Business Alone

Just a few years ago, if you owned a solo business and contracted your time and expertise out on an hourly basis, you probably called yourself a freelancer.

Maybe you were good at writing, or typing, or graphics design, or doing research.

Whatever the skill you possessed, you found you were able to hire your time out to others on an hourly or "per job" basis. It seemed pretty nice at the time.

Hopefully, you enjoyed whatever it was that you did because you were being paid to perform that function only as you were able to produce. Typically, the more hours you spent in someone's service, the more you got paid.

Most of the professional solo businesses that I am aware of have followed a very traditional model in how the business is set up and operated.

Most attorneys, doctors, counselors, and accountants design their practices around the way their predecessors did business before them.

They may decide to locate in a single office or they might opt for a group setting where several others of their practice get together to take advantage of a single building with a common reception area, staff of office assistants, and shared billing system, parking lot, and rest rooms.

Each professional is in business for himself, but his business only thrives as he is able to apply his trade.

He bills at an hourly rate, sees whom he chooses, and sets his own schedule, although his assistants really handle the appointments and flow of work throughout the day.

One of the ways solo business was conducted for many years in this country (U.S.) was by what I call "the one man band" business model.

An entrepreneur would create or find a product and proceed to sell that product to as many buyers as he could find. Sometimes the owner would develop a full line of products offering the consumer many styles, sizes and other choices.

The one man band was many business employees rolled into one. He did the research and development on the product, the manufacturing and/or purchasing, he was the salesman, the secretary, the customer service representative and the business owner all at the same time.

If you are serious about starting a small solo business, there is no greater lesson to learn than how to apply the principle of maximum leverage to everything you do in your business operation.

Your survival, and ultimately your success, will hinge on how well you grasp the concept and make it your slave.

It's a difficult lesson for many, partly because most of us rarely practice applying leverage in our own personal lives. We tend to get complacent and accept low output and/or maintaining the status quo as our daily M.O.

When you get right down to brass tacks, most successful businesses are pretty boring. Really!

How many boring hamburgers does your local McDonalds crank out in a year? How many boring oil changes does Jiffy Lube perform for their customers every day? How often do Amazon employees wrap up a boring package of books to be shipped worldwide?

Many of today's most successful companies are at the top of their niche because they have mastered the execution of very boring business subjects and activities. They understand how to execute their boring routine over and over and over again; usually better and cheaper than anyone else.

Profitable companies develop systems of execution based on testing, modifying, and refining. Once they determine what works best, they simply repeat that formula or system over and over again.

Remember how difficult it was to be 13?

Everybody was always on your case trying to get you to do things you really didn't want to do.

Taking out the trash was a simple and easy enough chore that I was assigned. But oh, how I loved to "forget" to do it.

I wasn't much for raking leaves, pulling weeds, or my least favorite job - cleaning up after the pets.

I was constantly on the lookout for ways to avoid the daily tasks that needed to be done around the house.

There are actually dozens of smart and effective ways to begin the business creation process that will reduce the risk of a new venture for the owner.

I'll focus on what I call the ten "B"s. These are logical and practical ideas you can follow in your own business startup mode to reduce your risk.

They're not theoretical or academic guesses; but tried and proven ways of protecting your assets, both time and money.

Here are a few ideas that may be useful as you consider what you can do to become a star performer in the eyes of your customers.

In a solo business, it's easy to understand why most customers don't differentiate the owner from his business. If you, the owner, treat the customer poorly, your business stinks (even if the customer actually likes the products you deliver.)

And when your offerings disappoint, you, the owner, take the black eye.

It's understandable since the customer sees you and the business as one and the same.

I know, I know, we all use the term freely and without much thought.

But it really is wrong. A virtual business can't have assets, employees, products and customers.

The term "virtual" means a realistic simulation; of such effect that something appears to be real even though it's not.

Well let me tell you, Internet business is the real thing. It is a different kind of business because of the way it's operated and delivered; but it is as real, legal, and legitimate as any other physical business.

Digital information is not unlike written information, except that it exists in the form of little data bits that consist of "1s" and "0s."

Every character and many symbols that we use in our language can be represented "digitally" and transferred electronically over wires and cables and even through the air waves.

Those characters are developed or "written" in software programs like MS Word and others but are "saved" as digital files which can then be transferred to other media and output types.

First, think for a moment about a traditional physical business.

Choose any store down the street you like or think about your favorite shop at the neighborhood mall.

Undoubtedly, it will have walls, a roof, carpet, employees, opening and closing times, products on the shelf (or some type of service that can be purchased), a cash register, counters, aisles, lights, bathrooms, advertising in the window, dedicated or shared parking outside, and many other things that all businesses have . . . or do they?

Try to imagine an alternative type of store with a single owner but no employees, no walls, no roof, no carpet, no bathrooms, no cash register, no counters, no aisles, no lights or other physical attributes.

Information businesses that are created, developed, promoted, operated, and delivered over the Internet are "the perfect business" because the product or service requires no employees, no stored inventory, no physical packaging, and no physical delivery.

These businesses can be operated from anywhere around the globe with just an Internet connection and the proper business set-up!

But for these businesses to exist, the following conditions must be met:

Today I had a rude awakening. I discovered I needed to practice what I preach. I needed to start taking my own advice.

I'll explain what I mean by telling you about my day.

The phone rang this morning a little after 3:00 am. I was tired and thinking I didn't want to answer it. I hate middle-of-the-night calls.

Most parents hate 3 o'clock calls because they worry that there could be some bad news about one of their children or grandchildren or another relative. Why else does the phone ring at 3:00?

When you do business online, you have to get a little personal with your customers. There's no way around it.

Being personal is fine with most of us, if we like and trust the person that's moving into our space. But online, being personal is a real challenge and a very sensitive issue for the business owner.

From the very beginning, you'd like to know how to reach your prospects individually. So, you go after a first name, last name, and an email address at the very least.

I started following Internet businesses back in the mid-90's and continue to be amazed at the variety and sheer number of creative business techniques and selling ideas that I've seen during that time.

Of all the trends, promotions, sales, and marketing ploys I witnessed, I am continually amazed at one particular selling strategy I've seen that has enormous power and sales potential yet very few marketers ever consider using it.

Here it is:

Often, when a new businessman enters the market, he often forgets or totally ignores the cost of support for his products and services.

Depending upon the type of business you operate, that could be a very costly mistake. Why?

Because if you don't understand fully the expenses of doing business in its entirety, there is a good chance you will have a good portion of your profits consumed by these "hidden costs."

Especially in online information sales, the tendency sometimes is to assume that you won't have to deal with very many customer issues.

Preparation for business success can come in many ways.

Some follow a regimented career path through college and possibly graduate school to learn the art and science of becoming a business owner.

Others choose to get their education from home study courses, books, tapes, and other media presentations.

Most businesses are started by folks that don't have formal training in business. The school of "hard knocks" is their educational backdrop.

Over the next few posts we will be looking at things you can do in your business to:

- gain the education and experience you need to learn important and useful business skills directly related to your success,

- present your business in the best light as one that is real and credible,

- grow your business beyond being just a startup that doesn't go anywhere,

- expand your mind and your opportunities for new business ideas, new products, and creative solutions to business problems,

There is a critical business principle that you need to learn and implement in your solo Internet business that will serve you extremely well. In all digital businesses it will become either an invaluable friend or a nightmare of an enemy.

Some stay in business for years and spend a lot of valuable daily time on managing this area of their business, while others adapt and implement an automated system that does almost all of the manual work for them.

I'm talking about implementing and operating a system of records and data keeping that will aid you in maintaining your business and your customers.

Every business needs to establish and maintain professional working relationships with suppliers, distributors, vendors, service providers, and outsourcing companies.

You may think that just because you're running a solo operation and you are developing all your information products in-house you don't need to worry about on-going relationships.

Every business will need to establish partnerships (or relationships) with an Internet service provider, a bank or other financial partner, tax consultants (even if you prepare your own returns), insurance providers, possibly an attorney, and most likely some online service providers (like a merchant account company to provide for credit card transactions).

Businesses have to communicate in a variety of ways, but I've noticed that many of the online businesses (that I assume are run by solo owners) these days provide no address or telephone number for the company.

I am guessing that the business owners of these web sites have full time employment away from home and just figure that since they can't be around to answer the phone, it's better to just not list a number.

I won't deal with businesses that don't allow contact. Do you?

We're discussing the little operating changes that can easily be set up in an online business that will add greatly to your customer support process.

4. Set up a responsive help system or customer support mechanism. It doesn't have to be an expensive and complex hosted solution.

The main thing customers want to know is how to easily, quickly, and reliably get in touch with you should a problem or concern arise.

Customers online understand that small companies may not have full time "operators standing by" waiting to answer every question thrown at them. But by all means, return phone calls and emails just as soon as you can, preferably within a few hours of receiving them.

I believe it's a wise move to investigate all the options you have in executing your online business.

You may quickly dismiss many of these options for any number of reasons, but you might also find just that one perfect little advantage that sets your business apart from your competitors and propels you to success.

Drop-shipping could become your business "ace in the hole" so to speak, but there are many dangers in this industry so you need to be cautious and thorough in your research about the drop-shippers that you employ, their reputation for quality products and service, their fee structure, their policies, and your rights as the selling agent.

Some business owners have chosen to ship purchased products to their customers at no additional cost with the idea that such generosity could mean the difference between landing a sale or not, all other considerations being equal.

I would caution that you be very careful in implementing this strategy. If you choose to offer free shipping, that's certainly your prerogative as the business owner; but if your business can't really afford this luxury, it could become an awful drain on your capital.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you should never employ this strategy. In fact, some businesses have used the "free shipping" tactic to differentiate and set their company apart from all the other competitors in their niche.

In the previous installment we discussed some of the costs associated with delivering physical products to your customers.

Be careful to study the numbers and understand exactly what it is costing your business on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis to send out your goods.

In most instances, it is best to charge your customers about what it costs you to handle and ship their purchase. The amount can vary a little from your exact cost so that you can standardize and simplify the shipping cost structure you present to your buyers.

Have you ever noticed a shopping cart full of groceries sitting next to the checkout stand at the supermarket?

I've seen it happen a few times and usually figured that someone simply left their wallet or purse at home and would be back soon to claim their abandoned goods.

It's not a big problem since most stores are accommodating about the oversight.

But online, shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem! No one really knows the extent of this loss to e-tailers, but I have seen some estimates that suggest fifty percent or more of all online sales processes are never completed.

The ways an auto responder can be employed to automate your business tasks are many. Here are just a few of the typical business uses of an auto responder:

- if an email address is no longer valid, a message can be sent from the mail server that the email is now "undeliverable,"

- if the business changes its email address or URL, a new forwarding address can be sent to those that send mail to the old address,

- if you go on vacation or are otherwise unavailable for a time, your auto responder can alert customers to your absence and when you'll return,

Having to ship merchandise out to customers reminds me of the hassle of shaving every morning. It's a part of the daily routine, it's something to be tolerated but it's never enjoyed, and the longer you let it go, the more difficult the chore grows for the next day.

In my mind, having to ship merchandise, keep inventory on hand, box and package products, etc, is one of the reasons I feel strongly about solo operators focusing on information based business only. There is no shipping.

If you ship merchandise, you have to keep merchandise. All of a sudden you are in the warehousing and inventory business that presents all kinds of extra manpower costs, worries and hassles.

By now you understand that the solo information business strategy discourages dealing in physical products that require shipping and handling. These products require human intervention and a lot of financial costs that are the antithesis of the one-person solo Internet home business model.

Nevertheless, many of you will continue to do business in a physical delivery world because of the types of products you sell.

So I have a few suggestions about shipping products that will hopefully help you in your business to avoid the pitfalls and traps that some solo businesses have fallen into in the past.

Today's solo business owners have an amazing array of tools at their disposal to share their story and their wares with customers compared to days bygone.

Now I'm not an expert in the use of this strategy by any means, but I'd like to mention to you one tool that is easy to put your hands on, and learn how to use, that will open the door to greater customer loyalty and put your web business in front of a growing audience.

I've always believed that business owners should stay on the leading edge of technology available to businesses in order to profit from new advances and efficiencies.

I've written a number of times on getting started in business and most of those discussions, at some point at least, lead back to the importance to small businesses of doing market research to understand who your customers are and what they really want.

I have come to the conclusion over my years in dealing with small business owners that some of them (the true entrepreneurs) are exceptionally good at the skill of listening, and others (let's call them business road kill) haven't a clue what listening entails and don't ever do it.

Every new technology faces the same uphill battle when it comes to public acceptance and dispelling people's fears that something bad will happen to them as a result of some unknown or unanticipated problem.

Many people say they are hesitant to make a purchase online because the either fear the process or they fear that their money will be lost forever because the seller will "take the money and run."

I'm too young to remember the early days of inventions like the car, the radio, and the telephone, but there were great fears among the public about what these new devices would do to society.

Many people were slow to adopt and embrace change. It wasn't until they actually saw and understood the advantages and noticed other folks were using the inventions without harm that they decided to give them a try.

When you do business as a solo small business owner, you alone are responsible for every aspect of the business.

If there are breakdowns in your product sales, customer relations, or financial management, there's no one to shake a finger at except the guy in the mirror.

Now in a typical "regular" business, each of the employee managers that handle a department like those mentioned above will be scrutinized and evaluated in their performance.

The solo business owner has many tools and resources at his disposal that can leverage his time and automate his business so that he can accomplish much more by himself than would ever have been possible prior to the Internet.

Most business owners that utilize email will tell you that its low cost and "free" fast delivery are the main advantages of using it. But in my mind, at least, there are some other very important reasons why email is the communication medium of choice for the solo business owner.

If you are not using of these email advantages, why not give them a try? They may even be more important resources for your business than the low cost of contacting your customers and prospects.

I think this is an important question that every entrepreneur needs to ask of him/herself. I'm not talking about turning a dollar bill into coins.

You've probably noticed that everything related to Internet business changes quite rapidly. It's business at the speed of light, so to speak.

Your niche market changes and morphs over time as new innovations come on the scene and old traditions die out.

You targeted customers change. It is a rarity nowadays to keep the same customers as regular purchasers at your site for more than a couple of years.

Obviously, there are some subscription or membership models that make more sense than others. I'm sure there are profitable membership models in every industry and niche, but there are some models (regardless of niche) that seem to thrive on the subscription web site platform.

I was once a member of a professional organization that catered specifically to subscription web sites. I joined, not because I had a site, but because I was contemplating starting this type of business and wanted to learn all about this model prior to actually committing money to the idea.

I pulled out some notes I had written about the topic (because this organization is no longer in business) and I can share with you the five types of subscription models that are typically the most profitable.

It seems that the new American Dream is to own a business of your own. No longer is it much of a dream to own a single family home. Everyone seems to have one these days.

I want to caution you, though, that you need to be very cognizant of why you are going into business for yourself.

Of course there are many different reasons why you start a solo business.

But when an entrepreneur tells me that his main reason for going into business is so that he can get way from his demanding boss – I begin to see some red warning flags about that person.

I wonder if he really has what it's going to take to be successful as a solo small business operator. Why?

As the title implies, there is a business principle that all great companies adhere to that produces wealth and abundance beyond the infusion of cash into a business.

It is the principle that value can be created in a business in ways other than by direct cash deposits. It's a pretty simpl