You ever wonder how the mouth of the Mississippi River, the largest river in the United States, becomes so big?



The Mississippi is a watershed for 1.2 million square miles. It includes tributary rivers from 32 states and two Canadian Provinces. As big as the Mississippi River is it isn't the longest. That record goes to the Missouri River. The Missouri, though, feeds into the Mississippi. One of the reasons the Mississippi is so big.

In the world there are longer rivers than the Missouri and there are bigger rivers than the Mississippi. Among the larger or longer rivers are the Congo, Amazon, Nile and Yangtze. All of these rivers have one thing in common. Tributary rivers feed into them!

The Mississippi has a meager beginning

The Mississippi begins as a steam in Clearwater County in Northern Minnesota. Various streams and tributaries feed into the Mississippi as it travels through the United States on its way to the Gulf Coast. It is fed by small streams, creeks, and by small and major rivers like the Missouri and Ohio. The same things small streams, creeks and small and major rivers feed the Missouri and Ohio Rivers, too.

Build Your Business Like The Mississippi

Your home-based business can and will grow just like the Mississippi. In the beginning you are an individual, a small stream, moving along looking for other individuals, tributaries, to join your business. Each new business partner that joins feeds your business just like the small steams, creeks and small and major rivers feed the Mississippi.

What Feeds The Streams, Creeks and Rivers?

Every tributary feeding the Mississippi has water. The water comes mostly from rain and snow that eventually melts and fills the tributaries. In your business, look at the rain and snow as your customers. Customers fill your tributaries full of sold products or services that end up in your pocket as income.

The tributaries are your business partners. Every time you add a new business partner you add another tributary to your business. How big this tributary becomes depends on two things: How much rain and snow (customers) is captured and how many new tributaries (business partners) your new business partner adds.

Look at the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana. It's wide and has a lot of water going by every second heading to the Gulf Coast. The volume of water passing by is endless. If you are like me, you ask, where does all of this water come from?

The answer is… It comes all those small streams, creeks, and small and huge rivers feeding into the Mississippi, its tributaries.

Your challenge as a home-based business owner is to see how big of a river you can build. How many tributaries do you want feeding into your river? How much rain and melted snow do you want feeding into your river?

It doesn't take a lot of huge business partners to make a large business. Not every new business partner is going to grow as big as the Ohio. Out of thousands of tributaries feeding the Mississippi only two, the Ohio and Missouri, stand out. The rest are much smaller but add tremendous volume to the river's size.

Look at your business the same way. It takes a lot of small and medium sized partners to build a large business. Occasionally, one of those partners will grow in size perhaps becoming as big as the Ohio or Missouri in your business.

Remember The Mississippi's Roots

Just like the Mississippi, though, you have to get started. Way up in Northern Minnesota –where the mighty Mississippi gets its start it doesn't look like much. It's just another stream of water. That's how your home-based business begins, too. Then as the Mississippi travels tributaries with rain and melted snow add to its volume. How many tributaries will your business have as you travel through the year? How much rain and melted snow (customers) will your business have? The more tributaries with rain and melted snow feeding your business the bigger your business will grow.

A year from now, are you going to be a small feeder stream for your sponsor or are you going to be a river with many tributaries contributing to its size?