Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Accomplishing More by Doing Less
Yesterday we saw how easy it is to work frantically on an online business, but accomplish nothing. If that's a problem with you, how can you get your business out of that rut?

You can start out by shutting it down.

I don't mean you should close your business. Just shut down the projects for a bit so you have time to figure out what what in blazes your business does.

You already know what your business does? Maybe not.

If yours is like many underachieving businesses on the Web, it's run on a popup basis. Whatever idea or supposed opportunity pops up, that's what you focus on—until something else newer and more exciting pops up. Then the first popup slides to the background while the new popup gets most of your attention.

I know. I constantly fight against that tendency myself.

It takes courage and self-discipline to say no to the next "can't-miss" opportunity, but it's the only way you can get the perspective you need to figure out where you want your business to go. And if you don't even know where you want to go, chances are good that you ain't never gonna get there.

Shut down your email if that's the only way you can keep yourself from picking up more projects to start. Delete those newsletters before you have a chance to read them if you need to. You don't need more ideas. You don't need more things to do. You need focus.

What did you want your business to be before it started hopping from one thing to another? What parts of it have brought you the most success? What strengths do you bring to your business that your customers can't find elsewhere? What gaps have you discovered in what your competitors offer?

Consider these questions carefully. The answers to them show you where what you have intersects what people want.

And that intersection is right where your business belongs. But we'll get into that more next time.
Jeff