What motivates you forward?

I was just reading  an article in Inc Magazine with little snippet answers to that very question.  So what motivated you to begin your own business?  How did you come to sustain your business into profitability?  What makes you tick?

There are as many answers to those questions as there are stories of successful people who have walked away from traditional jobs to work for themselves, build a business, and establish their own revenue streams.  So let me  tell you a few short stories from that article:

• 27-year-old was working long hours in a cramped office, being told when they could come in and when they could go home, and often given the specifications of the assignments with no room for creativity.  They watched freelancers come and go, look so much more happy, get to be more creative in their assignments, and harness their creativity more freely.
• Some people reach the point where their idea, their vision, the very purpose they believe they are on this earth can no longer be ignored.  I love this quote from the article:

I don’t think anyone decides to be an entrepreneur; they simply reach the point where they can no longer not be an entrepreneur. Sure, it takes a certain type of individual and certain set of circumstances, but suddenly you have this sense of unwavering commitment and the belief that you can succeed.

• Liberating freedom comes from following the vision and dream – whether it is a product that you make, a service you provide, or a skill you provide… when you are free to offer it in the marketplace and it is received this is electric, magic, powerful.
• Adventure – a 47-year-old said they had played it safe all these years, commuting to the office each day, giving their best time, talent and soul to a company that took all it could, delivering only a small paycheck, and a place for the daily work to continue.  No adventure, predictable daily work, no challenge, only a form of financial stability.  Adventure can take on forms that free us from the rut.
• An interview of a man who immigrated from eastern europe for the opportunity to do better in America was only the start of the story.  In this new land opportunity was abundant, and there were few barriers to follow the dreams that were shackled and crushed in the old world.

So many wonderful ideas for what motivates people.  Success, Freedom, Liberation, Adventure, or confidence in yourself, your idea, your product – these are wonderful motivations.

So what motivates us?

• Our products are the best – while there are a lot of people who make soap, we take care to make the best soap using great ingredients, well crafted recipes, and we offer them chemical free, and natural.  We just love the stories of our customers about how the soap makes their skin feel so good, or helped with a chronic dryness.
• Financial stability – If you know our story, you know that life kicked the blocks out from under us, and we went from very financially stable to barely holding on to our house, and loosing almost everything else.  We had relied exclusively on earning an income and paycheck from someone else.  We are determined never to let that happen again.  Our business currently provides Steve’s paycheck, and we are putting plans in place to make it my full-time work soon too.
• We see the possibility of building the business so we can hire people.  In our rebuilding of our life we have seen countless good people who are finding it hard to find a place in the work world that have so much to give.  Its our dream to move it forward to hiring a staff.
• I can say I am motivated to use my creativity and my talents in a bigger way.

So what motivates you?  Do you dare to dream?