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Start Your Online Business the Right Way!

imc_blog_post_car_wash

What does car washing have to do with and Internet Marketing Business?  Well, it is easy to see the errors of your ways once you are past the event and wise to them!  For me I realized what one of my biggest mistakes was as I drove past a local car wash.  This mistake is probably the one that had held me back the longest…and so I felt I would share this with you.

As I drove past the car wash, for some reason, I had a flashback to when I first saw the premises.  At that time it was a closed down petrol garage… a bit run down and derelict.  I am sure this will be a familiar story to you if you live in the UK.  Some bright business mind took ownership and started a car washing business.

This business started on a shoe string.  Every day one or two people would be there to wash cars.  Needless to say that this must have been a success, as the business grew from strength to strength.  The car washing team grew – now about ten strong.  The advertising improved with professional branding and advertising signs spring up around the town.  The place was improved with first temporary gazebos, which gave way to permanent awning.

Then came the diversification.  First car washing, then changing tires, followed by car services and MOTs (assessments for road-worthiness).  Now the place is a fully fledged garage.  There is a fully kitted out service center with two four-poster hydraulic car ramps.  Every possible service is now offered – even an air conditioning re-charge!

So, how does this relate to me and my mistake?  Well this business started small and grew.  The most important thing is to start.  My mistake was taking on too much information from all the guru’s… you must do this, you must do that.  Well actually, when I tried to do all of these things… which all take time, I spent so long trying to set up my business “the right way”…. literally months and months (about 5 if you must know) that I didn’t actually ever start!

What I should have done, is start.  Get a small, simple model of a business and start.  I was so worried that a “simple” model wouldn’t work and would not be optimized and would not make me any money, that I over complicated everything trying to get it “perfect” before I started.  So, with hind sight… don’t do this.  The most important thing is to just start.  And then build up from there…just like the car wash company.  Start with something small that works – then improve upon it!

I heard a great phrase to capture this exact learning point on the “Internet Business Mastery” podcast….they said “PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION“… and I think that is spot on… having found out for myself the hard way!

There are many other things we can learn from my simple example of the car wash company, but that will have to wait for another day.  So I hope that you have found this article thought provoking… I know it won’t apply to everybody –as we are all different – but if you have recognized any of these thoughts, or these situations, then please give serious consideration to whether you are making the same mistake that I made?

Are you costing yourself undue time and money by trying to start with a completely kitted out garage, when a bucket, a bar of soap and a cloth would do?  The most important thing is to start building your list and to send out emails to your subscribers.

What I eventually realized… is that every day that goes by before you “start”….every day whilst you try to set up your perfect “garage” is a day that you are not building your list of subscribers and that you are not sending emails and making money by helping connect your subscribers to great products.  The most important thing is to build your list and send emails.

Please let me know your thoughts, I would love to know if this sounds familiar to anybody else…and I hope that if you have been over completing things, that this has helped.  Now it is time for me to take my car to the car wash!

If you liked this info, and you think it is time for you to start your own online business… you might like to check out the IMC Quickstart Video Guide Series… where the challenge is to get your online business tool up and running in less than two days!

Cheers for now

Chris.

IM Catalyst Chris Todd