Step 7:
People who are self-employed are, by nature, the do-it-yourself type. I’m one of those types myself. The problem is that do-it-yourselfers have a tendency to try to take on too much. They think that the more they take on, the more they have to do themselves. It doesn’t naturally occur to them to look around for assistance, whether it comes in the form of a human being or a computer application.
The fact is that very few PowerSellers do everything themselves. In almost all cases, they have a friend or relative, or one or more employees, to help them. Pam Thien and her family (see Chapter 2) use Infopia to run Shiana.com. Even Alan Warshauer, a true do-it-yourselfer described in Chapter 4, turned to an auction management service called Zoovy to help automate feedback and other tasks. In order to put more sales online and make more money, you need help. Look around to your immediate family or your immediate circle of friends and see who’s available. Hire a high school student to help you with packing and shipping one or two days a week. The point is to stop thinking you have to do everything on your own, and to turn your one-person activity into a business with employees who are there to keep things moving along smoothly.
People who are self-employed are, by nature, the do-it-yourself type. I’m one of those types myself. The problem is that do-it-yourselfers have a tendency to try to take on too much. They think that the more they take on, the more they have to do themselves. It doesn’t naturally occur to them to look around for assistance, whether it comes in the form of a human being or a computer application.
The fact is that very few PowerSellers do everything themselves. In almost all cases, they have a friend or relative, or one or more employees, to help them. Pam Thien and her family (see Chapter 2) use Infopia to run Shiana.com. Even Alan Warshauer, a true do-it-yourselfer described in Chapter 4, turned to an auction management service called Zoovy to help automate feedback and other tasks. In order to put more sales online and make more money, you need help. Look around to your immediate family or your immediate circle of friends and see who’s available. Hire a high school student to help you with packing and shipping one or two days a week. The point is to stop thinking you have to do everything on your own, and to turn your one-person activity into a business with employees who are there to keep things moving along smoothly.
