My online business is flying! Help!

Well first off, let me congratulate you. If your online business is flying and you’ve got more business than you can handle, you’re obviously doing something right. Of course, there is a serious side to this, as you’ve no doubt come to realise, it is all very well being busy, however if customer service is beginning to be impacted or your creativity is being suppressed because you’re too busy running your business, it won’t be long until you feel like you’ve hit the proverbial wall.

When this happens, it is difficult to move onto the next level. It’s actually a common problem with many start up companies, they become so popular in a very short space of time, that the founders suddenly find themselves working “within” the company, rather than “for” the company. This essentially means, that all of the creativity and drive that helped put you in the successful position you find yourself in is suddenly lost, because you are more involved with paperwork and other menial tasks rather than driving the business forward.

So what can you do about this? Well, you’ve probably reached the cross roads where you need to decide what you want to achieve from your business. If your part time, work from home affair has grown to a stage where earnings are sufficient enough for you to live on and there is generous upside potential, you might consider going full time. Alternatively, if you’re already part time then why not hire in some additional help?

Before rushing off and building your empire, it is worth taking a step back and deciding whether it is really worth hiring your first staff member. This is actually a massive step for any small business as in a way it will be the first time someone else has become involved in your “baby”. You will face some very interesting challenges, not least your ability to let go will be severely tested.

If you don’t think you are at the stage where you want to take on staff, another alternative would be to outsource as much as possible. If your weakness is in accounting and tax returns, hire a specialist. The additional cost should be countered by your increased productivity and their ability to spot areas for potential savings. Remember, a good accountant should pay for themselves several times over.

It’s not just the financial stuff that can be outsourced either, in my own experience we found that we were able to outsource a lot of our technical work and design. There are a number of sites such as Rentacoder and Freelance that offer you highly skilled individuals who are prepared to bid on technical projects. The good news is that these bids are often far less than going to an established company.

In summary, it’s fantastic news that you’re in a position to start thinking about the next stage of your online business success. Our advice is produce a business plan and think very carefully about what you want to achieve from your business and where you would like to be in one year, three years and five years. Once you have set yourself the goal, you can then work on what is required to achieve those goals. By the sounds of it, you’re already half way there, so good luck with the next stage!