Vision

Seeing Beyond the Obvious

by Phil Hanson

A number of businesses have made a small fortune on the Internet. Unfortunately, many of them started with a large fortune. How can you avoid the pitfalls of doing business on-line? Vision is the answer.

Before you begin a new Internet business, or take an existing business on-line for the first time, you must have a clear mental image of the results you want to achieve fixed firmly in your mind. This is your ultimate goal and you should keep it in focus at all times.

To help keep you on track, write out a complete description of every aspect of your business in as much detail as possible. Define your product or service. Determine if a market exists. Decide how, and to whom, to advertise. Will you need employees, either now or in the future? How much should you charge and how will you get paid? Are you aware of potential legal liabilities? Do you have sufficient start-up capital? When expansion becomes necessary, how will you go about it? Knowing the answers to these (and other) questions help you decide if your business project is worth pursuing.

Having a vision is one thing. Having vision is entirely different, but it's even more important. If you lack the vision to ask, and answer, specific critical questions that pertain to running an on-line business before beginning the business, you're doomed to certain failure. There are no shortcuts to Internet success. You can't by-pass any of the required steps. Only determination, hard work and foresight—vision—gets you to your ultimate goal.

Of course, a healthy bottom line is your first objective, because it's essential to business success. You want to know if a market exists for your product or service, and the earning potential of your business. Your planned business isn't viable if you can't make a profit.

An economic downturn may have a profound negative impact on your business, while an economic upturn may have little or none. Prevailing business conditions don't, necessarily, treat all businesses the same. Analyze past and present trends to get a sense of where future trends are headed.

If your proposed business is technology dependent, how will suddenly obsolete technology affect it? Will you be stuck with a large inventory you can't sell? Can new technology be adapted to your business, or your business adapted to take advantage of new technology? If not, you could find yourself out of business.

Have you thought about legal requirements? Are you in compliance with local, state and federal laws? Do the research. And, don't overlook current legislation. What's legal today may not be legal tomorrow if pending legislation becomes law.

Customer satisfaction is important, too. Without it, you won't have customer loyalty, and the repeat business loyalty brings. Can you provide technical support if it's needed? How will you handle charge-backs? If deadlines exist, can you meet them? You must answer every question, address every issue and be prepared to deal with every contingency before you put your business on-line.

Are you willing to commit the time, energy and attention needed to build and maintain an on-line business? Contrary to what some Internet "gurus" claim, it is not possible to slap together a Web site and instantly begin making huge sums of money. Like businesses in the world of brick and mortar, on-line businesses demand diligent effort and constant attention. Without it, they wither and die. If you think otherwise, you're in for major disappointment.

Anticipate the unexpected and learn how to identify potential problems. Addressing them before you start construction of your business Web site spares you the pain and inconvenience of having to deal with them afterwards. The ultimate result is a profitable smooth-running on-line business, made possible by dedication—and vision.