Many of us dream of becoming successful solopreneurs or small business owners. We want to make money doing something we love; we no longer want to work for someone else; we want to fulfil our potential and would love to earn loads of money, or at least enough to replace our current salary.

We start taking action and achieve a small amount of success but don't go any further. We see others achieving consistent success, growing, and thriving in their roles as business owners and want that for ourselves, but we feel stuck.

Are you sure you want success?

Are you sure you want the responsibility of running a business?

Are you sure you want to be the leader?

Are you sure you want to give up the stability of a guaranteed wage at the end of each month?

Yes?

Then stop playing and start taking yourself seriously as a business owner.

This is not a hobby.

This isn't something you are doing just for fun. This is something that you want to earn money from on a long-term basis.

You are not indulging yourself in a fantasy. You are applying yourself to building something that will benefit you and your family. However, if you admit this to yourself, it suddenly becomes serious, and expectations start to build. This puts you at risk of looking silly and being judged and criticised. So, you let others believe it's a hobby.

Become clear on what you are doing and why and implement some business processes.

A professional email address, website or landing page, client onboarding process, customer payment process and a business bank account will help you to see this "hobby" as a business.

"Your business is not a hobby. Take care of your business, and your business will take care of you." Donna Maria.

You are not JUST anything.

I am just trying to make a bit of money from this.

I am just writing on Medium.

I am just helping a few people out.

We often play down what we are doing and our dreams. This is usually down to a lack of certainty about what we are doing and why. By playing things down, we are not fully committing to anything, which reduces the risk of failure.

Own it.

You are working on building a business which will provide some income, whether that be some additional pennies, a passive income stream or a full-time wage. This is something many people dream of but never do. You are not one of those people, you are doing it, and you should be proud of that.

"This is your moment. Own it." Oprah Winfrey.

You can ignore the phone ringing, notifications and washing up.

When we work for ourselves, especially from home, distractions are everywhere.

Just because we can answer the phone when we are in the middle of something doesn't mean we have to. How often have you answered the phone and said, "that's ok, I'm only doing some work"? I have lost count of the times I have done that!

The key to productivity is focus; you can't focus when constantly distracted by your phone and housework.

Certain distractions are understandable, and flexibility is one of the reasons we want to work for ourselves — getting a call from the school, waiting for a delivery, taking your child to the doctor, and responding to an emergency.

However, be strict with yourself. Turn off your notifications, find a place to work at home where you cannot see the mess, and inform your friends and family that you are at work and cannot be interrupted unless it's urgent.

The more value you put on your work time, the more others will do the same.

"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you won't do anything with it." M Scott Peck.

During your working hours, your work is more important than anything else.

How often do you put off working when something non-business-related crops up? You tell yourself, "I'll just do this first, and then I'll do my work", or "sure, I can help, I can do my work tomorrow".

Again, I know how often this can happen because I have often found myself trying to prove to myself and everyone else how flexible this self-employed lark is.

It isn't easy to stick to working hours when we can decide when we work, especially if we are used to making everything and everyone else a priority.

Set your non-negotiable working hours in your diary or on the calendar and stick to them. By establishing your boundaries and having clear working hours, you will find it easier to say no to things that crop up and focus, then switch off once those hours are finished.

"There is no such thing as time management; there is only self-management." Rory Vaden.

Be consistent.

Consistency is key. You can't just practice something now and again and expect to become a master within months. It's the same with your business. You can't just turn up when you fancy it and expect momentum and success to build.

If you are serious about building your business, you must continuously show up, whether you feel like it or not.

We can come up with 101 excuses for not completing our website, not calling those prospective clients, not working out our profit margins, and not posting on social media, but if we want this thing to work, we need to do the work.

If this were an employed job, would you have been sacked by now for not putting in enough effort?

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." Elder Scott.

Invest in yourself and your business.

When I started, I tried to do everything as cheaply as possible and didn't allow myself any time to work on myself.

In some respects, this is sensible. You want to keep your outgoings as low as possible whilst building your business, and there are so many things to do that you have to be frugal with your time.

However, as you grow, it is important to invest in yourself and your business to show faith in what you are doing.

If you aren't prepared to invest in your dreams, why should anyone else? If you aren't prepared to pay for good quality products and services, why should anyone be expected to pay for what you offer?

We need to have some skin in the game to keep us going through the tough times and push ourselves into doing the jobs we hate that keep our business going.

Taking time to work on yourself and your business is just as important as working in your business, producing your items, and serving your clients.

As your business builds, those free versions of things you signed up for will no longer be sufficient, so you will need to upgrade. What a great sign that you are growing!

You will never grow your business if you do not grow with it, which requires time and money.

"Invest in as much of yourself as you can; you are your own biggest asset by far." Warren Buffet.

Put yourself out there.

How do you expect customers to find you if no one knows what you are doing?

We post the odd social media update and presume everyone has seen it. We mention what we are doing to a couple of people and think that word will get around. We take it for granted that our family and friends know and understand what we are doing.

I know it can feel yucky to tell people what you do. You don't want them to think you are "selling" to them or trying to convince them to sign up or buy from you, but you've got to let the world know that you are here and you mean business! Look at it as "informing," not "selling".

And, you have got to keep telling everyone what you are doing. You may bother a few people in the process, but most people will only take notice when it is something that resonates with them. This changes daily, so someone may have seen one of your posts every day for a week but only noticed it on day 7 because that's when it strikes a chord.

Repeatedly sharing what you are doing, advertising your services and talking to people will build exposure and trust. It will help you be seen as an authority in what you do, and people will put you on their radar for when they need you.

Staying small and invisible may feel safe, but it will not get you where you want to be and will stop you from reaching those that need what you are offering.

"Go big, or go home." Eliza Dushku.

Setting up, building and running your business will never be an easy ride.

You will be plagued by self-doubt and consumed by fears of failing, looking stupid and thinking you are not good enough. You will find yourself comparing yourself to others and treating yourself unfairly.

However, if you are serious about wanting your business to succeed and are clear on why you are doing this, you can make it work and achieve everything you dream of.

Your success is in your hands, so take yourself seriously, stick to your path and don't let anyone talk you out of this fantastic journey you are on, especially you.

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