The Top Five Online Business Killers

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.

My name is Ryan Ambrose, and I’m the author of The Self-Reliant Post. Learn more from me there.