, but not wiser. I'd heard that phrase before; "A little older, a little wiser". I was getting the 'older' part whether I wanted it or not! However, I didn't seem to be getting any wiser over the years. I was still 'punching a time clock'. I was still struggling to pay bills, even though I made a decent living. (Like most people, the more money I got in my paycheck, the more I spent, and still ended up struggling!)
It seemed that with every New Year's Eve, I was making a Resolution that this year, I was going to do something about it. This year, I'd start something of my own. This year, I'd make something work for my family, beyond my weekly paycheck.
Well, this year turned into next year, and then the year after that. I never seemed to follow through. I never actually got started. It's easy to get stuck in that rut, and let the excitement of that dream always stay just a bit farther into the future. Just a little farther down the road. "I'll do it some day", I always thought.
I think we do things like that because it makes us feel safe, in a way. If we procrastinate, if we put it off and continue to dream, then the dream is always safe. It's always out there, in the future somewhere, and it can continue to give us hope. It'll never go away. Perhaps we're afraid that if we try, and we fail, then the dream itself is gone, and we won't even have that to comfort us anymore.
So, we continue to dream, and continue to let the years slip away, until it really is too late to do anything about it.
It's a sad thing that something capable of giving us so much comfort will, for most people, never become a reality, because we become afraid to actually try.
One December a few years ago, with New Year's Eve parties coming up, and yet another Resolution made, I finally took the plunge. I let go of the comfort of the dream, and set out to make it a reality.
It didn't go well, at first. My online business started out slowly. I found that I had a lot to learn. I couldn't let it go, though. I couldn't let the dream fade into nothing, after all those years of dreaming. So, I kept at it. Little by little, bit by bit, I built my fledgling business. I learned that it wasn't going to be a situation where I could start my business, and quit my job two weeks later. I learned that building a business the right way took time, and a willingness to learn.
My first year was a definitely a learning process. I got my Internet business set up, and then I tried many different products and marketing strategies. I read materials from lots of different schools of thought on Internet Marketing. I went through a few different Web Site Hosting companies, and a couple of Merchant Bankers. I kept at it, and by the end of the year, I'd made a decent profit. It wasn't enough to quit my day job over, but it was a good deal of extra Christmas money that year!
My second year was much better. I knew what to expect from each month of the year. I was familiar with the trends in product sales and availability by then. I started exploring new product brands and new Marketing directions on the Internet. The business grew steadily.
By the end of the second year, I followed a brand-new New Year's Resolution, and formed a new corporation, partnering with an old and trusted friend. The core business, Internet product sales, was still the same, and still is to this day. Together with my new business partner, I explored the depth of that core business, and embarked on some new ventures.
Today, we still successfully sell brand name products on the Internet. We also successfully we market our own award-winning Product Sourcing informational Directories, and we've developed some incredible new Market Research software and other products that we are very confident in. We have an excellent team of employees, and we're growing at a phenomenal rate every year.
Where did it all start? Internet product sales, that very first year. I strongly believe that selling products at retail on the Internet is absolutely the best way to get started in online business. Product sales is the basis for all online Commerce. It's what ECommerce is, and why ECommerce exists. Learning Internet product sales gave me the knowledge and experience I needed to go wherever I wanted to go in online business. For a great number of people, online product sales is the success they dream of. For me, it was the first part of a badly needed learning curve that took me from success there, to success in other areas of the Internet as well.
Why did it all start? Because I finally took the chance, and went after the dream. I worked at it constantly, and never gave up. It was nothing more than that. There were no Magic Bullets. No "Eureka!" moments. No Secret Formulas. All I did was use common sense. I ignored all the hucksters out there who were trying to sell me the Dream In A Box, and listened to those who really had something intelligent to say.
About the Author:
Chris Malta, Worldwide Brands, Inc.
Chris Malta is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. He has worked with computer Systems for 19 years. He's been involved in eCommerce systems, networking and site design for more than 8 years. He's taught college-level computer courses in Western NY. He founded Worldwide Brands, Inc., creators of The Drop Ship Source Directory, The Light Bulk Wholesale Directory and The Market Research Wizard. Chris's Business Articles and other materials have been published in several languages all around the world.
