My online business grew and expanded by accident. There was no plan or method to it for a very long time. Only lately have I tried (only with partial success) to structure it to be more organized and to leverage on the strength of its many parts.The benefits of planning and structuring your business before it grows and takes off is that you can make each component build upon the others, so you grow at a pace and in a direction you control.

It’s like building a house. If you lay bricks on a straight line, you’ll only get a row of them, not a wall. But if you lay them one layer upon another, you’ll build a wall, and then a house.

So, what is your business?

Do you sell products or services? Or do you generate ‘leads’ for other businesses? Or do you publish content and monetize it in different ways? In the free “4-D Internet Business” report, you’ll learn the details of each of these 3 models, click here to download it now.

What is your product range?

Is your business based upon selling one single product or service, or do you have a range of things to offer your clients? In case you are thinking about a ‘one product’ business, you need to appreciate the risk that if that one product fails, for any reason, your business will sink along with it.

Whom will you sell to?

Knowing your audience is critical to your success in business. Create a profile of your typical customer, including as many demographic and psychographic elements as possible. Where do they live? What do they do? How much do they earn? How much do they spend? Where do they hang out, travel, holiday? Who do they associate with? Whom else do they have business relationships with?

Ask these clarifying questions to clearly define your audience, so that all your marketing and selling efforts will be laser targeted to reach your best prospects.

How will you sell?

Develop a marketing plan. List out all the avenues of spreading your message that are available to you. Not all will be suitable, for reasons of convenience, budget or geography. Pick the marketing methods that best fit your situation. Then work out a plan that maximizes them.

What are your revenue and profit models?

How will your business earn money? While this may sound obvious, many businesses end up closing doors because they have not clearly outlined a revenue and profit model.

Anyone can sell. But if you sell at a price lesser than it costs you to create your product or service, your business will lose money - and the more you sell, the more you lose! Selling at a profit involves some thought and planning - about pricing, marketing and future sales.

How will your business grow?

Do you plan to have your business grow purely by attracting and servicing more clients? Or will you keep selling more to your existing clients only? Or maybe you will buy up other related businesses over time? Or partner strategically with associated businesses?

Think out your growth plans for the next few years. As you grow, re-evaluate your plans and modify them according to what happens. By following a strategy, you’ll achieve quicker, steadier and more effortless growth.

What is your exit plan?

At the end of the day, what do you hope your business will do? Maybe you want it to run automatically, generating a healthy profit for you and allowing you to live a life of ease and retirement. Or you might intend selling it at a profit after growing to a certain level. Or it could be your legacy to hand over to others to continue after you.

Thinking and planning for these events related to your business even at the beginning can give you a blueprint which you execute over time. The difference between a structured business and one that grows quite by accident can be stunning - and big.

Don’t you want that for YOUR business too?