Eventually, he quit and started a consulting business. He still worked 60-80 hour weeks, coming home so exhausted some nights that he goes to sleep fully clothed.

But not once did he complain about how much he hated his work.  Sure the long hours and overwhelming demands were still there, but Boris looked forward to going to work each day.

Why?

“I was finally doing what I loved,” he said. “It made the hours all worthwhile.”

Boris’ story mirrors a study by Srully Blotnick.  The study tracked the careers of 1,500 business school graduates from 1960 to 1980. The graduates were grouped into two categories. The 1,245 people in Category A were focused on making money first so they could do what they wanted later. Those in category B, all 255 of them, pursued their interests first, sure that the money eventually would follow. After 20 years, there were 101 millionaires in the group. Only one came from category A, 100 from category B.

Keep this in mind when deciding what business to start. Following the trends and anticipating what consumers want are all good strategies, but first you must love what you do.

If you don’t, you will lack the commitment and dedication needed to make the business succeed, possibly dooming it to failure.

The advantage to doing what you love is that you are already an expert in the field.  Successful entrepreneurs usually have a deep knowledge of their niche, they know the history, the early players and they can usually pick a need in the market that has previously gone unfulfilled. This need can be something as simple as finding an inexpensive version of an existing product, or in Boris’s case, reaching out to people in low income neighborhoods, who had previously been ignored.

It’s also going to take all your heart promoting, refining and getting people to fall in love with your product. If your heart is not in it, how can you convince others to believe your product or service is worthwhile? It’s for this reason you can’t easily switch from say hunting to writing just because you think there is a market for writing.

Work at home mom, Michelle Schill had a passion for hair styling and with the help of SiteSell.com launched a website that helped her to bring her passion to the world. Her story was recently featured on the company’s website, and her advice is simple – find your passion and pursue it.

It’s the first step to any successful business. If you love what you do, coping with problems, dealing with vendors, frustrated customers, working 12 hours each day, will just be part of the process. In fact, like Boris, every thing you do will just be a delight – part of a new fun-filled adventure.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Learn to Build Websites
• The Best Online Home Business Opportunity
• Yahoo! Publisher Network will help you earn money with your website
• Reach for the Top of Search Engine Rankings
• Marketing Your Website for Increased Traffic

A self-employed designation is determined by the IRS.  For tax purposes, anyone who is the sole owner of their trade or business, an independent contractor (this includes freelancers), or a member of a partnership in a small business are classified as self-employed.  As such, there are additional tax forms that need to be filed each year that the business is in operation.

A self-employed person who makes $400 or more in profit during the year, has to declare that income to access taxes.  This also applies to church employees who earn more than $108 and didn’t receive a W-2 reporting form.  The IRS forms will determine what taxes if any need to be paid.

All self-employed persons must file a Schedule SE form in addition to the 1040 form.  The Schedule SE form has a long and a short version.  The form has instructions concerning who needs to fill it out.  This form records the total earnings of the business or trade enterprise, the amount of tax according to IRS calculations, and the tax amount after a fifty percent deduction is applied.

This amount may not be the final tax owed on the profit of the business.  There is another form where people list the profit or loss from their business enterprise.  This form is called a Schedule C.  Any portion of the profit that was funneled back into the business to fund expenses is recorded here on specific lines.

The total profit received into the business is reported here, just like it was recorded on the Schedule SE.  Freelancers and independent contractors may have a business account where they record each payment transaction to determine this amount.  Anyone who has an ongoing contract with you for services will be subject to sending you a 1099 form.  This form details the amount of money paid to you for work done in the tax year.

Home based businesses can use this form to record any expenses for the business use of the home.  This amount is transferred from another form, Form 8829, where the amount of the home deduction is determined.  Information about the use of your vehicle for business use is recorded on the Schedule C form.  Businesses that deal in inventory for their products have room in Part III to list that information and the dollar amounts.

The Schedule C form is useful in determining the amount of taxes that you will pay.  A tax professional will be able to tell you all of the deductions that you are qualified to take against your profits to lower the amount of taxable income.  Exemptions are even better because they lower the amount of taxes to be paid.

For complete instructions on filing a Self-Employed Tax Form consult with your tax preparer or visit www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf

Possibly Related Posts:

• The Best Idea for your small or home business
• Learn to Build Websites
• The Best Online Home Business Opportunity
• Yahoo! Publisher Network will help you earn money with your website
• Reach for the Top of Search Engine Rankings