When your business starts to take off you need to have a strategy to deal with the growth. Many entrepreneurs start to get tied down with the technical work of the business rather than planning and controlling the growth of the company. When you create a business, you are creating a system that should be able to run without your input. You need to put systems in place so other people can take over the technical work while you grow your business.

So as you start to get more customers, remember to focus time on writing down the systems you use to deal with them. When you’ve designed that job, you give it to someone else and go to work on other aspects of your business. Imagine how much you could grow your business if you focused on marketing and finding customers all the time. This should be your first goal. Then as you grow more, you find other people to take care of this role as well.

Your final goal is to be able to sit on a beach in Hawaii sipping piña coladas while your business functions without you. The obvious dream of every business owner, but you have to work smarter than most to obtain this goal.

Amazing advancements have been made in making websites look pretty and one of them is Macromedia Flash. It’s been around a while but I’ve started to notice more designers start using it for things that are completely unnecessary. If you are thinking of using Flash you need to be aware of some major problems.

First, search engines don’t like Flash. They can’t get inside your menu system or look at any of your text. If you’re looking at never ranking in the search engines, Flash is definitely the way to go.

Secondly, some computers don’t have it installed. Especially work computers that need admin access to install new software like the one I’m using now. So if you want to lose customers because they can’t see your website, Flash is definitely for you.

Of course Flash has many wonderful applications as well but you need to be aware whether your making the right decision for your business. Using the latest technology for the hell of it is a losing strategy.

Over the last few weeks I’ve managed to meet quite a few people that can help my business through networking. Not just new clients but also people who I can add to my team when I need them. It’s exceptionally easy here in Madrid considering the small nature of the English speaking community but it can work anywhere.

So when you’re out and about, talk about what you do and listen to what other people do. Who knows when a graphic designer or marketing guru might pop up on your doorstep. Also remember to help others in their networking. When we all help each other by matching skills to needs, everyone benefits. And with the popularity of social networking websites now, your possible skill-base just expanded around the globe.

I’ve been re-reading “The E-Myth Revisited” over the weekend so I thought this would be a good time to talk about business development. Basically, business development is your business. Every business is in either two phases: it is either growing or dying.

Not hard to work out which group you want to be in. To keep growing you have to always be improving, always be looking for ways to make your business better.

The best way to do this is dedicate some time each day to business development. It’s time to start working ‘on’ your business, rather than ‘in’ your business. I’ll go into this in a bit more detail but your first step is realising you need to improve, and not get too buried in the day to day work of your business.

I’d always known about the need to start creating your business team and had actually done it in past ventures with good results. However it was taken to a whole other level yesterday when I met with a graphic designer for my website.

Her ideas where fantastic and the way she looked at my business was just so different to my point of view. I’ve never been a very visual person, I like things that look pretty, but as long as it’s not ugly I’m happy. But the things she showed me where just so elegant I was amazed. It took pretty and made it beautiful, sleek, and sophisticated. She’s coming back with ideas for my design today so hopefully, in a short while, you’ll see the difference it’ll make to my website.

Another example came from a lunch I had with a business friend. We like to catch up and share ideas about how we’re approaching problems, etc. He’s just started working with a retired marketer/graphic designer and the things she was producing were excellent. I guess we’re both quite technical people so the difference these visually creative people are making just blows my mind.

So start forming your team. Look in the right places and it can be less expensive than you think while adding incredible benefits.

Please! I was reading a forum last night and of course I’m in the internet marketing section. What is most people’s advice for marketing a website? Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertising and sometimes Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). That’s it. I mean let’s not get fancy or anything, let’s not actually put some thought into marketing our businesses.

When you started your bricks and mortar business did your marketing plan consist of “put ad in yellow pages.” If it did, consider yourself virtually slapped. So why do the same thing for a website? I agree that these things are important but they’re exactly what everybody else is doing as well. So you’re competing with the same army, with the same weapons, and the only way to win is to have more troops. Anyone will tell you this isn’t the war to win a battle, or succeed in business.

So think outside of the box when it comes to internet marketing. Find something unique that will draw people to your website. Think of a free service that is linked to your product. Just start thinking full stop. And I’m breathing, and I’m calm.

Rant over, time to go help my forum friends some more. Have a pleasant day.

I mentioned receiving feedback yesterday and thought maybe I should go a little more depth on the subject. Because honestly, most of us aren’t very good at receiving feedback. Most of us enjoy being right instead and will argue until we’re blue in the face about it.

Being right will not help your business! In fact, being unable to receive feedback could be a symptom of much greater problems in your entrepreneurial ability. Customers aren’t interested in you being right, they’re interested in you solving their problems. If they don’t understand the message you’re trying to convey or some fancy jargon you use, will they buy your product?

So if you take feedback poorly, make it your personal goal for the month to be more open to others’ thoughts and opinions. Stop trying to convince the other person of your point of view and just listen for a change. You’ll definitely learn a thing or two about your business.

When you work in a small business, or you are the small business, it becomes hard to see the forest through the trees. You can get so lost in what you’re doing that you forget that everybody else has a perspective too. And this can be very dangerous for your business.

Whether you’re working on marketing material or designing products, other people should be involved in the process. You should be soliciting feedback from as many sources as possible to ensure people actually see it the same way you do. This goes quadruple when you are an expert in the field and your customers may not be.

So who do you ask for feedback? Ideally, your customers. But running it past other people you work with, your friends, your family, or your neighbour isn’t going to hurt either. The next step is learning how to deal with feedback, constructive or otherwise.

As another Monday rolls around I think this is the best time to update your action plan and see how you’re progressing. I usually do mine on Sunday night, crossing off what I’ve completed, remembering what I wanted to complete, and then writing it all up for the next week in a nice new list.

This allows you to focus on the tasks that are most important to your business and can make the most impact. It also allows you to see if you’re trying to do too much and where your time can be spent more productively. The final benefit is you can see the progress you’re making on a week to week basis. I find it motivating to look at what you’ve achieved and what you will achieve at the end of the next week. It keeps you moving forward.

Ok, so this week has been a lot about mindset and how it impacts on building a successful and long term business. We’re going to finish off with what the professionals are doing in the latest internet marketing techniques. This is the level you want to get to, but don’t forget the steps in between. So here’s ‘The Final Chapter’ from Rich.

As for the steps in between, check out my article series on ‘how to be successful on the internet’ and make sure you’re starting from a solid base.