Are All Online Entrepreneurs In A Hurry?
Posted March 4, 2008 in Productivity
The great thing about the Web is that everything, and I mean everything, is just one click away. If you’re interested in finding information, all you have to do is enter a certain URL and, the same way, if you are interested in purchasing something, grab your credit card, visit an online store and there you have it. There are however drawbacks and perhaps the most important one is the fact that people who are accustomed to the internet and especially those interested in earning a living online tend to expect things to happen overnight.
Nowadays, it definitely seems that most online entrepreneurs are in a hurry: in a hurry to get started, in a hurry to complete a certain task which normally requires quite a lot of time and, last but not least, in a hurry to see results. Is this really the way to go, will always being in a hurry actually get you far?
Of course not, thinking something like that is one of the most important traps you need to steer clear of. Why? Simply because, when you are in a hurry, you tend to become sloppy, you tend to do things just for the sake of it and this isn’t going to get you anywhere. (unless it works for you)
Things Will Certainly Go Wrong At Some Point
Let’s take the issue of planning as an example. You may be tempted to skip right past it and get right down to business, but, unfortunately, you will, at a certain point, end up regretting your decision. Sure, you may save a few hours, maybe even an entire day or week by skipping past the planning process, but rest assured: once something goes wrong, and that will most likely happen, you will, aside from losing money, end up losing far more valuable time fixing stuff when you could have easily prevented it from happening.
You Have To Think Ahead
Don’t just take it one day at a time, don’t just think about what you have to do today, you need to always consider how the things you do today will end up affecting you tomorrow. Again, you don’t have to be perfect and there is no such thing as a foolproof business plan, but on the other hand, not even trying in the first place is never the way to go.
Are all entrepreneurs in a hurry? Unfortunately, most of them are, and their results are not exactly worth bragging about. Always understand that, in some cases, going a little slower is the best decision, even if it may seem that your approach will keep you from getting started in the first place.
This industry is far too competitive for sloppy online entrepreneurs to stand a chance, and, in the end, you will have an important decision to make: you can either change your way of thinking, or you can always be in a hurry, end up getting a lot of tasks done but none of them right. I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, the second scenario definitely doesn’t sound all that tempting.
What are your thoughts? Do you usually have a plan or you just go with the flow?
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
******
Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, who has identified The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Online Entrepreneurs over at TheRatingBlog.com.
Related posts:
- Entrepreneurs, Get Over It! Let Go and Prosper!
- Online Reputation Management: A Necessary Evil
- Online Business Marketing Is Much Like Marketing Offline
About the author: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, be sure to grab your free copy of The Online Business Handbook over at TheRatingBlog.com.
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16 Comments
Tom Beaton
March 4th, 2008 at 5:50 pmI think we are all in a hurry. I guess we are used to things happening instantly but the fact of the matter is, results can be seen earlier than they could in the offline world. The information about people fast tracking to success is more freely available so we all aspire to that sort of thing. Not to mention very few people are aware of the work involved in making it online.
Mrs. Micah
March 4th, 2008 at 6:55 pmSometimes I definitely feel a hurry to succeed. But I’m trying to learn to step back and enjoy organic growth. To realize that I probably have many years ahead and everything doesn’t have to be now.
Takes a lot of work for me to get in that mindset, though.
What I’m working on most now is follow-through.
Joshua Clanton - Design for the WEB
March 4th, 2008 at 7:16 pmDespite my best efforts, I often feel like I’m in a race against time. What I’m trying to make myself realize is that most of this pressure is actually self-imposed and isn’t directly related to my success or lack thereof. Success doesn’t come from 24 hour “productivity.” It comes from accomplishing your overall goals, regardless of how little effort it takes.
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
March 4th, 2008 at 7:40 pmI move at lightening speed. Even I get scared of how fast things flit past. But while I may be moving quickly all the time, I keep one thing burning bright: my visions.
I have goals. They never change. The means to the end might need some modification, I might get distracted or the plan changes because of an obstacle, but I think what ultimately helps me succeed is that I never lose sight of the prize.
Cheers, Alan.
Amy Lillard
March 4th, 2008 at 10:16 pmI definitely feel the time crunch. I rush through my daily tasks, burn through my RSS feeds at night, and often feel like I still didn’t accomplish much. It does help to plan, though. So what I do is plan time in for planning. Each Friday I plot out the week ahead, splitting up assignments into research, outlining and writing phases. I plan in time for marketing each day. I plan time for my blog. It doesn’t always go according to plan, but it helps a lot. When it comes to long-term goals and planning for those? I still have to develop my technique.
Jay, writer Memberspeed.com
March 5th, 2008 at 12:28 amPersonally, I like to plan everything out in my mind. Business and money is not something you can afford not to plan about. However, I do know a person who can get carried away with her ideas. Sometimes, this can lead her to not plan at all and leave everything to chance.
Monika Mundell
March 5th, 2008 at 5:55 amGood question. I’m kind of between the trenches here. I find that I work best when my plate is absolutely full as there is not time for distractions.
I also move fast in whatever I do. I can’t stand people who trundle through the shops, they drive me insane. This however also leads to occasional burnout which luckily I tend to recognize early enough now to take a small break.
Lisa Wilder
March 5th, 2008 at 11:45 amI think, like much in life and biz, that there has to be a middle ground. All too often I see entrepreneurs get so wrapped up in creating the perfect plan that they never actually implement it.
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
March 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm@ Lisa – Well, that’s because implementation and getting that perfect plan done is other people’s jobs ;) We explored the personality profile of entrepreneurs lately. These people are great for action – leveraging others is the way to achieve completion.
Alan Johnson
March 5th, 2008 at 1:23 pmThank you for your comments, it’s always great to see that your work is appreciated, being a guest blogger is definitely a pleasure on my part :)
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
Amrit Hallan - Content Blog
March 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pmThere was a time when the word “planning” used to seem cliched to me (may be because my way of working was quite chaotic), but these days every new day begins with a plan at I have observed that having a plan really helps. Unless you try it it seems like a waste of time but preparing plans for various projects actually helps you achieve more in less time.
There are some very good tools on the Internet — many of them free — that can help you create and track your work plans. Google them and try using one of them; you will really see a big difference.
Debra
March 5th, 2008 at 8:59 pmI know I get in a hurry sometimes, usually, I confess, through poor planning on my part. But some clients are in a huge hurry, too. I see job postings all the time that demand twenty or more articles per day. I don’t know why they think freelancers can crank out that kind of quantity without sacrificing some of the quality!
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
March 5th, 2008 at 9:11 pm@ Debra – They can’t. 20 articles a day isn’t doable in any way unless the writer is plagiarizing badly, rewriting other people’s content or using spinning software.
Shane
March 10th, 2008 at 4:28 amI like to do the planning part of business during the weekend when my brain is less occupied with the day to day operations. My GF however doensn’t like when I ‘spoil’ a Sunday thinking about business.
Kotsengkuba
March 14th, 2008 at 12:00 amwhen i started earning from my first blog, i too became too impulsive and want to start another niche and became too eager to start the ball rolling.
it’s a shame that i had to learn things from bad experiences. i’ve been too impulsive and the result has not been that satisfying.
i believe time is one of the good things one need to invest it. patience is a virtue :D
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