It's only "little ole me."

• You think that your audience is only family and friends.
• You think that your community is your contact list.
• You believe that only locals will support you.

Think global when you start your business; there are millions of people online. They don't know that they need your product or service until they see your ad or content. So avoid waiting until you've sold it to your family or friends. Post your brand online to create a loyal, international tribe.

In The EMyth Revisited, the author, Michael E. Gerber, says that systems are the solution to problems. He uses the example of McDonald's to explain.

McDonald's is the largest small business in the world. It began with one physical location, but the owner had a vision. Using a system, he made it easy to go from one to many by offering franchises. 

If you think big, you will build systems in your business that make growth simple. To gain freedom by owning a business, become a leader.

1. Plan to go national.
2. Start your business.
3. Hire an employee and train that person. Create a manual or training video, so the next time the training is less time-consuming.
4. Create a system to track inventory, orders, marketing and sales.
5. Expand your business.
6. Use the systems already set up to ensure success.
7. Check the business operation for 3-12 months.
8. Expand again to keep growing the business.

A business should not be dependent on you. Instead, it should rely on systems to get predictable results.

This article is part of our Business Coaching blog series. At Dataczar we talk to a lot of small businesses. We’ve found a few books that we keep recommending time and again. To better help our customers, we’ve added a Reading List for Small Businesses to our website. We encourage every small business owner to read and keep these timeless business books on their office shelf.

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