It is easy when you run a business to fall into a rut and do the same thing again and again – because it works and you are used to it. For instance, have you noticed how many small businesses are still running Windows XP on their computers? But come April 8, Microsoft will no longer offer support for the old stalwart operating system, and it’s just as well. Running a business on a 13-year-old platform is akin to not using the Internet to grow your business today. It’s a new day, my friends, and one smart way to grow your business these days is to take advantage of the Web and start selling and shipping internationally.
Oh sure, I know, you are probably thinking – “Oh great, Steve, that’s just what I need, a new project, and an e-commerce site to boot. Too much time, money and effort for me.”
Let me suggest that that is wrong thinking, for two reasons:
First of all, if you are not taking advantage of the incredible opportunity that the Internet affords you as a small business owner, you are making a mistake. I often say that this is the greatest time ever to be an entrepreneur, and one reason – a main reason – is that there are more places to sell your goods than ever before in history.
Consider this – let’s say that you own a business in Little City, Iowa. Before the Internet, you had one place to sell your goods, namely, Little City. That’s it. When the Little City economy was healthy, that was good news, but when it was not (because of a recession or whatever), you would be in trouble.
That is, unless you had taken your business online.
Today, any small business can be a global business. You are not stuck selling in just your small locale anymore. That is a radical – and welcome – shift for small business. It used to be that it was only the East India Trading Companies of the world that could engage in international trade and business, but not today. Today, any small business can be a global business, and should.
Which brings us to the second point. It has never been easier to create an e-business, sell to customers internationally and ship your goods to them affordably. Creating an e-store can really be as simple as adding an e-commerce plugin to you site, uploading pictures and descriptions of your products, engaging in some e-marketing, and away you go.
On top of that, my friends here at Endicia make international shipping for online sellers incredibly easy and affordable. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to figure out how much it will cost you to ship that lamp to India, and you’ll be able to print and ship it from your home office. Endicia takes care of the export documentation as well.
So if you want to grow your business, the smart thing to do is to take advantage of the biggest transformational change that has hit small business ever (yes, ever) and become a global seller yourself.