You are one month in. Your website has only had a hundred visitors, none of the advertising techniques you are using seem to be working, and you have yet to make back the money you spent setting everything up. Or maybe things are not that bad. You might be getting a steady stream of traffic, and have pulled in a few hundred dollars. But the money still isn't rolling in like you dreamed. You keep reading about people earning thousands a week and becoming millionaires, but it doesn't seem like that will ever happen to you. You find yourself getting discouraged. After all, there are more entertaining things to do than sit at your computer and work. Perhaps you want to watch TV, surf the internet, play with your kids. Before you know it, you are starting to forget about your struggling home business.

Well, stop. You start down the path to failure the moment you start thinking about giving up.

The fact is, most people never do manage to earn a serious income online. And the reason is quite simple: they give up. They stop trying. They decide that it all seems too difficult, and they go to do something else.

So, how do you avoid getting to the stage where you just want to quit? Or if you feel like that now, how do you get started again, and this time keep yourself at it?

The first thing to realise is that this is not a game. This is work, a business. You therefore need to treat it like a job. You need to keep yourself working, as you no longer have a boss to do it for you. You cannot believe all those claims about making money by sitting on the couch. Maybe some people manage that: but I have never met any! If you want your home business to be a success, you will have to work and put in time and effort.

Clear a workspace. If you have more than one computer, designate one as your 'work computer'. This will help you stay organised. It will also mean that every time you sit down at your workspace, your mind will start to recognise that now is the time to start thinking about your business.

In your workspace, make sure that everything you might need is close at hand. If you suffer from procrastination, make sure you have everything before you start. If you are constantly getting up and down from your computer, you will never get anything done.

It can also provide a small morale boost. If you have been working at a messy desk surrounded by dirt and clutter, clearing yourself a professional looking workspace can make you feel more professional, more serious about your business, and more willing to sit down and work.

Second, set yourself a timetable. Tell yourself that at a certain hour you will sit down and work. Get yourself into a routine. This means that if the temptation to give up does arrive, you might find it easier to work through as you know that at a certain time you have to sit down and do some work.

This also makes it easier to avoid distractions. Maybe a TV show you want to see is on. A little voice in your head tells you that you can leave your business to look after itself for one day. But if you have a set time at which you tell yourself you have to sit down and work, it's easier to ignore that little voice and record the program instead.

Third, make sure your friends and family respect what you are doing. Many people will assume that if you are sitting at your computer, you are free to do chores, run errands, or just to go out and have fun! The last one can be difficult to resist.

Tell them what you are trying to do. Ask for their patience. And make sure they understand that when you are at your computer, you do not want distractions. It will also be easier to make excuses to friends as to why you are not able to go out with them if they know why.

They can also be a useful tool to help stop you quitting. Giving up and admitting failure is easier to do if the only person who knows about it is you. The idea of having to explain it to your friends and family could be a powerful incentive to keep working!

In the end, it comes down to treating your home business like you would a real job. If you are seriously thinking about quitting your day job, you first need to be earning a reliable and steady income. You can only get that by putting in the work.

Do not be discouraged! Yes, many people fail. But the main reason they do so is because they do not take it seriously and end up quitting.

If you keep going, eventually you will find the success you are dreaming of.