The goal of any business should be to add exceptional value to the market while making a nice profit.
When you add exceptional value to the market your business grows and as the business grows, so do the profits, and hence the success of the business.
…Easier said than done right?
Not if you follow Peter Drucker’s advice.
Words of Wisdom
Master of business management, Peter Drucker, said something that applies equally well to both brick and mortar and online businesses.
He said:
“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.
Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”
That’s a pretty concrete statement. But what does it mean and how can you apply it to your online business?
Focusing On What Counts
The quote above gives us a pretty good idea of where our efforts should be concentrated: Marketing and innovation.
Creating a unique and innovative product or service and marketing it well.
But we all know there’s more to running a business than just that. There are many other activities that are required to run a business, those “costs” that Drucker mentions and they need to be taken care of too.
So What’s The Solution?
The only way to really grow your online business is to outsource the “costs” activities because by doing that you can completely devote your energy to those 2 basic functions of innovation and marketing.
It’s your business and it’s imperative that you make the decisions and are satisfied with the results. You need to ensure that you are meeting the needs of your customers and at the same time offering innovative products and services.
You need to be the one in charge and you need to be planning and organizing, but you DON’T need to be performing every task and every process along the way.
You Must Delegate
Some of the smallest tasks could be what are hindering the growth of your business.
They may be small, but when YOU are wasting your time on every one of them, they keep you from adding real value to the market.
You must evaluate the various tasks in your business and determine which ones are not directly involved with marketing and innovation and that can be done by someone else.
These could be processes that can be done more efficiently by somebody who has more expertise on the specific task.
Things like; Graphic design, link building (and other SEO related stuff), filtering emails (so you only get the important ones), website creation, research, article writing, video creation, etc.
Outsourcing such tasks frees up your time and CREATIVE BRAIN POWER and in many cases will give you higher quality results.
And your outsourced tasks can almost always be done at a MUCH lower per-hour cost than you would charge someone for your own time.
Some places to find very low cost and high quality personnel are:
- http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors-hire
- http://fiverr.com
- https://www.odesk.com
- https://www.elance.com
- http://www.freelancer.com
And the best advice I can give you is to always read the reviews before making a decision. Don’t waste your time with profiles that have bad or only a few reviews. And also use the filtering features provided by each platform to easily find the right person for the job.
Once you begin to concentrate your efforts in the areas that really produce results, leaving the other things to someone else, that’s when you will start to experience serious growth in your business.
Please share your thoughts on this business concept by leaving a comment blow.
Thanks
Comments 16
Thanks for explaining this concept Alex. Marketing and innovation are the sure ways to maintain growth for any business. From my own experience, creativity played a major role in producing good results.
I have read about this great man, Peter Drucker, a long time ago from a forbes article and I see him as one great authority in this business concept.
Thanks for advices. Have a great day Alex!
Author
Hi Joey,
Yes – Peter Drucker is a great business thinker.
I just finished reading “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” – great book
Customer creation is a vital activity for all businesses and it’s only possible if we know how to properly apply this concept.
Thanks you very much for the information.
Randy
Very good insights on task delegation and outsourcing. I might as well try the sites you have listed here. I hope to get quality results from these sites as you did.
Author
Hi Mark,
Just make sure to select the right people by following the advice provided above and you will get results
When I started my online business, I wasn’t a good innovator and marketer. I learned how to become one by researching and learning from credible individuals like Peter Drucker. Competent marketing methods and innovation is what we need to keep up with the vast competition.
Thanks a lot. You have excellent content on your blog.
Author
Exactly Garry
Marketing an innovation is what’s going to make you stand out over your competition
Very true. Yet sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the details of running the business.
I think this is for two reasons – marketing is hard. It means tooting your own horn, and it’s essentially sales which everyone dreads.
Excellent reminder that the challenge is to step away from the “busy work” and Create and tell the world how great you are.
Recently I was re-reading “The 9 Lies That Are Holding Your Business Back” and SO many business owners like to feel like they’re “So busy!”
But are they focusing on the right things? Great, great post.
Author
Hi Pete,
As entrepreneurs we must understand that busy is not always the same as productive (you can be very busy moping the floor)
Another great post Alex.
Yes, marketing and focus is a challenge for me.
Something else that kills a business is taking money out of your business. If keep on taking money out of the business for your own pleasures the business will not grow. If you keep the money in the business the ROI will skyrocket!
There is my 2c. 🙂
Regards
Colin
Author
Thank you Colin
What I do is set a % of the earnings I reinvest and a % I take out of the business. For example, 75% for the business and 25% for me 🙂
Alex, Great video, text post and links. They are a good reminder for me as I tend to be too “hands on” at times. Although, it’s pretty hard for me to tear myself away from using SKD and SKCA because they are too much fun to use and I consider them to be great marketing tools. 🙂
Author
Thank you Ralph
Hi Alex,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Great video. It is so true! Every successful business has good employees to help grow and prosper the business.
Unfortunately, most beginner internet marketers start their online businesses with blinders on. They all think that they can do it all themselves. Well, why not?
The “gurus” preach how they did it on their own starting from nothing following the “secret path”. They neglect to tell their audience that behind their successes is a team of workers that is helping them achieve their financial successes.
So the newbie marketer blindly follows only to find out that it is impossible to do. And therefore over 90% of them fail.
The ones that succeed will invest some money into their business, delegate the everyday tasks and concentrate on marketing and innovation.
Thanks again for sharing, Alex.
Looking forward to your next words of wisdom.
Dita
Author
Thank you Dita,
That is exactly the path most internet marketers follow at the beginning (I did it myself).
If you want your business to grow you must delegate.