Your Online Business Needs To Grow Or It Will Die
A small online business does not have to grow and expand until it becomes a giant multi-national company in order to survive but the owners and managers of these online businesses do have to grow by getting smarter and expand by welcoming change, they are very optimistic and willing to do what ever it takes to grow.
Nothing ever just stays the same. Change is the only certainty in the world. What was hot or what worked yesterday is old news today and it will be ancient history tomorrow.
Online businesses, and online business owners and managers must grow with and adapt to changes as they happen and on the internet changes happen a lot faster than they do out in the brick and mortar world.
We all agree that growing, adapting and expanding is vital to the survival of any business and maybe especially to Internet business. So the question is: What is the key to growth and expansion of internet based businesses?
When brick and mortar businesses grow and expand, they build bigger buildings and hire more employees but that isn’t exactly an option for an internet based business.
The key to growth and expansion of an online business is for the business owner or manager to always and continuously invest in them.
They must be willing to stay on the cutting edge of technology and they must be willing to accept and adapt to changes as they occur.
Internet businesses are not buildings. Internet businesses are people. An internet business cannot grow by investing in a larger building.
It only grows when the person who is driving that business invests in his or her own knowledge and ability.
An internet business cannot expand by investing in hiring more people. An internet business expands when the person who is driving it invests in himself or herself.
The bottom line is this: The key to continuous growth and expansion of an internet based business is continuous investments being made in the owner or manager of the business. The short answer: Invest in yourself.
Invest in Yourself
“Invest in yourself! Invest in yourself! Invest in yourself!” But what does ‘invest in yourself mean’? Does it mean you should go out and invest in a haircut that costs two hundred bucks? Does it mean that you should go by yourself a designer suit? What does it mean to invest in yourself?
Well, if you can afford it, go get that haircut and buy that designer suit but that is not the kind of investment that we are talking about here.
Your internet business is just you, your computer and your internet connection and you could actually operate your internet business from any commuter on the planet that had an internet connection.
So basically, your business is really only you. Your business is based only upon your own knowledge and your own ability. Those are the ‘company’ assets and those are the ones that need to grow and expand constantly so that your internet business thrives.
Here is a rule that you might want to live by to insure that your internet business is a success and continues to be a success: Invest 5% of your time and income into improving your self.
Expansion and growth are imperative to survival and expansion and growth of an internet business means expanding and growing the knowledge of the person running the company…that would be YOU.
A tiny investment of only 5% of your time and your income per year in yourself can mean that you will continue to see positive monetary returns for many, many years to come.
You might be sitting there shaking your head and still wondering what is meant by a 5% time and income investment per year in yourself. What is meant is that you must expand your knowledge.
You must stay on top of new technological advancements and you must expand your knowledge base about your own area of expertise. Things change fast. New information becomes available on almost everything under the sun every day of the week.
It is very, very easy to fall behind very, very quickly. And unless you consciously put forth the effort to stay on top of things you will most certainly fall behind. Keeping up is easier than catching up and if you keep up, you can usually find a way to forge ahead.
Yes, you are so busy right now that you could use 48 hour days but taking just about one hour per day out of the 24 that you are allotted and only $5 out of every hundred dollars that you earn and investing that time and money in yourself can increase your future earnings a hundred fold.
Self-Investment Tips that Really Work
It is absolutely true that time is the one commodity that most internet entrepreneurs have a very, very short supply of. Still there are ways to use time that would otherwise be of no value to invest in yourself. Here are a few tips that might help:
Use travel time to invest in yourself. By using your iPod or your MP3 player you can use your travel time to expand your knowledge.
Set your clock for a half hour earlier and use that time to read and learn.
After you stop working in the evening, use your computer to search for new information and ideas.
Of course there are some things that are just going to take your time but you can choose wisely.
Attend webinars and teleseminars that are directly related to your niche or your business.
Attend real world seminars that are closer to your home and will require less travel time but will provide you with the information that you need
As you can see it is very important to invest back into your online business as well as investing in your self.
Ok so there you have it, that is my take, and some tips you can use going forward with your online business.
To your great success on your online business journey, Bob
Please leave any questions or comments below.