After building several successful businesses, I can honestly tell you it's not easy. Building a small business is like having a new baby - it takes over your life completely. You're planning, working and promoting the business during the day and most days slide right into the evening. If anyone tells you building a business is easy, just turn and walk away.

On the other hand, if you have a burning desire to own your own business and you don't like working for someone else, you may just be the right person to own a business. Business building is not the same as earning your MBA and finding the right corporate job. College will train you to work for someone else, but it doesn't train you to build a business yourself. That's why people with college degrees do so well in the corporate environment. They're only doing what they have been trained to do. As long as they follow the ladder up the successful route, they're happy as could be.

But what about those that have no desire to move up in a corporation? And what about those individuals that are better at doing than learning?

You can attend seminars and you can purchase every "how to" book you can find, but if you don't have that burning desire, you may never be successful or happy in your own business. Before success comes failure. How you handle the failure will determine if you will be successful or not. That's because most people don't learn from their failure, they only see it as failure. But if you want success, you need to look at your failure and identify how you could have handled it differently and use that information in the future.

Many people let failure send them into depression. They can't handle the shame of failure in front of their family and friends. That's why it's always wise to keep your business information private. Family and friends are too concerned with you personally to be objective about your business. They will be the first people to tell you to accept failure and get back to that regular j-o-b.

Network marketing is the perfect business plan for the new business owner. The market research has been completed and the product or service has been developed. Although you are not selling your own product or service, you are building a business in every sense of the word.

By selecting network marketing as your first business venture, you learn how to run a business with tools that are already developed and provided for you. All you have to do is discover the best ways to use the tools for success. As with any business, it will take a bit of trial and error to eventually find what works. Don't rely on the marketing and advertising tools that are provided to do all the work for you. They will work for some people and not for others.

The most important decision you have to make when deciding on a network marketing opportunity is which business to select. Things to consider are:

• Is the product or service useful in the current economy?
• Do people need the product or service?
• Who is the target customer - low or high-end?
• Where will you find your customers for this product or service?
• How much is the investment and can you afford it?
• How much money will you need every month on top of your investment for operating expenses?
• Do you have the skills to sell the product or service?
• Do you have the time to start the business in addition to your current income producing activities or j-o-b?
• Does the product or service have any negative feedback?
• Is the company behind the product or service in good standing?

Network marketing has many advantages over building a traditional business. Once it's in the black and producing a regular income, you should have the time and the knowledge to start another income stream. Reaching success is not difficult when you duplicate the path leading to your success.