The Top Five Online Business Killers
Written by Ryan Ambrose · October 3, 2007
I can go all over the blogosphere and read about things you need for a successful business. Now talking about them is good, because if what you needed for success was common knowledge, there would be more successful businesses. But what I don’t see many people discussing is what your business can do without.
So to keep it short, I’m going to list the top five business killers I know.
- Fear: There are two ways fear can kill your business. The first is that it paralyzes you so badly you take no action. The second is panic, which is nasty because panicked people make every decision required to bring what caused the panic to pass. Refuse to give in to fear in either case, even if you have to stop long enough catch your breath.
- Procrastination: Businesses don’t start or grow if everything can wait until tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, a procrastinator will still wait until tomorrow. This causes a vicious Catch 22: tomorrow is never tomorrow when it arrives and you can wait another day. So if you want to get anything done, get rid of your procrastination.
- Politics: Even if you work alone, businesses don’t exist by producing politics. Your visitors or customers don’t want to argue who’s right or wrong, or listen to you find new ways to parse your latest screw-up. Businesses exist to produce results, and if all you can produce is politics, you won’t be around long.
- Lack of planning: Businesses require a strategy and a plan to make them grow. Bouncing around randomly is a good way to waste time and money, and a lot of people conclude that ‘well, this just doesn’t work’ for lack of a plan.
- Excuses: The most empowering philosophy I know is ‘no excuses’. I’ll grant that my background in philosophy is a bit limited, but ‘no excuses’ has worked well for me for as long as I’ve used it. Get out of the habit of making excuses and instead, look for solutions. It’s been a big boon for me.
Those are the top five ways I know to thoroughly wreck your online business. If you have something you want to add, feel free to comment.
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My name is Ryan Ambrose, and I’m the co-author of Can I Make Big Money Online.
My name is Ryan Ambrose, and I’m the co-author of Can I Make Big Money Online.
Nice list, I agree with all of the above. The one that I always drive on about and get a bee in my bonnet about is specifically related to people wanting to make money from blogging, although it does help in any other form of business.
Make sure you know your subject and more importantly be enthusiastic about your subject. There are far too many half started ideas floating about the internet, people starting with good intentions then their interest fades as results don’t come quickly.
Just look at the successful blogs, this one, John Chow and dare I say mine… are all run by people who have a dedicated interest to their subject and who put the time and effort into making the site work.
Nice work…!
Matt,
Thank you for the kind words. I agree with you about the blogs. I have a real passion for this topic, which really helps me.
The problem I have most often is with focus. I want to do so many things that I have a hard time focusing on one of them.
All the best,
George
One more note, I am taking a short vacation from now until tomorrow evening. So if you comment, it may be moderated until tomorrow night.
However, please do comment
For bloggers, I think a big killer is lack of self-discipline.
Sometimes it’s hard to stick to your posting schedule, isn’t it? Well, at least it is so for me…
Passion is a good thing to have and so is great topics.
Vittorio,
I agree about the self discipline issue.
Collin,
Passion is a HUGE key to being successful.
Ryan,
Thanks so much for such a great post for your first post as a co-author here.
Thanks George.
Discipline hasn’t been a problem for me. I developed a lot of that and self-motivation at my last job before it became so miserable I left.
Writer’s block, on the other hand, is a pain.
WOW!! Some really valid points. The ones that struck me the most were: Procrastination – Excuses – Lack of planning. I need to get up and get things DONE
Gerri,
Glad you liked it. I have run into all of 5 them at one point or another.