I’ve been blessed to meet so many small business owners and entrepreneurs from around the world — all of whom have given me great insight on what it takes to make a business work.

I’ve met with people with PhDs, and those who never went to school. I’ve met with some that had all the bells and whistles of IT and Software and social media, and those that still use paper and pen for everything.

You may be thinking Faris, launching a business today has to be more complex than it was in the past.

I challenge that thinking.

I’ve worked with multi-millionaire entrepreneurs that still use pen and paper and no technology whatsoever. You might be thinking Well, that depends on your industry!

I challenge that as well.

It is, of course, important to know what is happening in your industry and in the world. But at the end of the day, what really makes a business work or not work is just one thing. You know what that is — customers buying products or services!

When there are customers willing to give you money in exchange for the service or product you offer, the other stuff doesn’t really matter.

I say that because I’ve worked with entrepreneurs who are just looking for the “next big thing” to go after. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I am saying focus on the core of what you need to do.

I once worked with an entrepreneur in the home improvement industry. He told me they didn’t have a website or a LinkedIn account, no social media — no online presence at all. But what they did have was the ability to accept NO, and continue to knock on doors to sell their services.

Once they were in the neighborhood, they worked through the entire neighborhood, to get business before moving to the next neighborhood. At the end of the day, this really is what it takes — getting the customer to say YES or NO.

I’ve heard this from people running multi-million dollar businesses who were unable to read or write, but had all the right people to support them with their work.

I encourage you to think about how you can keep your business simple so you can operate and grow versus making it so complex that no one even knows how to operate it and it never launches or grows.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What can you do to keep your business simple and straightforward?

2. What can you use from your industry to continue growing your business?

3. What other tools have you used to keep your business going?

_____

Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.