Do you plan to operate your virtual business from government quarters? If so, you’ll need to contact your base housing office for authorization to operate a business from government quarters. Note: regulations on operating a business from government quarters varies base to base, be sure to verify with your local housing office first.

Working for yourself doesn’t mean you’re all alone, there are organizations that can provide assistance and support in startup phases and during expansion: Small Business Administrationwww.sba.gov

Service Corps of Retired Executiveswww.score.org

Small Business Development Centerwww.sba.gov/sbdc/

SBA Women’s Business Ownershipwww.sba.gov/womeninbusiness

We’ve covered preliminaries of setting up your business now let’s focus on virtual aspect. Developing a presence on Internet will be a key factor in launch of your virtual business this can be done by conducting a domain name search and purchase.

Maintaining your site by keeping content up-to-date will be just as important. An Internet presence allows clients and prospective clients access to information about your virtual business 24 hours a day.

Building sustainable relationships with your clients will be critical to longevity and success of your virtual business. Regardless of where your military transfers take you, you’ll always be connected to your clients and industry colleagues through use of Internet, email, instant messenger and telephone (cell phone).

For VBO program participation and eligibility visit: http://www.vsscyberoffice.com/vbo.

Take responsibility The reality is that you can’t change anyone else’s behaviour but your own. So now is a good time to stop blaming others for what’s happened to you. You are where you are today because of choices and decisions that you made. Accept that, and choose to make decisions in future that take you towards a more satisfying life.

Take a long term view When was last time you thought about where you personally wanted to be in 5 or 10 years time? We get so caught up in “doing” things - for business, for work, for others – things we think we should be doing, that we take no time to consider what we really want.

Take time to think what’s really important to you, and where you would like to be. What are core values that you'd like to base your life around? What do you love to do or to be? What gives you a sense of purpose? If we haven’t allowed ourselves to think along these lines, answers may not come immediately. For impatient and perfectionist people reading, this is not a test – there is no pass or fail. So don’t treat it like one. The more you know about yourself, more you will be able to understand how you would like you life to look.

Design a life, not a lifestyle Do you know what difference is between having a life and maintaining a lifestyle? A lifestyle is something we are told we need - by society, advertisers, and parents. Life's luxuries, although nice to have, can be expensive financially and often tempt us to stay on treadmill to pay for them! Perhaps energy spent maintaining a lifestyle might be better used turning your life into an expression of who you are. A lifestyle buys comfort. A life buys satisfaction and contentment.

It’s never too late to jump off treadmill, so why not get started today. Life is way too short to be a slave to that particular machine.