Lack of business automation really can lead to suffocation. The word suffocate comes from the Latin fauces meaning neck or throat. Hence the meaning: "to choke or put one's hand under the throat".

As small internet business owners pick up speed they run the risk of being overwhelmed by daily routine tasks which consume so much time they can choke the life out of future business development.

Business owners need time to plan, develop new strategies, advertising campaigns and products. This time is as essential as air for life.

But how can the small business person develop future business and at the same time cope with the growing work load increased business generates? Answer: AUTOMATE!

Michael Gerber in his excellent seminar "The E-Myth" describes a trap many fall into.

They are so wrapped up with DOING IT, DOING IT, DOING IT, they never have time to step back and see just where they are going.

He draws a lesson from McDonalds. Can you imagine? A multi-billion dollar enterprise staffed by a bunch of fresh-faced teenagers!

How do they do it? They have a system. It's the system that makes billions. Everything, literally everything, is automated.

Can we learn a lesson from this in small business? Definitely!

Take a look at your average work day.

What do you spend most of your time doing?

Answering email?

Processing orders?

Handling customer complaints?

Sending follow up letters?

Tinkering with your web site design?

Honestly, what consumes your time? More importantly, what can you automate?

For customer queries and questions, autoresponders are essential.

Put common answers or FAQ sheets in a standard message and put it on auto!

Create templates by writing standard paragraphs to cover frequent questions and cut and paste them into personalized replies.

What is your time worth?

If you researched a new product, or target market, what could that new campaign make for you? Can you estimate the minimum?

Divide that by the hours you spend in a day doing routine work.

What if on your present income level your time is worth $20, $50, $100 an hour.

Would you pay someone that much to process orders? To answer email?

Yes, business automation will cost money, but when you run through the numbers you may find it is costing you more NOT to automate.

Give this matter serious thought!

Ask yourself, "Is my business suffocating under a blanket of routine tasks which I am DOING, DOING, DOING each day?"

Then perhaps you need to break the grip around the neck of your business and let it breathe through well planned business automation.

Stop suffocating and start automating!