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Copyright 2006 Jeanette Cates
Michael Gerber, in his book the e-Myth, talks about the
importance of working ON your business, rather than IN your
business. In one case you're doing the planning, creating the
vision, leading your organization (regardless of the size). In
the other, you're doing the actual work of the business - the
details.
As entrepreneurs our tendency is to take on all the detailed
work in our business. Primarily because it's what we know how to
do. And secondarily because we're sure no one else can it as
well as we can.
But what role should you be playing in your online business?
There are three major functional areas in online success:
- Decision making - things that only you, the business owner can
do
- Marketing activities - which you can hire out
- Technical activities - which you can hire out
You need to understand what each role does, but not necessarily
how it is done.
Let's use designing a web site as an example.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people who are experts in
their field spending the time and frustration trying to learn
web design. For $100 you can pay a web designer to set that up
for you - then you can get on with the process of making money.
While you are uniquely qualified to decide what content should
be on the site, any web designer could implement that for you.
Creating web pages is like any other profession. Doing it well
takes professional skills.
In your business, do you do all of your own taxes or do you hire
an accountant? Do you write all of your own contracts or do you
hire a lawyer? Do you create all of your marketing materials or
do you hire a professional designer? The same thinking applies
to designing, maintaining and marketing your website.
Do you want to spend the time and effort it takes to learn web
design? Some will say "yes" and learn a new hobby. Others will
say "no way" and hire a professional. Others will say "I have no
choice at this time" and do the best they can. Some will hire a
professional to set up the site, then do the maintenance
themselves.
The important thing is to recognize that when you decide to do
it yourself, you need to be willing to spend the time and effort
it takes to learn it. And that time *will* detract from the time
you can spend thinking about your business, making decisions,
and working ON the business.
Remember what business you are in. Unless you have a strong
desire to learn the intricacies of HTML (the code for web
pages), don't bother to spend your time learning web design.
Instead, become a good manager of your website. Most business
owners are better served learning the what's and why's of good
online business and leaving the how-to's to the professionals.
Doing the actual marketing activities, such as submitting your
articles to directories, building link exchanges, managing your
pay-per-click campaigns are also detractors from your major role
as the visionary and decision-maker for the business. All of
these activities can be hired out to someone else.
Can you afford to hire all this help? In most cases, yes! In
fact, if you calculate how much you can make per hour, using
your unique expertise (working with clients, creating a product,
offering a teleseminar), you'll find you can hire a lot of help
at $10-20 per hour - and actually increase your profitability!
And while we're talking about hiring help, look at the time you
spend on personal tasks that could be hired out. For example, if
you spend 5 hours per week cleaning your house, you could hire
someone to do that for you at $10 per hour. So you could "buy
back" 20 hours of your time for only $200 per month. What could
you do with 20 hours dedicated to your business? How much could
you earn in that amount of time?
Deciding on your role in your business is one of your
responsibilities as the business owner. When you choose to work
ON your business, rather than IN your business, your
profitability will soar!
About the author:
Dr. Jeanette Cates is an Internet strategist who works with
experts who are ready to turn their website and their knowledge
into gold. She is the CEO of TechTamers, a full service web
design and marketing firm. Inquire about how to build your
online success at http://www.AskJeanetteCates.com
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