How to Grow Your Small Business

As you may know, I devote a significant amount of time to coaching and assisting others in developing their virtual businesses. However, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the lack of patience that turns 80 percent of people into 0 percent. I am not sure, but I am going to give it a shot.

The most effective way to begin training individuals is to relate a story to them that they can relate to. Thus, here we go… In 2003, a woman (let us call her Joan) paid me to help her establish an online web design business. I have experience starting a web design business called YouOnLine.Net in 1998, and I spend 10-12 hours per day on the internet to stay current with new developments. As a result, Joan recognized that I possessed the expertise necessary to complete the job properly.

I spent slightly more than two months establishing Joan’s business. I took care of everything, from securing the domain name and SSL certificate to programming the HTML for the shopping cart. Indeed, Joan’s business would be fully operational and profitable on the day she chose to open it. Joan was happy, I was happy, and I returned home feeling good about the birth and birth of a new business.

However, three weeks later, Joan hired an attorney who sent me a letter demanding that I return all of her money. What transpired?

After weeks of litigation (during which the Complaint was eventually dismissed), I discovered that Joan had determined that she would earn at least $5,000.00 per month. However, when she earned only $1,200.00 in the first three weeks, she panicked and assumed the business would fail.

However, Joan was well aware that she was ultimately responsible for this choice. How am I aware? Because Joan never communicated the issue to me. If I would done something wrong, Joan would have called me in a split second in sweltering New York. Rather than that, she chose the “sheepish” route, regardless of who was harmed in the process.

However, this is only one of thousands of examples. Yes – many of the people with whom I work and coach have a limited understanding of the process of developing, building, and growing a business. For whatever reason, many people starting their first business have this erroneous belief that they will instantly earn $1,000s of dollars without lifting a finger. I even had a customer call and say, “I purchased your book but have yet to earn any money.” I inquired as to whether she had read the book. “No,” she replied. I was unaware that I was supposed to read it. I simply assumed I was obligated to purchase it.”

Permit me to impart some insider wisdom: The infomercials provide accurate information. The only thing they do not tell you is that to earn that kind of money, you will need to invest time, dedication, and long hours building your business.

Here is a true story about something that happened to me: I wrote a fifteen-page report one day and converted it to PDF format. I sent an announcement to my newsletter list and earned $6,000.00 in one day. I was both surprised and overjoyed. However, that has not occurred again. Thus, I could go on television and state unequivocally, “I earned $6,000.00 in one day.” What I do not tell you is that I would been in the web design business for over three years and it took that long to build up a newsletter list of people interested in purchasing my Report. Hopefully, my story will inspire you to examine infomercials for the truth they contain, as well as the truth they do not contain.

What a Business Is Actually

A business is comparable to giving birth to a child. You decide to start a business first, and then on the type of business to start. Then you devote time to researching and reading everything you can on the subject of your business.

Following that, you obtain training specific to the type of business you intend to start. Before you can sell a product or service, you must first understand it. This requires you to join organizations, network with others in your field, and/or work for an employer in the field in order to gain an understanding of the business’s inner workings.

Following that, you will need to purchase the appropriate computer system and internet connection to run your business, as well as give it a name, secure a domain name, and set up your entire operation before you open.

Finally, if you do decide to open a business, it is extremely unlikely that you will earn any money during the first 4-5 months. Of course, this depends on the type of business you choose to open and whether you already have a customer base to market to. If you lack a customer base, it may take some time before you start earning money.

Joan’s Error

Joan made a mistake by failing to comprehend these basic rules. Despite the fact that I provided Joan with URLs to organizations and other free resources, she did not conduct any research on them. Why? Because Joan was not looking for this type of business in the first place. She was merely looking for a means of earning money.

Unfortunately, Joan had no idea she was sitting on a gold mine. I would spent two months establishing a functional business for her. Her first month’s earnings totaled $1,200.00. That is incredible!! If you ask anyone who has started a business how much money they made their first month, even the most successful never made more than $1,200.00.

What Joan overlooked was the fact that her given name was “unknown.” Nowadays, people are intelligent. They will not purchase from a business that they do not trust. Joan wasted no time establishing trust with her prospective customers and yet earned $1,200.00 in her first month. I was perplexed as to what Joan could possibly be upset about. She should be jubilant. However, Joan did not see it that way.

Are You Similar to Joan? If you are, you must immediately acknowledge your shortcomings. If you continue to be like Joan, it will be entirely your fault if you do not succeed in business.

A Final Thought

If you chose to become an Elementary Teacher, you would not hesitate to spend money on college to obtain the necessary degrees. Additionally, you would not be disappointed if you were required to start at the bottom and work for a lower salary when beginning your teaching career. Right?

If you chose to become a paralegal, you would not hesitate to spend money on enrolling in a class to obtain your paralegal certificate. You would also have no qualms about starting your career at the bottom until you received additional on-the-job training. Right?

Therefore, if the majority of people are willing to invest money and time in a career they enjoy, why do the majority believe that starting a business is any different? Answer this: Do you know anyone on the planet who started a business from scratch (with less than $500) and built it into a thriving enterprise that earned $5,000 per month within the first three weeks? Recognize the reality: it is not possible!