《电子商务 E-business》阅读文献：The Edge of Success 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales

6. THE EDGE OF SUCCESS-9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales Now don't think we didn't try to find other means of financing our endeavors. All my pride was completely dissolved as i grov eled at the feet of bankers each time we were rejected I insisted they could trust me to pay my obligation. But they all shook their heads saying theyd heard that story before. If ever a man felt completely overwhelmed and humbled, i was that man Im trying to present this informa tion as undetached and factual as "Our first offic can, but its impossible. My en- Our first office space. We worked so many tire life was wrapped up in a love/ long, odd hours that the police were alerted hate relationship with a draining, to the" suspicious" activities going on in our office space.” consuming company. I think the worst part of this struggle was seeing the frustration and fear in my wife s eyes. It was killing to me to know i could be provid- Was sy family with a much better life(if i was only willing to give up this crazy dream). Not only was the company struggling to survive, I was struggling to balance my vision with harsh reali ties. I would stare at the computer screen and try to wish away the debt, the long hours, and the stress. But somehow I pressed on. We pressed on. Of course i didn't feel like I had much choice The truth was, without the business I had no idea what I was going to de After just a few short months, we' d invested so much time, money, anoo. effort into the company that failure would have been the ultimate devasta tion. So every day we trudged through one challenge after another, spend ing long hours at projects that may or may not bring in revenue Finally, the clouds started to break, and we knew Infusionsoft was going to be around for a hile Ultimately, we formed and perfected our business plan as we went along. We took care of prob lems as they came up because we simply didnt have the time to plan for the future. So, for the first few years of our inception, Infusionsoft was hanging by a very thin thread. Fortunately we moved past the majority of our problems c 2008 Infusionsoft

© 2008 Infusionsoft 6 • THE EDGE OF SUCCESS- 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales Now don’t think we didn’t try to find other means of financing our endeavors. All my pride was completely dissolved as I grov￾eled at the feet of bankers. Each time we were rejected. I insisted they could trust me to pay my obligation. But they all shook their heads saying they’d heard that story before. If ever a man felt completely overwhelmed and humbled, I was that man. I’m trying to present this informa￾tion as undetached and factual as I can, but its impossible. My en￾tire life was wrapped up in a love/ hate relationship with a draining, consuming company. I think the worst part of this struggle was seeing the frustration and fear in my wife’s eyes. It was killing to me to know I could be provid￾ing my family with a much better life (if I was only willing to give up this crazy dream). Not only was the company struggling to survive, I was struggling to balance my vision with harsh reali￾ties. I would stare at the computer screen and try to wish away the debt, the long hours, and the stress. But somehow I pressed on. We pressed on. Of course, I didn’t feel like I had much choice. The truth was, without the business I had no idea what I was going to do. After just a few short months, we’d invested so much time, money, and effort into the company that failure would have been the ultimate devasta￾tion. So every day we trudged through one challenge after another, spend￾ing long hours at projects that may or may not bring in revenue. Finally, the clouds started to break, and we knew Infusionsoft was going to be around for a while. Ultimately, we formed and perfected our business plan as we went along. We took care of prob￾lems as they came up because we simply didn’t have the time to plan for the future. So, for the first few years of our inception, Infusionsoft was hanging by a very thin thread. Fortunately we moved past the majority of our problems

7. THE EDGE OF SUCCESS-9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales . What has it been like to be the wife of an entre- What is the price of being an Innovators spouse? By Charisse Mask ∩i preneur? I must say i definitely enjoy life now compared to what it was in the beginning My husband, Clate Mask, graduated with a law degree and Master's of Business Administration. I thought for sure that going through school was our hardest obstacle. I thought Article retrieved from for sure that my husband would be an attorney and would bizAZ (May/June 2007) be able to use his business degree to help him a little Well, i was wrong Two of my brothers had started a software company that had great poten tial It was a business that could work but it needed a lot of work. It need ed leadership, capital, and a whole lot of time. It needed Clate. When he told me he was going to work with this start-up, with no guarantee of pay I asked if he remembered that we had four children He reassured me that it would all work out. I trusted him. Somehow each time payday rolled around and there wasnt money, it got a little harder to passively wait for things to be OK. It was rough-really, really rough. We couldnt pay all the bills. I remember asking why we had gone to school for this. I remember feeling like i couldn't wait any longer to get paid. It was very draining. I like stability and i was not experiencing any On top of not getting paid regularly-and sometimes not at all-it seemed as if Clate spent hours on his laptop doing even more work. Even at family functions, he and my brothers would sit around and talk about new logos, problems with the software, the direction of the company who they wanted to hire, prospective clients, new office space, and how to make payroll. The list could go on and on I also knew that Clate was stressed out. He was constantly worried about so many different thing Once we were able to breathe or do something that resembled breath- ing) I tried to take my family on a vacation Unfortunately, the damage of small business ownership had taken its toll. Determined not to work while on vacation, I felt like a walking zombie and returned home almost anxious to get back to my familiar work routine. But I realized at that moment that I couldn't ever let this happen again. To me or to anyone else that I could spare. As I recount this story I can smile at the crazy situations we made it through. I can share mem- ories with the loyal employees that stuck with it, and we can laugh together. However, although we are no longer crammed into a tiny little office space, it doesn't mean weve lost touch with where we came from. Rather, we resolved to ease the pains of small business owners in what ever way we could. And this is where the purpose of this book begins c 2008 Infusionsoft

© 2008 Infusionsoft 7 • THE EDGE OF SUCCESS- 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales Once we were able to breathe (or do something that resembled breath￾ing) I tried to take my family on a vacation. Unfortunately, the damage of small business ownership had taken its toll. Determined not to work while on vacation, I felt like a walking zombie and returned home almost anxious to get back to my familiar work routine. But I realized at that moment that I couldn’t ever let this happen again. To me or to anyone else that I could spare. As I recount this story, I can smile at the crazy situations we made it through. I can share mem￾ories with the loyal employees that stuck with it, and we can laugh together. However, although we are no longer crammed into a tiny, little office space, it doesn’t mean we’ve lost touch with where we came from. Rather, we resolved to ease the pains of small business owners in what￾ever way we could. And this is where the purpose of this book begins. What is the price of being an Innovator’s spouse? By Charisse Mask Article retrieved from bizAZ (May/June 2007) “What has it been like to be the wife of an entre￾preneur? I must say I definitely enjoy life now compared to what it was in the beginning. My husband, Clate Mask, graduated with a law degree and Master’s of Business Administration…I thought for sure that going through school was our hardest obstacle. I thought for sure that my husband would be an attorney and would be able to use his business degree to help him a little. Well, I was wrong… Two of my brothers had started a software company that had great poten￾tial. It was a business that could work, but it needed a lot of work. It need￾ed leadership, capital, and a whole lot of time. It needed Clate. When he told me he was going to work with this start-up, with no guarantee of pay, I asked if he remembered that we had four children. He reassured me that it would all work out. I trusted him. Somehow, each time payday rolled around and there wasn’t money, it got a little harder to passively wait for things to be OK. It was rough – really, really rough. We couldn’t pay all the bills. I remember asking why we had gone to school for this. I remember feeling like I couldn’t wait any longer to get paid. It was very draining. I like stability and I was not experiencing any. On top of not getting paid regularly—and sometimes not at all—it seemed as if Clate spent hours on his laptop doing even more work. Even at family functions, he and my brothers would sit around and talk about new logos, problems with the software, the direction of the company, who they wanted to hire, prospective clients, new office space, and how to make payroll. The list could go on and on. I also knew that Clate was stressed out. He was constantly worried about so many different things

8. THE EDGE OF SUCCESS-9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales The Real Pain of the small Business owner Since creating Infusionsoft, we have heard thousands of painful stories from small business own- ers trying to manage and grow their companies. We hear about all the blood, sweat, and tears that do nothing more than get a company through to the next week so the exhausted business owner can do it all again. Some of the stories that have been shared with us make our rough beginning look like a walk in the park. Besides selling their products or services, managing employees, handling the overhead, and budgeting their expenses, small business owners really have little time for anything else. The sad truth is that few business owners are able to spend any time growing and expanding their business. Their attention is being constantly pulled one direction after another and by the time they have a moment to themselves, they are too drained to do anything more than run the same old gauntlet. In many cases, the struggles of small business ownership spread far beyond the walls of their company. FAMILY Think of the impact long hours at the office have on family life. the business owner works all day deals with unpleasant customers, and is constantly putting out one fire after another. By the time they go home, theyre tired, frustrated, and short on patience. I'm sure you can guess (if you don't already know)what this end-of-day exhaustion does to marriages, parenthood and other important relationships Online, i attempted to find an oogle i The sad truth exact statistic about the num- wel Results 1.10of ber of business owners that ded we stand: when: on a concept called ners divorce, what happens to,m divorce while trying to get their companies up and run ning.What I discovered was wheaton Divorce and B wines vare in tweu hexr n u pageo repre Marriage partners, who are also business much more interesting. Hun- ers in comp lexdivorce litigatio dreds of thousands of web- customer concems and business. sites offer advice on what to do when, as a small business ww anderson an litig ation involving owner, you get divorced. No Divorce Statistics Mpr. 2.Divorce.9:26am pany. They all teach would-be /-Avwsony servie entre e rm o working hours re grow agences Thiking abou a one is offering any sugges tions for how to keep a family smilarnanes-Nte ts together and still run a com- ,N时 their assets from their spouse Qu wce la -tosem mu oana anom beow Ye. oen entrepreneurs how to protect How business owners entering into divorce Jownerunless-staying proceedings are financially impacted Publication Smart Business Mi once they split. In other words, the world seems to en Business Owners Divorce have given up on the odds of re the assets of both publicly held and privately staying happily married and proceed ngs are financially paced Huolcaton: growing a company. c 2008 Infusionsoft

© 2008 Infusionsoft 8 • THE EDGE OF SUCCESS- 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales The Real Pain of the Small Business Owner Since creating Infusionsoft, we have heard thousands of painful stories from small business own￾ers trying to manage and grow their companies. We hear about all the blood, sweat, and tears that do nothing more than get a company through to the next week, so the exhausted business owner can do it all again. Some of the stories that have been shared with us make our rough beginning look like a walk in the park. Besides selling their products or services, managing employees, handling the overhead, and budgeting their expenses, small business owners really have little time for anything else. The sad truth is that few business owners are able to spend any time growing and expanding their business. Their attention is being constantly pulled one direction after another, and by the time they have a moment to themselves, they are too drained to do anything more than run the same old gauntlet. In many cases, the struggles of small business ownership spread far beyond the walls of their company. FAMILY Think of the impact long hours at the office have on family life. The business owner works all day, deals with unpleasant customers, and is constantly putting out one fire after another. By the time they go home, they’re tired, frustrated, and short on patience. I’m sure you can guess (if you don’t already know) what this end-of-day exhaustion does to marriages, parenthood, and other important relationships. Online, I attempted to find an exact statistic about the num￾ber of business owners that divorce while trying to get their companies up and run￾ning. What I discovered was much more interesting. Hun￾dreds of thousands of web￾sites offer advice on what to do when, as a small business owner, you get divorced. No one is offering any sugges￾tions for how to keep a family together and still run a com￾pany. They all teach would-be entrepreneurs how to protect their assets from their spouse once they split. In other words, the world seems to have given up on the odds of staying happily married and growing a company

9. THE EDGE OF SUCCESS-9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales Even if you're able to manage both family and business responsibilities, even if you have a com- passionate spouse like mine(who worried about what to feed the kids but still encouraged my efforts), even if you don't have a family waiting at home, there are other factors to consider. FUNDING According to famed economics professor Scott A. Shane, approximately 65% of small businesses are founded on the savings and personal debts of the business owner. That is money that has come directly from the owner's pocket Money that is irreplaceable should the business have a poor month, quarter, or year. The strain of having to repay borrowed money only adds a signifi- cant amount of stress to an already taxing situation I'm sure youve heard the phrase lose the shirt off your back. For many small business owners, this is quite literally the case. They've in vested every last dollar they can in the hope of creating a better life for themselves And should the company go belly up, this person isn't instantly absolved of their obligation Two of my employees were recently lamenting about their failed business ventures. The first had taken out a bank loan to finance an invention that never caught on. at the time of the conversa tion, she was still paying on her outstanding debt of $15,000. The other heard the story of the ing with his company. His debts were so great, he was too embarrassed to relate how mucs Og first and chuckled. He said, I wish that was all I had left to pay. This man had borrowed money from friends and family, lost his product due to poor storage, and never quite regained his fo money hed lost These are my employees, my friends, individuals i personally care about, and by the time I heard their stories there was nothing I could do for them. There was nothing, in fact, that anybody could do for them short of paying their financial obligations. SATISFACTION Another concern of the small business owner is the simple issue of happiness. You see, the vast majority of entrepreneurs start their own businesses to avoid working for someone else. And to find happiness doing something they love. But, although business owners may start their com panies with high hopes and ambition, inevitably the business becomes the master. and the busi ness owner, a slave to his/her own creation. The excitement and passion they once felt for their company gets buried under a mountain of invoices and paperwork. Like I said before, we hear all kinds of heart-wrenching stories when small businesses turn to Infusionsoft for help. Many small business owners are in search of that one last miracle-solution before they give up altogether. Even then they're often so overwhelmed they don't really have a desire to make their companies work. It's simply a matter of going through the motions be should have known better than to try. pating. It ' s as if they are saying to themselves, "Well, I fore accepting what theyre already antici This is where the purpose of the book comes in. You see in all the time i was worrying and struggling to get Infusionsoft off the ground i was learning The more i heard from other small business owners about what they wanted c 2008 Infusionsoft

© 2008 Infusionsoft 9 • THE EDGE OF SUCCESS- 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales Even if you’re able to manage both family and business responsibilities, even if you have a com￾passionate spouse like mine (who worried about what to feed the kids but still encouraged my efforts), even if you don’t have a family waiting at home, there are other factors to consider. FUNDING According to famed economics professor Scott A. Shane, approximately 65% of small businesses are founded on the savings and personal debts of the business owner. That is money that has come directly from the owner’s pocket. Money that is irreplaceable should the business have a poor month, quarter, or year. The strain of having to repay borrowed money only adds a signifi￾cant amount of stress to an already taxing situation. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “lose the shirt off your back.” For many small business owners, this is quite literally the case. They’ve in￾vested every last dollar they can in the hope of creating a better life for themselves. And, should the company go belly up, this person isn’t instantly absolved of their obligation. Two of my employees were recently lamenting about their failed business ventures. The first had taken out a bank loan to finance an invention that never caught on. At the time of the conversa￾tion, she was still paying on her outstanding debt of $15,000. The other heard the story of the first and chuckled. He said, “I wish that was all I had left to pay.” This man had borrowed money from friends and family, lost his product due to poor storage, and never quite regained his foot￾ing with his company. His debts were so great, he was too embarrassed to relate how much money he’d lost. These are my employees, my friends, individuals I personally care about, and by the time I heard their stories there was nothing I could do for them. There was nothing, in fact, that anybody could do for them short of paying their financial obligations. SATISFACTION Another concern of the small business owner is the simple issue of happiness. You see, the vast majority of entrepreneurs start their own businesses to avoid working for someone else. And to find happiness doing something they love. But, although business owners may start their com￾panies with high hopes and ambition, inevitably, the business becomes the master…and the busi￾ness owner, a slave to his/her own creation. The excitement and passion they once felt for their company gets buried under a mountain of invoices and paperwork. Like I said before, we hear all kinds of heart-wrenching stories when small businesses turn to Infusionsoft for help. Many small business owners are in search of that one last miracle-solution before they give up altogether. Even then, they’re often so overwhelmed they don’t really have a desire to make their companies work. It’s simply a matter of going through the motions be￾fore accepting what they’re already anticipating. It’s as if they are saying to themselves, “Well, I should have known better than to try.” This is where the purpose of the book comes in. You see, in all the time I was worrying and struggling to get Infusionsoft off the ground, I was learning. The more I heard from other small business owners about what they wanted

10. THE EDGE OF SUCCESS-9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales what they needed, and what they were suffering, the more in tune i be came. i dreamed of ways to liberate and empower small business owners and their employees so they could enjoy doing business again. I envisioned ways of helping them wow their customers, and grow their companies quickly and profit- ably. I wanted small business owners to feel the same passion and excitement for their companies they started out with, and to make the world a better place because they were able to serve not only their customers, but their families and communities as we‖l What I Learned About Managing and Growing Small Businesses Years of interacting with small business owners brought me to some simple but significant con clusions. I watched the same mistakes being made over and over again. I saw seemingly popu lar companies close their doors for the last time. And i observed other companies skyrocket for no apparent reason What I learned. is that the strategies for success were not unique to one industry, The Infusion Soft company, or business owner. Success was determined by the use of predict- Purpose able, repeatable, simple actions. But not Liberate and empower small businesses and their just any actions--the right actions. employees so they can enjoy doing business, wow their customers and better serve their families and communities The great news, and the reason I felt it necessary to complete this book is that once small business own ers learned what they could do with their companies, they began writing a completely different story for themselves. Gone was the"pain"of small business ownership and in its place was the"pleasure. No longer was it a question of"will I succeed?"but how much success will I have? I've watched desperate business owners turn back into excited entrepreneurs when they found out what their small business could easily and repeatedly accomplish Ultimately, these strategies morphed into the focal point for our company. They were the driving force, the culmination of everything I had dreamed of doing for the small business owner and their employees. For years lve developed and refined these strategies so they would provide the most and best value for the small business owner c 2008 Infusionsoft

© 2008 Infusionsoft 10 • THE EDGE OF SUCCESS- 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales what they needed, and what they were suffering, the more in tune I be￾came. I dreamed of ways to liberate and empower small business owners and their employees so they could enjoy doing business again. I envisioned ways of helping them wow their customers, and grow their companies quickly and profit￾ably. I wanted small business owners to feel the same passion and excitement for their companies they started out with, and to make the world a better place because they were able to serve not only their customers, but their families and communities as well. What I Learned About Managing and Growing Small Businesses Years of interacting with small business owners brought me to some simple but significant con￾clusions. I watched the same mistakes being made over and over again. I saw seemingly popu￾lar companies close their doors for the last time. And I observed other companies skyrocket for no apparent reason. What I learned…is that the strategies for success were not unique to one industry, company, or business owner. Success was determined by the use of predict￾able, repeatable, simple actions. But not just any actions--the right actions. The great news, and the reason I felt it necessary to complete this book is that once small business own￾ers learned what they could do with their companies, they began writing a completely different story for themselves. Gone was the “pain” of small business ownership, and in its place was the “pleasure.” No longer was it a question of “will I succeed?” but “how much success will I have?” I’ve watched desperate business owners turn back into excited entrepreneurs when they found out what their small business could easily and repeatedly accomplish. Ultimately, these strategies morphed into the focal point for our company. They were the driving force, the culmination of everything I had dreamed of doing for the small business owner and their employees. For years I’ve developed and refined these strategies so they would provide the most and best value for the small business owner. Purpose. iberate and empower small businesses and their employees so they can enjoy doing business, wow their customers and better serve their families and communities pose. wer s urp and em P iberate mployees so they can enjoy r customers and better serve their families and ies L The InfusionSoft