One Essential Ingredient for Big Bucks Online
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Are You A Control Freak Too?
I was just checking out Rich Schefren’s latest pitch, which will set you back ~$1000 a month and I have to confess the I get tugged every time I see one of these coaching type offers. Fortunately, being in negative cash flow brings a level of sobriety that must be embraced and excludes these type of luxuries.
Thinking about what Rich is really selling, I remembered how incredible that his “Internet Business Manifesto” was. It had a profound affect on me. I was literally in tears when I read it. The diagram with the gazillion tasks and everyone of them assigned to “YOU” [me] was particularly poignant.
Amazing to this Internet business guy, is that I’m still very much struggling with the same issue. I can’t scale. I continue to create assets, income is increasing, but it is slow. I have way more tasks than I could ever possibly complete myself, and when I start a new project, it becomes a burden on my time, rather than an opening of possibilities.
If you can relate to what I’m saying…stand up and repeat after me:
“Hi, my name is [your name] and I’m a control freak.”
There doesn’t that feel better?
Probably not, but it is true, in my case at least.
Now, my normal modus operandi at this point would be to drill down into the depth of my soul and tell you why it’s like that, and why I’m determined to remain stuck on this issue, but today I’m in a different sort of mood…so I’m going the practical route.
Follow Along At Home
Get out your favorite spreadsheet software [or use a free online one]
Across the top, put 6 columns like this:
| Task | Could Be Automated? | Could Be Outsourced? | Skills Required? | Trust Required? | Why am I Still Doing this? |
Now, if you’re using a local spreadsheet, save the file, create a shortcut and drag the shortcut into your startup folder [Start / All Programs / Startup] for your Windows users. If you’re using an online one, go to that page and drag the icon from the address bar of your browser into the Startup folder. The spreadsheet will now open automatically every time you boot your computer.
Fill out the form for every task in your business for a week. I’ll be doing the same and at the end of a week, we all find out together why we aren’t the owners of big thriving companies.
What Step 2 is in this recovery program I don’t have a clue, but we’ve got a week to think about that one.
Reading this post just saved you $1000 a month [sorry Rich], taking action on it could make us both a lot more than that. For me the last column of the spreadsheet is where the interesting stuff will come into play. The more honesty there, the faster we’ll be able to kick the dreaded control-itis and move into a real business.
The one essential ingredient for big bucks online, is to build assets using other people’s time and/or other people’s money.
Let’s get busy on that list.
Jon Symons
Examining my blind spots…you know the rest.
Question Time: Do you even have your processes documented? Why not?
I would take out the column for “Could Be Automated”…
-J
“I would take out the column for “Could Be Automated”"
why? Not sure what you are getting at? Don’t forget the goal of this exercise is to get beyond the “One Man Shop” mentality. While I believe it is possible, posting to this site is something I really enjoy and not something that I would want to automate [assuming automation can include human involvement, which of course it can]. Once I can get beyond this important barrier, then I can work on the hands off aspects.
We’re working on moving from step 1 to step 2…my hunch is that by suggesting everything can be automated [my guess at your meaning] you are trying to get into step 12 stuff
I know you love your blog… but if you don’t automate the process (without you) then you can’t really walk away from it and have it still operate.
Perhaps though in this case it doesn’t matter since your blog isn’t a profit center?
Ya, this blog is not so much a profit center, more like an extension of my kitchen table.
However, I agree with you, it is a measure of the quality of a business to see how well it can run without the owner.
I’ve been pretty excited to just taste the idea of passive income [not trading dollars for hours] but the next step is now to create a “franchise” type business where everything is documented and automated and independent of me
I too am a recovering control freak.
I think what also helps is having several projects on the go at once.
Then I’m not concentrating all my worries and brain power on the one (cutting down the obsession factor).
At this point, the blog is the marketing tool by which Jon can promote ‘Jon’. Rich dad still does marketing where he has to devote his own time to sell - himself. There’s no need to automate the blog. If you do, the whole thing will crumble. Marketing is key. No matter how automated you can be; without marketing you ain’t selling noth’n.
Bryan— How is this blog going to crumble if it’s automated? By “automated” I mean not requiring Jon’s direct involvement in the day to day.
-J
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
J - remind me to fire a couple interns, they must have been sleeping and dropped the ball on creating a sense of activity in the comments…tough to find good help these days
Take away my fun… I wanted to have a debate with this guy too.
-J
I can definitely feel what you mean by “when I start a new project, it becomes a burden on my time, rather than an opening of possibilities.”
I find that the answer to the questions are often
Could Be Automated?
Yes but I don’t know how
Could Be Outsourced?
Yes but I couldn’t pay
Skills Required?
Yes and I don’t know how to break it down into no-brainer parts so that I can outsource or automate.
Trust Required?
Yes, I can’t let go.
Why am I Still Doing this?
Because of one or more of the reasons above.
[...] This post is a follow up to my recent One Essential Ingredient for Big Bucks Online article in which I drew the conclusion that in order to make any decent money, and to have a real business, an online entrepreneur needed to figure out how to leverage other people’s time and have their business grow beyond the magical number of ONE. [...]