Something a little different... entrepreneurism

Thanks for posting this, a fascinating topic, really.

What prevents many from transitioning to a full-on business, I believe, is the problem of scalability. People often begin by managing the tasks involved in IM single-handed, but scaling up is far from easy I think.

Outsource it? Well sure, and I agree that the ability to effectively delegate tasks is central to a successful operation as the founder shifts roles to project management and then executive, but delegation also introduces more complexity, risks and administrative overhead.

In fact, I believe it's this administrative snowball effect that kills it for many, as there often appears to be no smooth and gradual way to ramp-up - instead, the growth process may appear to require step-changes such as hiring staff, leasing offices, IT infrastructure etc etc.

Even on a smaller scale, things such as moving from shared hosting to VPS to dedicated server as your operation grows can be a nightmare for many people, as they aren't overly technical (and shouldn't need to be), but the vendors are talking another language and how can you outsource something you don't understand?

There's a bit of a catch 22 there - you need to grow to make the income to hire people, but it's hiring those people that will enable the growth. And that's a step-change - now you also need extra admin - accountancy, legal etc.

At the core of a successful business is the effective management of resources and workflows. It's fine when things are small and everything fit's in one's head. When things get bigger, it's impossible to keep track of what's going on with what (and who) without having a system in place. Ultimately, I think that's what limits the growth of an operation - because resources that can't be quantified, and hidden processes, can't be controlled.

The central key to managing scalability, in my opinion, is automation. It's only recently that I have seen integrated systems capable of managing such operations become available at a reasonable cost. Systems that used to be exclusively within the domain of huge corporations are now affordable for small and medium size businesses. These can centralize all of a company's processes and resources, enabling management to get a real-time birds-eye view of the state of the enterprise at any time. Plus, they can scale.

I am even going to assert that such technologies can enable growth, and here's how I think that can happen. Historically, the kind of systems I am talking about might cost a few million to install and maybe a few more million to customize to the specific target enterprise. In order to be economical, it would have to be serving hundreds or thousands of people or more from the get-go. Those systems are still available today, but there are now other options available too. Here's the kicker: nowadays, a system of similar capability can be installed economically for the use of a single person. It would be a productivity booster too, even for one person. Sure they may start by using just a small part of it, maybe some contact management, bookkeeping, projects, timekeeping, budgeting - things they would have to do anyway - the difference being that now everything is running from a centralized database, and there's no duplication of records or effort like when running multiple separate applications for various things. Probably most importantly of all though - when they are ready, it can scale.

Usually, slapping new software into an existing enterprise is disruptive, and often only marginally successful, but it was warranted due to the growth of the enterprise. There is now a alternative - install an enterprise ready industrial-strength solution while you're still small, even only one person, and have it smoothly grow and develop alongside your business.

You can probably tell that I'm excited about this, and I could talk at great length on this topic and why I think it will become the tipping-point of opportunity for modern entrepreneurs.

I like to eat my own dog food too, so to speak, and am currently running and testing various industrial-grade solutions for my own purposes, the likes of which would have been unheard of even a few years ago. It's really exciting stuff.

For 2010, I think I will focus on making technology such as this more accessible to people, providing platforms and infrastructure (and friendly interfaces) so they can move forward and concentrate on what they do best.

Watch this space .

Happy Holidays everyone.

Phil.

IMHO most of the folks who want to earn tons of income selling affiliate products would be much better off going door to door in their local community giving away knowledge to help small businesses compete on the internet. Show them how to do the simplest things like an opt in page and autoresponders.

Teach them how to blog, write articles (Or have them written) etc.

Show them what it will do for them.

Then become the go to person for the ones who want your help. And charge fair prices - ask for referrals.

This model works but you have to get out into the world and accept some nos to your face. Many people (me included would rather face nos behind a computer as it hurts less!)

The tools available now make it well worth it to do this even part time...

Merry Christmas!

There's rather a difference between a long-haul trucking company and a long-haul trucker.

The long-haul trucking company is in the business of providing services, and the long-haul trucker is in the business of driving a truck.

It's really not good for either of them to get confused about what their business is.

If the company starts thinking its business is to drive trucks, it's not going to provide effective services.

If the trucker starts thinking his business is to provide services, he's not going to get the truck where it needs to be.

There's nothing wrong with being the trucker, and there's nothing wrong with being the company. Both of them are honest work for honest pay, and you can be quite successful either way.

But know which one you are.