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If you’re running or starting a business online, do you find yourself winging it most of the time, drifting from one opportunity to another, putting in a lot of effort with no real return?

More often than not, this is due to a lack of vision as to where we want to go. Just as a vast majority of the population are completely out of touch with their core desires (another subject in itself), many online marketers are equally out of touch with their core purpose.

Why do you want to have an online business?

If you answered something like “because I want to be filthy rich”, or “to make lots of money”, or even “so I can pay my bills”, you probably need to check your core purpose to having an online business.

Let’s say that your answer was to be filthy rich. Now let’s drill down further. Why do you want to be rich? To get revenge on your former lover who said you’d always be a loser? Perhaps you hate your J.O.B., and you want out of the dead-end grind. Let’s go with that one.

So why do you want out of your J.O.B.? Most likely it’s because you don’t want someone else dictating your schedule, and having to depend on someone else for an income. Someone who may not always appreciate you, and who could ruin your life with just two words… “you’re fired”.

In this case, you want to do what you want, when you want, where the income potential is only limited by your imagination and efforts. You want the freedom to write your own ticket. Not having to worry about paying the bills. The freedom to take off to Maui on the spur of the moment, just for the fun of it. Ahhh, FREEDOM. Now we’re on to something.

In this case, it turns out that your core purpose is not to be filthy rich in itself. It’s FREEDOM that you’re ultimately after. In reality, the way that you are generating your income is the very tool by which you can accomplish your ultimate goal… FREEDOM.

Taking a few minutes to drill down your core purpose for being in business can save you a ton of effort in the future. If you’re looking for freedom, then your business needs to be centered around freedom principles.

This would include creating procedures for automating as many aspects of your business as possible. What you can’t automate, you can outsource. Perhaps there are certain aspects that you want to do yourself.

Personally, I enjoy programming, so I create my own software products myself. I could outsource it in a fraction of the time, but this is something that I enjoy, and prefer to play the major role in design and creation.

You may want to completely detach yourself from your business. In this case, you need automation and / or outsourcing procedures in place so that you can step away from your business, and it will run just fine without you. Suppose you were struck by lightning tomorrow? What would happen to your business? Would your family be able to carry on with the income it produces, or would it simply die along with you?

Those are serious things to consider right at the outset. If you get yourself trapped into working your butt off with 18 hour days and little proportional income, where is your freedom? You might just as well be slavin’ for the man; at least you’d be slavin’ less hours.

Take a few moments to drill down your core purpose for business using the technique above, and see where it takes you. Now form your vision based on that, and start building your business, or change course on your existing one, around your core purpose, and someday you’ll thank me for that. 🙂