Write Your Own History

Chia-Li Chien | Aug 30, 2010

As small business owners, one of our goals is to create personal wealth. (Don’t worry; there is no shame in talking about that, because you are the one who bears all the risks that come with owning a small business.) And that thought leads to our next question – how do you create value in your business that will become your personal wealth?  

In order to win in business, it is crucial to reconceptualize your business model as we move from conceptual age into aggregation age. Your goal is no longer just surviving a tough economy, but also to be ahead of the historical curve. Early adopters create most wealth  – and you want to be one of them. And not because of greed, but for your financial independence and that of the next generation so they have a fighting chance to compete globally.

Here are the things to consider as you reconceptualize your business model:

1. Be a proud a control freak of your intellectual capital . Own your intellectual capital (IC) or intellectual properties, and outsource those non-core functions. Leveraging your IC or “know how” is your best investment for your business.

2. Alignment of your business model. Your business model is defined as the vehicle that gets you there.  There are three components of the business model:

a. Passion/Purpose.  This is your personal passion combined with your business purpose. The business purpose could be what you provide for your customers.
b. Core competency/talents. Make a list of what you believe to be your core competencies or talents in business, including capabilities such as process and resources. 
c. Economic drivers. How do you profit from your passion/purpose and core competencies?

3. Be a Niche -aholic. A niche can be a product, service, geographic location, or even a type of customer. Ideally you want to have six to eight niches that will well-diversify your company revenue. But most importantly, create profitable niches and get rid of any niche that is not making a profit or is not pivotal in your company expansion.

Sadly, very few business owners become strong enough in strategic thinking to become a business architect. A business architect can launch your business into value creation, allowing you your best chance to be equally compensated for the amount of risk that you are shouldering as the business owner.  

The truth is that no one can predict what’s going to happen in the future – especially in the uncertain economic environment of today. But wouldn’t you prefer to be part of the statistical history that shows an upswing, or making history brighter now for a brighter future? Begin now to reconceptualize your business, and you’ll be the one writing your own history.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.  She can be reached at www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

This article is published at Lake Norman Women Magazine:

URL: http://www.lakenormanwoman.com/ (direct link coming soon)