Allison Hayhurst is currently building her own home-based business working as an Independent Marketer with Momentis, the innovative marketing arm of Just Energy―a hugely successful, billion-dollar, publicly held energy company. Capitalizing on the fact that the energy industry is the largest to ever be deregulated, Momentis’ business opportunity enables ambitious entrepreneurs to build residual income quickly and easily by providing essential household products and services to their customers that will save them money.
Allison recently shared her thoughts and insights on what she has learned in building her own home-based business thus far with BusinessOpportunity.com’s Entrepreneur Exchange:
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your first six months in business? How did you meet that challenge?
When you have a job your day is structured. You have meetings, deadlines, and bosses. It is a huge transition when you begin working at home. There is ALOT more freedom, which is why most of us want to do it. We have the ability to spend time with our children, meet a friend for coffee or lunch, work out, or just take the afternoon off if we want to.
However, if you ACTUALLY want money to go with your newfound freedom, you have to have discipline when you work from home. In the last few months, since I’ve started working from home, I’ve been fortunate to get some fantastic guidance from the leaders in my company. These tips have helped me stay focused and productive while still enjoying the benefits of working from home.
One of the best things I heard was, “You can do this part time, but it can’t be a hobby.” Why? It’s because a hobby will be pushed aside for something “more important.” If you truly want to make your work-from-home opportunity a viable business that earns you money, it has to be treated like a business. One of my favorite quotes relating to this is:
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permits. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”
You MUST be committed and realize that success won’t just happen, and if anyone tells you it will, be seriously concerned about what they are trying to sell you!
Some things I’ve learned:
1) Being busy is not being productive.
“Don’t mistake movement for achievement. It’s easy to get faked out by being busy. The question is: Busy doing what?” ― Jim Rohn
I can know everything, but if I don’t get on the phone it won’t matter. I’m not getting paid to “look” busy. We are paid in this business for RESULTS, not paid for attending training calls, not paid to organize! Talking to leads, following up with leads, answering questions of leads, sending emails to leads, inviting them to join ― this is income-generating activity! I have to be consistent in this business. I have to be persistent in this business.
2) I am the CEO of my company.
This means I need to:
• Have a plan in place that I can execute daily
• Work with my advisors daily
• Do a weekly evaluation ― what’s working, what isn’t
• Continue to tweak things
• Expect Success ― but focus on activities not results
• Block out time daily to plan my next day’s activities; always think, “What’s my next step?”
• Have an accountability coach
• Ask ― “Am I my best employee?”
3) Procrastination will kill my business.
I can’t wait until I feel like it. I must start with that written plan of action that was mentioned in number two and then make myself do an ACTION item before I get to do something else. For example, I can’t check my personal emails until I make these calls. I don’t have to know everything or be perfect to make the calls. Avoid over-planning. JUST DO IT!! Make it FUN! A body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion stays in motion!
And finally, once you find the opportunity you believe in…
4) Never, ever give up!
The beauty of this business is every day is a new day; I get to begin again every day!
“We conquer by continuing.”
“Success seems to largely be about hanging on after everyone else has let go.”
”Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ― Harriet Beecher Stowe
What is it about the business/industry you are in that made it so attractive to you?
After months of research and walking down a few wrong paths I was introduced to Momentis. To be honest, I was uncertain and a bit nervous at first. I was relatively new to network marketing and had not had much success. But I knew that the network marketing business model could give me the life I’ve been working my whole life to get. So, I took the leap with Momentis and discovered it was exactly what I was looking for.
Momentis gives me services I absolutely believe in and am proud to tell people about. The business opportunity has the branding, timing and support to help people succeed.
I am privileged to spend my day listening to people, hearing their stories and sharing with them the solution. Some will take the opportunity, some won’t ― and that’s ok. It’s not my job to sell them; it’s my job to tell them. I’m thrilled to say I have found something I want to tell them about!
What did you do before you decided to become your own boss, and how have those skills helped you in your current business?
My professional background as a Human Resources Director allowed me to develop a number of strengths, including finding the right person for the job, training and development. I enjoyed providing opportunities that would allow people to succeed and giving them the tools they needed to do so. Also, because my entire career was spent in the hospitality industry I had a heart of service.
It was important for me to do something that would allow me to use my strengths, as well as to work in a culture that was supportive not political, driven but not competitive in a backstabbing way ― an environment that was mentoring and guiding but that also had an entrepreneurial spirit. I wanted to be in business for myself but not by myself.
The thing is that what I am doing now is not that different from what I did as an HR Director. I look for the right people and help train and develop them. I get to provide an opportunity for people to succeed and give them the tools they need to do so.