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April 1, 2001 |
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Question: Where do you want your business to be 6 months to 1 year from now? Do you currently have a business plan and are following it? A person would certainly never think of building a new house without first drawing up a detailed blueprint, and then following the directions to construct it. Yet, many people start and continue an e-business without the foggiest notion of where they want to go and how they are going to get there. Investor's Business Daily recently ran an article outlining the key steps to building a strong business. #3 on the list was developing an operating plan, then sticking to it. So right now......take 30 minutes and write down where you expect to be financially with your business in 6 months, in 1 year, and in 3 years. Then write down how you plan on getting there. The plan does not have to be elaborate or highly detailed right now, you can always add to it later. Simply write something similar to a home budget. How much do you have for joining or starting a new business? How much can you afford for advertising costs? For ages financial planners have touted the benefits of having a budget for your household expenses. If they think it's so important for a home, then don't you think it is even more important for your business? The plan does not have to be elaborate or highly detailed right now, you can always add to it later. Simply write something similar to a home budget. How much do you have for joining or starting a new business? How much can you afford for advertising costs? Consider this: if you are not willing to even write down some sort of business plan, do you reasonably expect to have a thriving business 3 years from now? #1 on the IBD list was "Cash Is King." Getting into a lot of debt without quick profits to justify it, is what spelled death for many of the crashed Dotcoms. Many of these businesses had serious cash flow problems, but because the money was flowing in so rapidly from investors, they chose to overspend their budgets. When the bottom fell out and the money tree quit producing, there was no real source of continuing revenue to meet operating expenses. Financing a rise on borrowed money is putting your business into a high risk category. If your business is not making you money, stop putting money into it! Re-evaluate the situation, dump it if need be, and go on to greener pastures. Continually spending money on a project that is not giving you a sufficient source of income to justify the costs, will mean you will soon be out of business. #2 on the list is to evaluate yourself, your situation, and your strengths. In other words, don't do what everyone else is doing just for the sake of doing something. Your business must be something that you really enjoy, are willing to work hard at, and will reflect your personal strengths and abilities. Don't put the proverbial square peg into a round hole. #4 says that relationships are everything. First, you have to believe in yourself. If you don't believe in you, then friend, don't expect anyone else to either. The Internet is a big pond and there are a lot of fish swimming in it. Some are bottom feeders, some are top. You'll never get off the bottom if you don't set your sites for the surface and then believe that you do have what it takes to swim up there. Being online you are going to need to establish your credibility and integrity to the e-community. Keep your relationships with the rest of the netizens clean, healthy, and constantly growing. Another reason many of these e-businesses failed is because management didn't address the problems that were apparent in their companies. As long as the money was coming in, they thought all would be well. It's easy to ignore problems when times are good. But, when the business cycle turned, it was too late. All businesses have problems of one sort or another. Ignoring little problems will only mean bigger problems in the future. When your business runs across a difficulty or problem, address that issue right now. Remember what the little bird in one of Dr. Seuss's books said, "Why make big problems out of little problems." Dave Cole 
I want to share something I heard in church this morning that got me thinking about making money on the Internet. I know that sounds a little strange, *LOL*, but stick with me here. It's a concept called “miracle thinking.” Did you know that 150,000 people a MONTH die in the U.S. from cigarette smoking related lung cancer? (And NO, I'm not on the soap box against smoking, this is just part of the analogy.) And did you know that 50 people a year are killed by sharks, worldwide? Stick with me here. ;-) Now if there were a group of people swimming in the ocean and someone yelled, “I think I saw a shark!” You can bet that everyone would get out of the water as quick as possible. And a bunch of those people would run to their cars and light up a cigarette, knowing that it was more dangerous to smoke a cigarette than it is to be in the water with a shark. That is miracle thinking. Smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, knowing that odds are, it could kill you, but “thinking” that everything will be ok. (And please, no angry emails from cigarette smokers, this was just the example used in church. So what does any of this have to do with making money on the Internet? *LOL* I'm glad you asked. I was struck by the phase, “miracle thinking,” and how much of it I see on the Internet all day, every day. How many ads do you see every day saying you can “make money by doing nothing?” “Make $10,000 A Month....FREE!” “Do Nothing and Retire in 3 months.” “No Money and WE Do ALL The Work For You.” If you believe these claims, then you must be “miracle thinking.” I'm contacted by people every day who want me to tell them how to make money on the Internet, yet they don't want to spend any money......not one thin dime. And I'm not suggesting that you break the kids piggy bank or use the grocery money to pay for advertising, but you have to be realistic. You certainly wouldn't expect someone in the “real world” to give you a 'brick and mortar business' for FREE, fill it with a sales force for FREE, give you all the advertising for FREE, and then PAY YOU a percentage of the profits................ for DOING NOTHING! Then why would you expect that on the Internet? If you do, you must be “miracle thinking.” Ken Malohn Ken Malohn has been an Internet marketer for over 2 years. If you like the above article, you can join his newsletter for FREE! You'll get money-making tips, trivia, jokes and inspirational messages. PLUS...your FREE ad once a week to 3,000+ AND a chance at a FREE Solo Ad. FREE! Subscribe @
“Don't gripe about the flies, if you refuse to take out the trash.”
As always, enjoy your life and your day, it's God's great gift to you. Dave
“The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and He adds no sorrow with it.”
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