Living in the twilight zone has its advantages. In the early days of starting my business, I found the limitations of living in a rural area to be restrictive. However, later I realized that those limitations were not an obstacle that could stop me; they were only a challenge that would strengthen me. Since my business would be smaller, I would have the advantage of fewer employees and less strife in the processes of doing Business.

Growth, while difficult in a single entity, could easily be accomplished through multiplication. By repeating the business in several locations, it could become the kind of Business I wanted to run.

The challenge was no longer in the viability of the business, but in the potential of Business development. So, simply put, where do I go from here?

How big was my dream and did I have the courage to pursue it to fruition?

It was BIG and I did. The processes of developing my multi-Business center company, connected by computers, people, and a dream was not particularly difficult, nor were there any major obstacles to overcome. The biggest challenge was in the mind.

The process of realizing a dream is pretty much the same from any vantage point. My vantage point was a small town in the mid-west (right between the vastness of the Great Plains and the vertical beauty of the Rocky Mountains). Some of you call this the WEST - but I've been to both coasts - it is MID WAY between them, trust me.

The challenge was literally in formatting the dream and scheduling the conceptual steps and the processes by which the dream would be realized.

Creating the dream.

A good Business fills a need. You must realize a need. Through a need of your own, you may realize that other people have the same need, and the cure for your needs could also be a cure for the needs of others with similar needs.

Quite essentially, while speaking to a friend one day, I said those magic words that spoke directly to my heart, "I wish somehow there was a way to?" Being the kind and generous person that she is, she fed into my dream by asking me what options could possibly provide solutions to that problem. So, for much of that afternoon we 'brainstormed' for solutions to my problem. That evening, when I got home, I wrote down a list of our solutions, and put them on a shelf in my Home office, where I promptly forgot about them until several months later when another friend was in the same boat.

Realizing the Viability.

A good Business can fill the need at a profit. Take your dream one step further; determine if the product/service that could be a solution to your problem is worth paying for.

My friend mentioned that she would actually pay someone to deal with her situation. I frowned at the thought, realizing that it was a signal to me, to put the 'brainstormed' solutions into actual practice. My dream became a viable option. I could feel the reality of what I was dreaming, and I could 'touch' what it would become.

Conformation.

A good Business must have a substantially saleable product. Specifically describe the product/service and how you could build/design/create it. Determine if the value of the product/service is worth the cost of producing it.

When I got Home again, I took out that first brainstorming list of solutions and put it on the table along with a pad of paper and a pen. I got a cup of Coffee and sat down to work. I needed a product/service that could be sold. From that brainstorming list, I developed a list of products/services that could be sold at a profit, and I began to put together a profile of the company that would sell them. The 'business outline' that resulted from these hours of work, was substantial enough to start working on a

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