How To Execute Your ISP Business Plan Faster

Here is my no-fail process for achieving anything you want for your ISP Business . . . or your life

by Christopher M Knight [June 28, 1999]

Here are the key steps in the process:

•  Determine your end outcome.
•  Take massive intelligent action.
•  Notice whether or not you're getting the result you desire.
•  If not, change your approach.
•  Change until you get the result.

Okay, so yes, I learned this from Tony Robbins (that firewalking, unlimited power guy), but it's never failed me, and I know it can work for you or your ISP.

Quote:
"It's not what happens, but what you do that matters"

Question: If that's true, and if we can assume that many ISPs have a plan of attack, why is it that 80 percent of the dialup subscribers are in the hands of 20 percent of the ISPs?

Answer: Execution.

The ability to act and put your plans into action can often be a major differentiating factor in your business. If it's this simple, then why doesn't everyone just keep acting until they get their end outcome? In my humble opinion, most folks don't get specific enough about their end outcomes to know if they are getting the result that they were really looking to achieve.

So, most of this column is going to be a rant about the first of the five key steps listed above. If there is one gift I could give you in this article, it's this: You must be as specific as you possibly can—preferably in quantitative, numeric terms—what your end outcome for your ISP is.

Example:
Wanting to be "the biggest ISP in the world" isn't good enough.

Be specific. Find out . . .

• the exact numbers of potential dialup subscribers there are today
• how many are estimated for the next 5 years
• who's reaching them now and for how much
• what will it take you in capital, specific partnerships, network infrastructure, etc. to reach a major market share

To maximize your chances of success, formulate your goals along the lines of these examples:

• achieve an 87 percent market share in the markets you serve now within the next 30 months
• grow by 20 percent per month for the next 18 months
• attract 20,000 new subscribers this quarter

Another example:
It' s not good enough to say that you want to "run a profitable ISP."

You must first decide whether to persue a high growth or a high profitability strategy. You can't really have it both ways. (I can already see the letters to the editor telling me I'm wrong here.) Yes, it is a balance, but you have to make a fundamental decision whether it's more profitable to be unprofitable in the short term, with the intent to sell your ISP soon, vs. the long term costs of growing more slowly and maintaining profitability.

After you have done all of that, then you must have an achievable plan that specifically shows how you will achieve profitability, and HOW much profitability in numeric terms that means.

Final example:
It's not good enough to say that you will offer high reliability.

You must formulate it in numeric terms, such as 100 percent uptime or 99.99 percent uptime as your goal, target, or expected performance. Then you must monitor your network uptime daily, or have a third party monitor it, so you'll know if you are hitting your numeric goals. (By the way, anything less than 99.9 percent uptime is not acceptable any more.)

Management By Measurement
I firmly believe that this numbers-based approach is the best piliosphy for ISP CEOs or other management who want to execute their plans faster. Management by measurement requires that you identify the critical success indicators for your enterprise, and then on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, you and your team manage or make decisions based on the performance based on the numbers that you deem most important.

Some key numbers for ISPs to track include

• total number of subscribers
• growth rate
• churn rate
• uptime percentage
• employee turnover
• cost to acquire a new subscriber
• your average ticket price

In summary, the best way to execute your plan faster is to first define, numerate, and denominate the exact end outcomes you are looking to achieve, take massive intelligent action towards your goals, and then make decisions or manage by the numbers, based on the critical success indicators you've identified are most important for your ISP.

 — End

To Your ISP Success!
Christopher M Knight—Managing Editor of The ISP-Lists