Conquer the Chaos E-Book

Clate Mask

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 263

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Create the business you want without sacrificing the lifestyle you deserve The majority of new entrepreneurs (and even those with a little more experience) are finding themselves trapped, controlled, and consumed by their own businesses. They are struggling just to keep their businesses running, let alone actually growing their companies and experiencing the success they anticipated. Conquer the Chaos speaks to you as a small business owner by making sense of the overwhelming demands on your business and providing a twenty-first century recipe for success with sanity. With engaging stories, quotes, and examples, Conquer the Chaos leads you through the six strategies you can incorporate to bring order to your business today. Find the money, time, and freedom in entrepreneurship that inspired you in the first place * Successfully juggle customers, prospects, management of employees, marketing, sales, accounting, and more * Get from just surviving to growing your company and experiencing success Conquer the Chaos gives you the no-nonsense, ready-to-go guide that gets your business exactly where you want it to be.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

PREFACE

WHY ARE WE TELLING THIS STORY?

A BETTER WAY OF LIFE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

HOW THIS BOOK WILL LEAD YOU TO FREEDOM

Acknowledgements

Section I - THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM

Chapter 1 - THE ENTREPRENEURIAL REVOLUTION

THE PATH TO REVOLUTION

THE HIERARCHY OF FREEDOMS

Chapter 2 - ENTER, CHAOS

THE INFUSIONSOFT STORY

SYMPTOMS OF CHAOS

CAUSES OF CHAOS

Chapter 3 - GROW OR DIE

A MENTALITY OF GROWTH

WHY ENTREPRENEURS CHOOSE NOT TO GROW

SCENARIO #1: YOU DON’T WANT TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

SCENARIO #2: YOU’RE RELYING ON REFERRALS AND REPEAT BUSINESS

SCENARIO #3: YOU BELIEVE YOU’LL JUST FIGURE IT OUT

SCENARIO #4: YOU DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF—MANUALLY

INTRODUCING—THE STRATEGIES FOR CONQUERING CHAOS

Section II - MINDSET STRATEGIES: ACHIEVING BALANCE

Chapter 4 - EMOTIONAL CAPITAL

YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPITAL BANK ACCOUNT

MAKING DEPOSITS IN YOUR EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT

SPOT-CHECK YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPITAL

Chapter 5 - DISCIPLINED OPTIMISM

THE THREE COMPONENTS OF DISCIPLINED OPTIMISM

OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE DISCIPLINED OPTIMISM

PRACTICAL WAYS TO CULTIVATE DISCIPLINED OPTIMISM

DISCIPLINED OPTIMISM AND PASSION

Chapter 6 - ENTREPRENEURIAL INDEPENDENCE

THE ADVICE YOU GET

FACING THE CHALLENGE OF INDEPENDENCE

THE BENEFITS OF INDEPENDENCE

Section III - SYSTEMS STRATEGIES: CONTROLLING SPEED

Chapter 7 - CENTRALIZE

THE NEED TO CENTRALIZE

MULTIPLE SYSTEM CHAOS

THE STRUGGLE OF DISJOINTED SYSTEMS

THE VALUE OF THE RIGHT SYSTEM

THE PROCESS OF CENTRALIZATION

Chapter 8 - FOLLOW-UP

THE MOST NEGLECTED MARKETING PRINCIPLE

HOW LACK OF FOLLOW-UP IS CREATING CHAOS

WHY FOLLOW-UP BREAKS DOWN

THE BENEFITS OF FOLLOW-UP

THE SCIENCE BEHIND EFFECTIVE FOLLOW-UP

Chapter 9 - AUTOMATE

FROM MANUAL TO AUTOMATED

WHAT YOU CAN AND SHOULD AUTOMATE

A STORY OF AUTOMATION

Section IV - FIND YOUR FREEDOM

Chapter 10 - AVOIDING THE BACKSLIDE

THE MYTH OF LONG, HARD WORK

HARNESSING YOUR UNBRIDLED PASSION

THE BELIEF YOUR BUSINESS WILL FAIL WITHOUT YOU

Chapter 11 - THE LIBERATED ENTREPRENEUR

CLIMBING THE HIERARCHY OF FREEDOM

GIVING UP THE CHAOS

Appendix - SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES

REFERENCES

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

INDEX

Copyright © 2010 by Clate Mask and Scott Martineau. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

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ISBN 978-0-470-59932-7 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-470-64229-0 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-470-64230-6 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-470-64231-3 (ebk)

To Charisse and Andee for all your support, love, and understanding.

FOREWORD

Catastrophe is not too light a word to describe what happens when somebody decides in a moment of unreflective zeal to start a business. In this book, Clate Mask and Scott Martineau tell the story about as eloquently as I’ve ever heard it told.

Not only that, but these wonderful friends of mine, both passionate entrepreneurs, describe their story in such an authentic way that you, the reader, can’t help but be moved to do for yourself what Scott and Clate have learned to do for themselves, their thousands of clients, and the jubilant, passionate, committed people who work for them at their great and growing company, Infusionsoft, to overcome the confusion, to redefine their game, to pursue what most would see as impossible, and to succeed today in the worst of times, as though the economic reality that has taken its toll on countless thousands of small businesses and large is just another obstacle to get around.

And get around it Scott and Clate have done indeed.

As their determination to grow, to become the small business growth leader worldwide, continues unabated, these two restless young guys certainly have set a template for the rest of us to emulate.

The tragedy of most small business failures, Clate and Scott tell us, is that those failures didn’t have to happen.

There are answers to chaos. There are methods behind the seeming madness. There are systems that need to be deployed—for lead generation and lead conversion and people development and much, much more. And when these systems are invented and then deployed, new lessons are learned—lessons that Scott and Clate speak about unabashedly within this book; they speak so enthusiastically, like a couple of kids discovering a new game or a new toy, that you’ll wonder why you had never thought of them before.

And that’s one of the reasons I love this book. It’s not simply another business story like the many we’ve been told. It’s a passionate prescription from a couple of entrepreneurial ideologues, two guys who spend every waking hour creating, and when that doesn’t work, breaking it down and creating some more.

What’s more, for you reading this along with me, the lessons and prescriptions that Scott and Clate are passing along to you here come to the page through hard service. In their own words, they tell us of the mistakes they’ve made: the truly big ones—not just the little things that entrepreneurs bump into in the dead of night, but the big, monstrous ones that can take you down faster than a speeding bullet, and take your breath away.

Yes, this book is real.

And that’s why it’s so damn good.

Because, even as you’re reading it, the story is going on, every day in Arizona where Infusionsoft gets up every morning to take its daily tally. How did we do yesterday? the gang at Infusionsoft asks. How can we do it better today? they all inquire. That is another reason why this book will astonish you. It’s a living story. It’s not over by a long shot. It’s working its wonderful way forward even as we speak, and leaving us with the unanswerable question: Will Scott and Clate make it? Will this story end with a bang or a whimper? This isn’t a book about IBM. This is a book about a young start-up, on its way to greatness or disaster. And, I swear, you’ll find yourself—as I did reading this book—putting your money on its authors.

Scott and Clate are onto something—something big. It’s called entrepreneurship in the raw, and it’s what created our country, and is creating our country even now as we speak.

—Michael E. Gerber Founder, Michael E. Gerber Companies, Origination, The Dreaming Room; Author of the E-Myth books and TheMost Successful Small Business in the World

PREFACE

Seven years ago we found ourselves surrounded by chaos, worried whether we would ever get our new business off the ground. Sure, we had dreams of finding our entrepreneurial freedom, but at the time we were just trying to keep the lights on.

It was August 2002. Our custom software company received an interesting phone call. It was Friday at 5:00 P.M. and the four of us were getting ready to wrap up the week. We’d ordered pizza, and it had just arrived when the phone rang. Well, the last thing we wanted to do was talk to anyone. But we needed sales, so Clate decided to pick up the phone.

No sooner had he rattled off his greeting than the man on the other end shouted, “I have pain! Can you help me?” Then the man paused.

Clate’s mind was reeling with concerns. Was this a prank? Did this guy even know what number he had dialed? Was this a customer? What was Clate supposed to do about someone’s pain? Shouldn’t he call a doctor?

Eventually, Clate got to the root of this man’s problem. The caller, Reed Hoisington, was searching for a software program that would more effectively manage his contacts. He was trying to follow up with his prospects and customers, but he was making a lot of mistakes.

On this particular day, Reed had mistakenly sent a special, reduced-price offer to a group of people, including many folks who had already bought that product at full price. Customers were angry, demanding refunds and Reed was in pain!

The irony is, at the time of Reed’s phone call, we too had pain! We were struggling to acquire new customers and our struggles were seriously impacting our home lives to the extent that we faced the very real possibility of going out of business.

But, despite the challenges we were personally experiencing, we were learning some very important lessons; lessons so powerful, that following their teachings will free any small business owner from the chaos we nearly all find ourselves immersed in. This is the very purpose of this book.

Now, at this point, you might be thinking, “Well, how do you know I’m experiencing chaos? What makes you think I’m not completely satisfied with the way things are going in my business?”

If that’s the case—if you are contentedly growing your business and you enjoy your lifestyle, then great! You can stop reading right now. If you feel you are getting all the benefits from your business that you could possibly hope for, this book is not for you.

This book is for the entrepreneur who went into business looking for freedom but found chaos rather than finding

• More Time to spend with their families

• More Money

• More Control to live life the way they want, and

• The satisfaction of achieving their Purpose

This book is for entrepreneurs who feel trapped, controlled, and consumed by their business.

If you’re emphatically or even reluctantly agreeing that yes, this describes your situation, then we’ve got news for you: you’re not alone. The vast majority of small business owners are struggling just to keep their heads above water. In fact, most of us tend to clump together in a boat of survival, hanging on for dear life, putting on a happy face as we get more and more bogged down by our businesses.

Let us show you what we mean. A couple of years ago, we headed out on the road speaking to large groups of entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Orlando.

At each stop, we asked the audience the same question: “How many of you are satisfied with your small business?”

Of 1,574 small business owners, three raised their hands. Three. Three! Some of these individuals had been in business for more than 20 years!

What was going on? And why were so many people in business for themselves if they weren’t getting satisfaction out of it?

After some reflection, we realized we already knew the answer to the question. Because, in addition to working with tens of thousands of small business owners, we too have felt the fears, pains, worry and stress of small business ownership. We’ve been in the trenches. And together we’ve experienced things that only other entrepreneurs will ever understand.

The results of the “Are you satisfied?” poll stuck with us. So we made it a habit to ask the question whenever we could. The more we asked the question, the more we heard of business owners’ dissatisfaction, and the more we knew we had to write this book to help small business owners all over the world.

WHY ARE WE TELLING THIS STORY?

We love entrepreneurs. We love their tenacity, ambition, work ethic, innovation and creativity. We love that they have the guts to cast aside fear and criticism in order to go out and do something bold and daring that will create a ton of value, bring satisfaction to their souls and produce opportunity for themselves and all those they employ.

We love entrepreneurs! And we hate seeing them fail. We hate seeing their doors close. We hate seeing them lose their hope. We hate seeing their confidence squashed, their financial lives ruined and their relationships shattered. And we hate seeing their creative fire doused by the torrential waters of harsh reality.

We hate it—because we have been there ourselves and feel a tight bond with the entrepreneurs fighting to get through each day and find their freedom.

You see, almost immediately after graduating from college, we found ourselves in the middle of our own chaos. Real chaos. The kind that is gripping small business owners all over the world. As we joined forces in a startup computer software company, we started to truly live the pains and struggles entrepreneurs regularly cope with. Before long, we were beaten down and grasping for answers.

Fortunately, we had a great advantage. In 2003, our company switched from being a custom software business to providing one standard product to entrepreneurs. We developed a software program to automate sales, marketing, customer management and billing processes for small business owners. Our advantage was that we had the good fortune of working with great entrepreneurs—hundreds of them, actually—in the process of creating this software program. Our software was saving them time and helping them make more money without needing to add extra expenses or hire new employees. Their experience, input, and help were invaluable to our product development. And we learned a ton about small business success as we worked with these entrepreneurs.

Then, a phenomenal thing happened—we started using our own software in our business! Once we did that, the light bulb turned on. We had something great. And more than that, we had unwittingly discovered several of the strategies for conquering the chaos and achieving the dreams we’d nearly given up.

After that, we were in a prime position for learning how to fight and conquer the chaos of business ownership. We worked with more and more entrepreneurs and we learned the reasons why the chaos exists and how to defeat it.

A BETTER WAY OF LIFE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

In addition to our experiences, years of interacting with small business owners brought us to some simple but significant conclusions. We watched the same mistakes being made over and over again. We saw seemingly popular companies close their doors for the last time. And, we observed other companies skyrocket for no apparent reason.

What we learned is that the strategies for conquering the chaos and growing a successful business are not unique to one industry, company or business owner. Success is determined by the use of predictable, repeatable, simple actions. But not just any actions—the right actions.

Ultimately, these strategies developed into the focal point for our company. They became the driving force, the culmination of everything we had dreamed of doing for entrepreneurs. For years we’ve developed and refined these strategies so they would provide the most and best value for the entrepreneur.

HOW THIS BOOK WILL LEAD YOU TO FREEDOM

This book does not contain stuffy, official research. Each of the six strategies, and all of the examples and stories are part of an ongoing case study. We live the proof of the six strategies every day. And we have watched in amazement as one company after another learns these basic truths, applies them and enjoys success.

The first three chapters of this book include the real story of small business ownership. They include the Quest for Freedom, the fear, the pain, the overwhelming feelings, and the emotional struggle. It’s the forced humility of the small business owner. It’s the story of the neglected family, mounting debts and bitter partnerships. But it’s also the story of how chaos happens and how to combat it.

In Chapter 1, you’ll learn why millions of individuals choose to become entrepreneurs, even though they might know the struggles they’ll soon experience. This chapter also includes the hope and ambition new entrepreneurs feel and seasoned entrepreneurs wish they could remember.

Chapter 2 is an explanation on the origins of chaos. We show you why chaos is inevitable—no matter how skillful an entrepreneur might be.

As you read Chapter 3, you’ll realize that running from chaos is futile. Chaos must be met head-on if you ever hope to find your freedom. This chapter helps you evaluate your relationship with chaos and prepares you to gain control of your business.

In Section 2, the Mindset strategies for conquering chaos are introduced. Because chaos is as much a state of mind as a state of affairs, Chapters 4, 5, and 6 teach you how to overcome fear, anxiety, frustration, and skepticism in order to make the necessary changes in your business.

Hand-in-hand with the Mindset strategies, Section 3 presents the Systems strategies. In this section, you will learn why business systems are critical to liberating you from the demands of your business. After reading Chapters 7 through 9, you will understand the concepts of centralizing, following up, and automating as important keys to the growth of your business.

In the final section, Chapters 10 and 11 demonstrate how to avoid the backslide into chaos and how the six strategies lead you to your freedom. These chapters illustrate the entrepreneurial dream, and how you can easily achieve that dream if you’re willing to implement the lessons we, and other small business owners have learned.

With the strategies included in this book, you will find the power to turn around your business and your life. You will discover there is a better, more productive way to run your business. And you will learn that by implementing these six strategies, you can conquer the chaos, find the time, money, control and purpose to live life on your terms, and truly enjoy being an entrepreneur again.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to express appreciation to the many people who have contributed to the realization of our dream: to revolutionize the way small businesses grow.

To early mentors Reed Hoisington, Joe Polish, and Perry Marshall for their marketing savvy, entrepreneurship, acumen and continued support. You guys know what it means to be an entrepreneur and your advice helped us become comfortable in the trenches of entrepreneurship.

To subsequent mentors Michael Gerber, Bill Glazer, Dan Kennedy and Dan Sullivan, for teaching us what it takes to go from entrepreneurs to successful business owners. Your skills in business management, marketing strategy, and life-balance were essential for us to build a multi-million dollar business.

To software mentors Pat Sullivan and Geoffrey Moore for your product marketing and positioning genius that continue to help us achieve our vision for Infusionsoft to become the “Quickbooks of sales and marketing software.”

We want to thank our employees for making the dream, vision, purpose and mission of Infusionsoft a reality.

To entrepreneurs everywhere, for having the guts to do hard stuff, create value, and live the thrill of life as a business owner.

To our parents, both sets, for your love, encouragement, and support of our dreams.

Lastly, to our own families for your support, especially in those times when our Mindset strategies were out of whack and our Systems strategies were lacking.

Section I

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM

1

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL REVOLUTION

The difference between the great and good societies and the regressing, deteriorating societies is largely in terms of the entrepreneurial opportunity and the number of such people in the society. I think everyone would agree that the most valuable 100 people to bring into a deteriorating society would be not 100 chemists, or politicians, or professors, or engineers, but rather 100 entrepreneurs.

—Abraham Maslow

By the time you finish reading this chapter, 140 people will have started their own business. If you read the entire book straight through, another 1,000 business owners will have joined the ranks of entrepreneurship, and that’s in the United States alone.1

Entrepreneurship is exploding all around us. Once considered a profession for a few rare, perhaps eccentric souls, entrepreneurship is today a widely respected profession.

Certainly, as an entrepreneur, you’ve noticed the growing interest in small business ownership. You have friends who are entrepreneurs. Perhaps a brother, aunt, or cousin has started a business. Your neighbor down the street owns her own business. If you have children, they may be gearing up to follow in your footsteps.

Whether you realize it or not, we are in the middle of a revolution—the Entrepreneurial Revolution. This revolution is not intended to overthrow the government or establish a new nation. This revolution is about how we work and how business is done. As an entrepreneur, you are part of this revolution. Unfortunately, the outcome of your involvement in this revolution is yet to be decided.

Like all revolutions, the Entrepreneurial Revolution will have massive casualties. This book is meant to help you successfully participate in the Entrepreneurial Revolution, without becoming a casualty.

THE PATH TO REVOLUTION

Revolutions don’t just start of their own accord. Nobody wakes up one morning and thinks, “I’d sure like to be part a revolution.” The American Revolution didn’t gain instant popularity because someone thought the United States should be independent. Quite the contrary. Less than half the country was committed to the cause. The other half was clinging desperately to the safety and security of familiarity.

The French Revolution was not an attempt to follow suit. People were starving. Disease and death were sweeping through the masses. Without a revolution, thousands more would have perished. But once again, there were many hesitant to embrace such change.

For any revolution to occur, three factors must be present (see Figure 1.1). Within the last few years, the same factors present during the bloodiest of revolutions made their way into the American economy, creating a fertile ground for the Entrepreneurial Revolution.

Figure 1.1 The Three Elements of a Revolution

So what are these factors? They are:

1. Oppression from Authority

2. A Shift in Power, and

3. The Promise of Something Better

If you know your history, then you know the American Revolution was triggered by over-taxation, misrepresentation, and unjust domination from British colony leaders. The French Revolution was a result of the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, the lost voice of the commoner, and the fear of imminent death. Similarly, the Entrepreneurial Revolution would never have gained momentum if the country hadn’t been primed for change.

THE OPPRESSION: CORPORATE DISTRUST

In the generation past, many folks spent their entire careers at a single company, retiring after 40 years of dedicated service to someone else. To these folks, long-term employment with the company was the safe, wise, stable thing to do.

Over time, large businesses and corporations dominated American culture and held all the power in our economy. This corporate dominance led to the mistaken belief that job security meant working for a well-established company instead of being great at what you do. If you wanted to get ahead in life, you worked 9 to 5 in a predictable, stable environment. Now to entrepreneurs, that notion is revolting.

When disputes with employees or customers arose, the corporation nearly always won. Realizing there wasn’t much they could do about it, the population dealt with corporate injustices by simply accepting them. Even the most outraged of victims had to think carefully before rocking the boat. Perhaps influenced by the effects of the Great Depression and several other economic backslides, older generations believed that if you had a “good” job, you’d better keep it.

Now, however, the days of loyal employment are over. Working 40 years for the same company is practically unheard of. Corporate horror stories dominate the headlines. Stories of corporate scandals, shareholder fraud, greedy chief executive officers (CEOs) and failed 401(k) retirement plans have victimized employees and the general public, creating distrust and cynicism toward corporations.

It seems everybody has friends who were “let go just before retirement so the corporation could save some of its pension costs.” Corporate employees watch in alarm as their jobs get shipped overseas. They feel the pressure of the global market, which is requiring them to do more and work harder in their corporate positions. Large corporate layoffs have mercilessly dispelled the belief that a good job is worth keeping, no matter what the cost.

The bottom line is that corporate employees are working harder and feeling less of the benefits. If nothing else, they’re certainly questioning the long-term benefits. Heck, they’ve even lost the belief that all their dollars paid into Social Security will ever come back to them.

And so, the institutions (corporate and governmental) that our parents believed would provide security have broken down. Unique corporate cultures were replaced with office politics and vicious backstabbing. Workers for Corporate America feel jilted, a little burned, and taken for a ride to a certain extent. Rather than relying on their corporation to care for their needs as employees and in retirement, many Americans face a reality of corporate disillusionment.

The more disillusionment increases, the more primed folks are to join the Entrepreneurial Revolution. All told, this loss of security is dramatically changing the landscape of the American workforce. College graduates are learning that the corporation isn’t going to create their stability. They’ve learned that entrepreneurs create their own stability. So they start businesses from their dorm rooms, hoping the business will catch fire and prevent them from ever having to take a job.

Corporate disillusionment has altered everything our parents taught us about working in “stable” jobs at big companies. As a result, people are motivated to take action. So they turn in the one direction they feel they have the most control: inward.

THE POWER SHIFT: THE INTERNET AGE

No matter how determined an individual might be, real change—revolutionary change—is not possible until strengthened by the masses. Sure, it only takes one voice to put things in motion. But power comes from a multitude working together.

During the American Revolution, it was the strength of the entire Congress that led men to battle. For the Entrepreneurial Revolution, the rally cry came through the most unique medium to date: the Internet.

If you had to sum up the one big thing that is driving this revolution, it is the Internet. Pure and simple. The widespread adoption of the Internet over the past decade has changed everything. The Internet:

• Gives a loud voice to the common person

• Allows a small business to look big

• Makes information readily accessible

• Opens a global marketplace to Joe and Jill in Podunk, Montana

• Breaks down the barriers to entry by eliminating the need for piles of capital

• Connects businesses and their customers through speedy communication

• Unchains entrepreneurs from their desks so they can work from anywhere

• Makes it possible for anyone to leverage and profit from their expertise

• Simplifies the complicated, costly “distribution channels” of old

• Empowers entrepreneurs to transact online, in their sleep and out of the country

• Puts the power of automation in the hands of the little guy

• Enables efficiencies for small businesses that used to exist only in big businesses

As product review sites made their debut, the power of corporate control was shifted into the hands of the average Joe. No longer were consumers subjected to the official reviews and opinions of industry experts. Now, consumers gleaned all the information they needed from individuals just like them.

For the entrepreneur, this shift in power made small business ownership easier to achieve and less expensive to start. We won’t address all the benefits individually, but rather skim over a few of the most significant.

INFORMATION IS READILY ACCESSIBLE

Aspiring entrepreneurs can now quickly research a new business idea. They can test the demand for their products using a few hundred bucks and a good Google AdWords campaign. They can do quick surveys by email, study potential competitors’ websites and even “mystery shop” the competition to find out where the gaps in the market exist that they can turn around and fill—for a profit.

This kind of information is available to everyone. You don’t need nearly the time or capital that were once required to prove the viability of your idea. Gone are the long days, weeks, and months in the library, driving around from store to store, demon-dialing the competition to see what the customer experience is like. You can amass all of that information quickly and inexpensively, from the privacy of your own home.

SMALL BUSINESSES LOOK BIG

Now that small businesses have been empowered with information, they can compete with the big guys. A website, advanced software, and a strong, focused market offering will enable a small company to beat the pants off a bigger company. No heavy capital investment is needed. No store front is required. All the business owner needs is technology, passion and a good product or service to spread the word and she’s in business.

When businesses required a brick and mortar shop, customers knew exactly how big a business was and could guess the success of the company by the size, location, and number of staff. Now, entrepreneurs are running entire companies out of their basements, and online consumers are none the wiser.

As long as there’s a demand for their products and services, small business owners can achieve incredible success, no matter what large company might open its doors two blocks down the street.

THE MARKETPLACE IS GLOBAL

In 1998, Clate was in his MBA program. At the time, his older sister had started a business that made and sold a special kind of baby bow that allowed moms to swap out swatches of color-coordinated fabric in a lycra headband. One bow, three head-bands, about 8 bucks. Her friends were buying them fast and things were really catching on.

But Clate’s sister needed to get her bows into the retail distribution channel. She asked Clate to help her out, so he made calls to buyers at Nordstrom, Dillard’s, and a few other department stores. The problem was the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma that so many entrepreneurs with products face. The buyer won’t put them on their shelves unless enough units have sold to demonstrate the demand. His sister had sold hundreds, maybe thousands of bows, but that was a drop in the bucket to retail buyers.