How to get a smart start in online business
Once you’ve decided that it’s time to start a business, and you’ve realized that you’re being called to do more than just eat, sleep, work, repeat…. it’s hard to think about anything else. When that surge of energy hits, and inspiration crashes in, people often get laser focus on thinking about starting their business, but they’re not focused on the right things.
This is often where “shiny object syndrome” sets in. This is the danger zone that trips up most people!
Racing thoughts swirl around:
What am I going to sell?
Should I click that ad I saw? That might help me…
Should I write an e-book?
I guess I should start a business page on Facebook…or is a group better?
I’ve heard of sales funnels…I probably need those? (insert going down the rabbit hole on sales funnel platforms)
Remember, there are no easy buttons, but there ARE shortcut buttons. This blog is the shortcut button to allow you to focus on the right things, in the right order.
STEP 1: LEARN THE BASICS & AVOID COMMON PITFALLS
If you take the time to slow down, focus, and take advice from someone who’s 2-3 steps ahead of you, you’ll find that they are far enough ahead to lend some excellent advice..…yet not so far ahead that they don’t remember what it was like to learn from scratch and will still be able to teach you what you need to know.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they jump right into figuring out “What am I going to sell?” And yes, although one of the key principles of building a business is selling something (a product or service) that’s NOT actually the right place to start. At the end of the day, anyone who has found success in business has mastered giving value and serving other people.
It’s not about WHAT you will sell. It’s about WHO you will sell to….and giving them value and service.
In fact, Step 2 isn’t even about WHAT you will sell either. That doesn’t come until later, because you need to have a solid foundation and strategy before you can even go there.
To learn the foundation of starting an online business, the order of the steps to take, and how to set a strategy before you jump into action, click here or click the image below:
STEP 2: FIND A MENTOR OR TRAINING PROGRAM
Any seasoned professional knows that if you think you’re going to figure it all out yourself and do it all yourself, you’re setting yourself up for a world of hurt. Nobody can do it all, especially if they are also balancing their current career and family obligations.
To effectively start an online business, you’ll need some sort of mentor or training platform to learn the basics
Starting an online business has unique benefits and challenges that a traditional business with a physical storefront does not. From choosing your target audience, to selecting the product or service that you sell, to generating traffic, leads, and sales - it’s a very different world.
It’s all learnable but trying to learn it all yourself and do it all yourself will dramatically slow your progress!
Click here to get access to a program that will help you to build out your business plan, approach your business from a strategic standpoint and avoid shiny object syndrome, identify your target audience, learn how to laser target your customers, and learn the “techy” stuff you need to know as well. This program is truly the best one-stop-shop resource I’ve ever seen for starting an online business as well as scaling an existing business.
STEP 3: BE OPEN TO OUTSOURCING AND AUTOMATING WORK TASKS
Let’s face it, you’re never going to be the expert on every topic and frankly, it’s not efficient for you to think you can be. There’s no need for you to learn how to “speak code” so that you can build out your own website, or to learn enough business law for you to write the disclaimers for your website.
Similarly, there’s no need for you to bog yourself down with menial, repetitive tasks that can take away from truly value added activities.
To find for-hire-experts on a task by task basis, simply check out fiverr.com or upwork.com. Here you can find everything from virtual assistants to legal advice. It’s a community of people who are trained in various topics that hire out on an hourly basis. You can hire out temporary help to simply finish one job or one task, or hire permanent help on an ongoing basis.
Happy business building friends!
