The Laptop Entrepreneur and The Crisis

Just in case you haven’t noticed, I think a few people may have mentioned it, but there are others living in denial or in some cloud somewhere, there is a World Economic Crisis going on right now. Surprised? You may have heard something about it, the Eurozone crisis, the credit crunch, companies falling like ninepins, even Kodak went recently… Yes there is a crisis going on. We are in a period of flux and change and that is certain.

However out of crisis comes opportunity. If you know how to work the crisis.

Many people are rabbits in the headlights of the oncoming juggernaut, I have spoken about this before on these pages and others where I write but let me put a counterpoint here. My business is going better than at any time since 2005 and I know of many other people telling me the same thing. These people aren’t in the businesses you may assume either that naturally do well out of a crisis; buying and selling gold, debt collection, pawn shops and more. They are much more imaginative.

But there is one common factor that binds them all.

They all know how to use the internet well.

My business fell off a cliff in 2006. The market just stopped. I had made some extremely bad decisions as to the direction of the company including taking on too many underemployed people who added little or no value. Totally my fault. It took three years to recover and those three years were the most difficult and challenging of my life. It took a toll on my family’s health, not to mention our wealth . In fact there were times when we thought of giving it all up. Things had to change. And they did.

Starting in 2008 when I said “Basta Ya” (Enough!) I began to learn how to use the internet and leverage it to make my business work once more. I knew that there were fundemental flaws in the business and these needed addressing. Luckily for me the tools available online allowed me to work “smarter” rather than harder. Working harder was a no-no as I always work hard. However I needed to work smarter. At one stage my business had nine people working in it whereas now using the internet and online tools to their full advantage I am able to do the work of nine people… better and more efficiently! (I also have got rid of the headaches of managing people who don’t want to be managed)

So what? I hear you asking this question. What’s in it for me? Well the tips tools and experience have been put together into a couple of new books.

Firstly the collation of the experience into something that is much more generic and useful for any business or potential business. Along with Nick Snelling of Culture Spain I have put together “Laptop Entrepreneur“ This book takes the principles of how it is possible to make some money online and distills it down into actionable steps that can be applied to sole traders wanting to start up an internet business and large companies hearing that this thing called the internet exists and wanting to turn it to their advantage.

Laptop Entrepreneur

Personally I think the book’s use is twofold. It is firstly a beginners’ guide to starting up a business on the internet. Choose a field and go for it. If you have an idea but don’t know how to get it out of the gate, never mind hit it out of the park, then this is the roadmap you need. Secondly it is the blueprint for a business that currently exists to start being more successful on the net. Most businesses use the internet as simply an online brochure still. Or even worse, they don’t use the internet at all as they don’t see it as relevant at all in their business area, or they see it as a waste of time.

Well in this book we take case studies of people who have been successful in each area we study and show you how they got started and their best tips for moving forward in your business. They also let us into the secrets of what their challenges were and how they grew their business using techniques available online.

Packed with a wealth of resources, Laptop Entrepreneur fills a major gap in the online world, demystifying the technical aspects of building an online business and making it accessible to all, whatever your initial level of skill.

It is not a panacea, work is required. But it is the kickstart that most people or businesses need.

In my own area I have produced the moderately successful and universally well received “Web Marketing For Estate Agents“. This is a total roadmap of the steps needed to make your real estate agency stand out from the crowd online and get through the current crisis in a much more successful way.

It is why my business is more successful now than at any time since the boom years of 2004-5.

It explains how to use technology to leverage the opportunities that exist for real estate agents in the current housing market. Here in Spain, 80% of estate agents have closed down and the majority of the rest are struggling. There are a handful of us though who are having great success using new business models and techniques that require no great expertise just a knowledge of the internet and how to use it. (Check out this article in the latest Easyjet magazine about Valencia)

Web Marketing For Estate Agents

If you have an estate agency that needs a boost or even if, heaven forbid, you are thinking of starting up an estate agency, Web Marketing For Estate Agents is essential reading. Actionable steps to make your business better almost overnight. Again there is work involved but guess what? It is enjoyable work and could just save your business.

So how do you respond to the crisis? Stand like a rabbit in the headlights or use the tips, tools and techniques in the “Laptop Entrepreneur” to be one of the successes that stand out?