As a healthy business owner or independent professional, how do you end your year? Well, I tell my clients to stop working. That's right, stop working. The kind of work I'm talking about is work of getting new business. There is no new business in dark days of winter, just clean up of old business. If you have clients that must spend in order to deduct prior to years’ end, go to it. This is for those who have time to take time.

Just stop. Take it easy. Take a day or more to clean out your space. Go through each document and get rid of as many as possible. If it's important, it will show up again. Don't answer phone until bags are full. (Don't answer phone until 10:30 a.m. anyway, just for this month.)

Remain calm during this hectic time.

Throw away all your old magazines. Don't subscribe to any new ones without an old one expiring. Check your e-mail subscriptions. Remove those you never read. Review past year and identify intangibles that contributed to your success. Passion, attitude, commitment, integrity and perseverance are solid ingredients in business achievements.

Since being your own boss will take extra grit and determination to keep it going, especiall when going gets tough. Cause guess what, it will!

Some possible reasons "why":

*Be your own boss *Financial independence *Work your own hours *Get out of your current 9-5 job *Spend more time with family and friends *Make new friends in distant places

You'll have to decide for yourself. But you need to know "why", before you start your own business.

Period.

So let's look at some of pro's and con's of a home business online vs a traditional brick and mortar business.

First and foremost is overhead. Or what it costs to get started. Let's compare two. Other than a computer and an Internet connection(which most people have anyway), you can essentially get started in your home business online for nothing, zilch, zip, nada.

Now take a traditional business. You're gonna need a store front or office space. Which means you're gonna have to pay to lease, or buy, a building. Plus you have to have supplies, office equipment, and inventory. Then of course you'll have to pay for services, such as:electricity, water, wastewater, trash pickup, insurance...

...and you're gonna need a computer with Internet connection.

Wait, don't we have one of those at home? Yea.

But you need another one, for your brick and mortar business. One with some extra software for inventory control and such.

Whew.

We're talking many many thousands of dollars, simply to get started.

No biggie.

You find a banker that will set you up with a small business loan. Cause you just don't trust this "Internet thingie". Thus you go and start your own "good ole" traditional business.

That's great! Entreprenuership is what America is founded on.

So you get everything up and running, fling open your doors...

and wait.

Next challenge.

Nobody knows you're open for business. You're gonna have to advertise.

So you see this billboard down street. And you figure you ought to put up an ad, telling all about your new business. Great plan! You check into how much it costs. And it's upwards to $10,000, per month!

Whew. That sure is a lot of money. Especially for a business just starting out. But that's what you gotta do. You gotta get word out about your new business. It's gonna take some time, money and effort to get your business established.