The ability to do business on the
World Wide Web has changed the way people think about companies, especially
when it comes to the prospect of owning their own business. It seems as if the
Internet is loaded with all sorts of potential, just waiting for the lucky
entrepreneur to tap into those vast resources and begin making a fortune.
Already millions of people have taken a shot at starting an online business and
creating a whole new way of life for themselves.
Unfortunately, very few of those
millions have actually made it.
While there are a number of reasons
why an Internet business would never get off the ground, there is one that
stands out above all others: the owner failed to learn how to systemize the
business and make the best use of all the resources available. This applies to
resources within the company as well as online support services that could have
made all the difference in the success of the business enterprise.
All too often, entrepreneurs have a
wonderful idea that has unlimited potential to make money. The problem is that
the idea is often all they have.
There’s a tradition in the business
world that tends to divide businesspeople into two categories. The first
category is reserved for those who are known as visionaries. Purportedly,
visionaries are the ones with the creative juices to come up with great ideas
for products and services. Creativity is the name of the game for the
visionary, who can foresee the product taking the world by storm and making a
fortune for everyone involved.
Unfortunately, the visionary is
also considered to be completely devoid of any practical skills that can
address all the nuts and bolts necessary to build the network, distribute the
product, and generate the sales.
The second category is generally
known as the drone or traditionalist. Drones are directly concerned with how a
business is organized, setting proper schedules for getting things done, and in
general has the background and skill set to handle the everyday operation of
any business. The drone knows how to market a little, advertise a little,
handle the accounting, oversee employees, and basically keep the ship moving
along.
What the drone lacks is the vision
to foresee changes in the industry and come up with creative ways to stay ahead
of the competition.
What the Internet has done is allow
visionaries to explore their ideas to their heart’s content, unfettered by
practical matters. While that sounds good, it simply doesn’t fly in the long
run. The great idea founders because there is no network to market, sell, and
deliver the wonderful brainchild of the entrepreneur.
People who have been successful
with online businesses know that you need a great idea and the resources to
cultivate a customer base for that great idea. They also know the same sort of
day to day housekeeping that is done in brick and mortar businesses also apply
to Internet based businesses and take steps to either learn those skills or
outsource them to trusted and reliable sources.
Internet business systemization is
all about marrying the vision with the practicalities of the business world and
becoming successful. There is no great mystery to the process, although many
people are intimidated by words like “systemization”. If you are a reasonably
intelligent person, it is possible to learn how to effectively systemize your
business and position yourself to be the proud owner of an online business that
consistently makes a profit.
People start to get uptight when
they hear any talk of systemizing anything, much less a business. Their
thoughts immediately turn to the idea of an endless array of meetings that
produce a mountain of action items that must be followed up on at the next
meeting so even more action items can be generated. In short, people see
systemization as some ongoing convoluted series of processes that only make
things more complicated and kill the entrepreneurial spirit.
There is a good chance that you
also have this rather bleak view of systemization. Before going any further,
let’s define what systemization is and what it isn’t.
To be systemized does not mean to
be caught up in so many policies and procedures that there is no time left to
do anything productive. Systemization is not about filling time or creating the
illusion of being busy. A systemized person is not someone who is so hard-nosed
that any deviation from the norm is considered scandalous or harmful to the
organization.
In short, systemization is not
about creating a machine and being dominated by that machine. It does not have
to be complicated, function for some unknown reason, or even remain the same
from one year to the next.
True systemization is more or less
the opposite of what most people think it is. In reality, a truly systemized
organization has a solid functioning procedure that knows what must be done,
has a way to do it, and gets the job done. When a business is truly systemized,
there is time to devote to other pastimes – in the case of an Internet
business, making good use of that creativity that is so common to true
entrepreneurs.
With a properly systemized company,
the procedures make sense and always have a purpose. There is no room for empty
actions that stir up a lot of dust but accomplish nothing. Within this
framework, everyone knows what to do and when to do it. There are no endless
meetings to contend with, no complicated policies to observe, and no time
wasted spinning the wheels.
That is not to say that every
process within a properly systemized company is fun. Few people find the tasks
of calculating and paying taxes to be fun, for example. Still, the tasks, if
organized properly, can be completed in a reasonable amount of time and leave
the rest of the day to move on to something that is more interesting, such as
earning new customers, working on a new product, or writing new sales copy.
The bottom line is that true
systemization frees you, while a lack of properly systemized organization
creates nothing but endless work and stifles you and your business until both
are ready to give up.
Now that you understand that
systemization is a good thing, let’s explore just exactly how this approach to
your online business is good. There are actually quite a number of benefits
that come with creating an organized and systematic environment for your
business.
No comments:
Post a Comment