Many salespeople don’t like their job.

For a variety of reasons such as “I don’t like my company,” “I don’t like my boss,” “I don’t like my co-workers,” “I don’t like our product,” “I don’t believe in our product,” “Our prices are too high,” or any one of 50 other reasons, including “I make the company too much money and they don’t pay me enough.”

People want to leave their job and either get a “better” job or start their own business. Almost everyone, at one time or another, has said, “I would love to have my own business.”

It starts out as a dream. A dream held by so many people that it’s also referred to as “The American Dream.”

To achieve this, many people look at direct selling or a home-based business, also known as network marketing. (It used to be known as multi-level marketing). For more than 50 years, companies such as Amway, Avon, Tupperware and Mary Kay Cosmetics have provided opportunities for men and women to break out on their own. And thousands of millionaires have been born from their ranks.

Here’s the reality check: Because people have real lives and real responsibilities — kids, house, debt — they can’t just quit and strike out on their own. So they start out working part time on evenings and weekends.

However, hard statistics will tell you that four out of five people who start their own businesses fail in the first year. And you may be saying, well, Jeffrey, I am the ONE that will succeed.

If you are, my challenge to you is to first look at the following reasons that 80 percent of people fail and try to make certain you do not fall victim as they have:

1. Failure to understand yourself. Who are you, and what are you really seeking to achieve? Write down who are you seeking to become and what you really want to have.

2. Failure to identify why you’re doing this. What is your reason? What is your driver to make this fantasy a reality? Write down your real “why.”

3. Failure to make a realistic game plan. Something you are certain you can achieve. Write your game plan for certain success.

4. Failure to commit to “do.” What are you willing to do to make this happen? What are your intentions? Write them down. If you don’t intend, you will never do.

5. Failure to become a “product of the product.” You gotta love it and believe it before you can ever transfer the message. If you don’t “live” your product, no one else will.

6. Failure to have the right amount of funding or backing when you start. Don’t ever run out of money. Write down how much you believe you’ll need – and compare it with how much you currently have.

6.5. Failure to get past the “three ‘you’re crazy’ rule.” Three people tell you, “You’re crazy,” and you quit. If you want to succeed, you can’t quit.

Let me give you a more positive example of what it might take to achieve your goals and dreams. I’ve been an entrepreneur since the age of 7. My whole family and all of my family’s friends were entrepreneurs. Being in business for myself is not new to me, nor is it confusing, nor am I afraid of it. My tolerance for risk is high.

You might not have that same belief system, and you might not have been fortunate enough to grow up in an entrepreneurial environment. If that’s the case, you might need to start more slowly. But here’s the two-part secret. Part one: You have to start, or it will never happen. Part two: If you do it for the money, you will lose.

Whether you have a job or want to start your own business, if you do it for the love of it, if you do it for the belief in your company, belief in your product and belief in yourself, if you do it because you believe you can help others and make a difference, then the money will follow.

I have more on how to be certain you’re making the right choices. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time user, and put SELF BELIEF in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.

© 2007 Jeffrey H. Gitomer