If you are thinking about starting a work at home business, or if you have already taken these first steps to becoming an entrepreneur with your own business, here are three tips from Michael LeBoeuf Ph.D.

In these steps, which can be used in your work at home efforts, Michael suggests: “Too many start-up businesses fail because their owners can’t top thinking and acting like employees. Here are three tips on how to start thinking like a micropreneur:

Work at home tip number 1: “Focus on results, not on routines…you are on your own now; results are everything. You either close the sale or you don’t; you make a profit or you don’t; you keep your overhead low or you don’t; your customers come back or they don’t. Efficiency is doing a job right. Effectiveness is doing the right job. Lose sight of this one simple truth and you’ll go broke.”

Work at home tip number 2: “Focus on earning a profit, not on cashing a paycheck. The typical employee earns to spend. You can’t run a business with a paycheck mindset; revenue in a home-based [work at home] business especially is feast or famine. You can never fully control or even predict your income. You can control what you spend.”

Work at home tip number 3: “Focus on long-term goals, not short-term payoffs. Often the only way to find out if something will work is to try it. Make the best decisions you can, try out new ideas, learn from the results and keep trying. Those who never make mistakes usually end up working for those who aren’t afraid to.”