By Friday evenings I would be dog-tired and not interested in any social interaction. I just wanted to sleep.

I spent my weekends doing laundry, cleaning house, and taking care of family commitments. Every Sunday evening I would feel sadness and anguish, knowing I was about to repeat cycle again.

As I sat on my deck for a short while today enjoying warm spring sun, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my business and I acknowledged myself for long evening and weekend hours I dedicated myself to in order to build my business.

I worked hard. As a matter of fact, I still work hard, but it's different when it's something you love. Sometimes I put in really long days, and sometimes I slow pace a little to maintain balance.

There were times when I didn't know if I could go on without burning out, but thankfully, I had a great peer group of coaches who were always there to back me up and cheer me on.

To me, reward of having my own home-based business is freedom to choose how I manage my time.

I have freedom to be creative.

I have freedom to plan my tasks as I see fit, and only person I answer to when there is a setback, is myself.

I am captain of my ship and although I run a tight one (I'm harder on myself than any boss ever was), I still consider it a never-ending victory cruise.

Building and growing a successful home-based business requires intense desire, steadfast dedication, a solid plan, sacrifice, quality products and services, specific skills, ongoing support, risk taking, and an unwavering belief in yourself and your dream.

Would I do it all over again given choice? You bet!

As a matter of fact, if I had a magic wand I would roll clock back 20 years and start much earlier.

Being a home-based business owner is a rewarding dream and is worth every minute of effort needed to make it real.

Laurie Hayes is a Life Strategy/Small Business Coach and founder of Where the Heart Is Life Coaching.

Laurie specializes in assisting home-based business owners who face the challenges that come with working from home. She is the author of numerous articles and a bi-weekly newsletter, "The Heart of Living."

The greatest entrepreneurs of our time know where they are weak and use other people's strengths and abilities to create desired outcomes.

By leveraging your time, you can free yourself up to focus on what you do best.

I considered learning how to create and manage my own web site then realized my time could be better spent focusing on my overall vision and mission.

I could have spent days learning a software program and designing a site, but that would have taken me miles away from my vision.

I would have been working in my business and not on my business.

Keep this in mind for yourself. You are visionary of your business. You need to remain focused on big picture. If you have time consuming tasks that can be better handled by others, hand over reigns. Know that you are rewarded for results you create, not for how many hours you had to sweat and toil to create them.

6. Mastermind Groups and Support Systems

You cannot do it alone and you do not know it all.

Growth and prosperity are accelerated when you have a strong support system in place.

By having a mastermind group and support system in place, you will have a continual source of information, a direct link to hundreds of resources, encouragement, and a means of accountability.

These partners will help you remain focused and on track with your business while being good to yourself.

7. Maintain Strong Client Relationships

It requires 16 times more effort to acquire a new client than it does to keep an existing one.

Treat your clients like gold. Nurture your relationships with them and go extra mile to make them feel valued and appreciated. Imagine every client as a million dollar client and treat him as such.

If you had a million dollars in your hand, you wouldn't throw it away would you? You would protect it and treat it with care.

If your client feels valued and appreciated, he will go out of his way to share his gratitude with others.

Strong relationships will grow your business. People will seek you out. Focus on relationships you build and profits will follow.

8. Never Stop Learning

If you decide one day that you have achieved absolute wisdom and there is no more room for improvement, your business will start to wither.

Human beings evolve. Entrepreneurs evolve. There is no absolute perfection. Make continuing education mandatory.

Fill yourself with information about selling, marketing, your industry, your competition, your client demographics and psychographics, copywriting, economic trends, new product development, etc.

By using these strategies you will create breakthroughs for yourself and your business.

Take some time in next couple of days to find a quiet place for yourself to sit and write down your vision and goals.

Put these strategies into place.

Revisit your notes every week and see how you are doing. What results have you experienced so far? Where do you need to make adjustments? Have you implemented all of strategies?

Some home-based business owners are so excited about possibilities that lie ahead they jump right in to building a business without creating any structure or implementing any strategies.

Many small and home-based business owners fail due to inconsistency, lack of focus, poor structure, ineffective strategies, and eventual burnout.

Invest time and energy necessary to ensure your success.

Discipline yourself, create structure, implement above strategies, and you will be amazed by results you create.

Laurie Hayes is a Life Strategy/Small Business Coach and founder of Where the Heart Is Life Coaching.

Laurie specializes in assisting home-based business owners who face the challenges that come with working from home. She is the author of numerous articles and a bi-weekly newsletter, "The Heart of Living."