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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 931
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2006 01:56 · Edited by: Vishal P. Rao
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There is this wonderful story I came across...
There were two woodcutters named Ram and Shyam working under a timber merchant. They both used to go early in the morning to the forest to cut wood and then return by evening. They both however worked differently. Ram would slog for ten hours to cut a tree and pile up the wood blocks. But Shyam would not been seen for hours together and would come late, but within two to three hours he would cut and collect more wood than Ram.
Ram always wondered how Shyam was able to cut so much wood in such a short time which he could not match even after slogging for so many hours.
So one day Ram went to Shyam and asked him how he could achieve so much in such a short time. Whether he possessed any magical powers?
Shyam said "There is nothing magical about it. I sharpen my axe for 4 hours and do the cutting in two or three hours. Because my tools are sharp, I can perform the task efficiently. But you never do that. That is why it takes you so much time to do the work with blunt tools."
Moral: If you keep your tools sharp, you'll always be more efficient and productive.
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A8ch
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 340
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2006 02:34
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An excellent and inspirational story, Vishal!
That's exactly where many people who aspire to work-at-home miss the boat. They never develop the patience and dedication it requires to truly understand what they are getting involved in. Sadly, they fall for the hype and the get-rich-quick lure, and eventually end up spinning their wheels in frustration, until they sputter and give up.
There is absolutely nothing worthwhile in this life that comes without some effort and application. The learning curve simply cannot be avoided.
Time, properly invested in sharpening the axe -- learning your craft, developing plans and executing strategies -- can advance you to your dreams quicker than you could imagine, as illustrated in your story.
Good stuff.
Hermas
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WhitePhoenix
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Joined: 3 Jan 2006
Posts: 227
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2006 10:25
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Wonderful advice, both of you. Many people, like you mentioned, Hermas, think work-at-home businesses run themselves. But a home based business takes as much effort as running any other type of business or company. As those who have successful home businesses and they'll tell you they've spent months, years even, to make their business a success.
People underestimate the dedication and sacrifice many home-based business owners make. I find it much more difficult to work from home than it ever was to work at a so-called 'regular' job.
One must be more disciplined, more focused and more attuned to customer's needs, especially since, for many home-based business owners, their clients are all on-line and spread all over the globe.
My hat's off to all of you who are carving out a place for yourselves from home. I wish I had started 20 years ago.
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eclair
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Joined: 7 Dec 2005
Posts: 28
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# Posted: 27 Feb 2006 22:50
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Quoting: WhitePhoenix People underestimate the dedication and sacrifice many home-based business owners make. I find it much more difficult to work from home than it ever was to work at a so-called 'regular' job.
I guess it depends on a lot of things 
Perspective does a lot to people. I guess that what people who haven't experienced running a home business yet (or freelancing for that matter) is that they don't see how much effort it takes to operate on a daily basis.
Quoting: WhitePhoenix One must be more disciplined, more focused and more attuned to customer's needs, especially since, for many home-based business owners, their clients are all on-line and spread all over the globe.
That is true. But of course, there are still trade offs. Some pros about having your own home business could sometimes be cons. Like having control over your time - theoretically, if you are able to manage your appointments and deadlines well, it's alright. But then again, having everything right before you - there are times when things seem to overlap.  That is tough.
The key, I think, is knowing yourself: what kind of environment you work best in, etc.
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WhitePhoenix
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Joined: 3 Jan 2006
Posts: 227
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2006 10:25
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I think that anyone who makes the decision to work at home faces some hard realities - the first being the fact that it's now up to YOU to bring the money in.
I expected this, and I realized it would be sporadic at first, but that only brings home to me the fact that if you want repeat business, and that's all you make get at first, you must have great customer service AND a quality product/service to offer.
Enforcing self-discipline is also another drawback, in my mind, to working at home. It's so very easy to get distracted, and then have to make a huge effort to stay on track.
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eclair
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Joined: 7 Dec 2005
Posts: 28
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# Posted: 2 Mar 2006 23:23
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It's good that you have expected that. My personal experience is that my mom didn't think of it that way. With what Hermas pointed out as get rich quick schemes, my mom got duped. And that is one of the things that made me more cautious about offers of getting money real quick.
Clair
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