Everybody starts somewhere, even those looking to start an online business. As someone who has been in the online workplace since 2011, I have experienced and encountered a lot of challenges (and a whole lot of good things also!) in my career. When I began as a researcher for an online company, I never really thought I would be where I am now. With that being said, I am really thankful to my previous clients who have taught me so much.
Fast forward to 2014, I started my Portfolio Blog Spicy Scribbler, to showcase my samples with the hopes of attracting clients and maybe earn a bit from Google Adsense (okay, maybe I did hope to earn more from it!). I achieved my goal in attracting more clients but I never really get to earn much from the ads I placed in my website. The mistakes I made were: I didn’t really optimize it too well, I was writing about whatever pops into my head (blogs focusing on one niche has a higher chance of earning more) and it’s like a bag of skittles scattered on the floor (heartbreaking).
Before the year 2015 ends, I decided to start my own online business (finally!), Social Pajamas, which is the realization of one of my dreams! 🙂 I know it’s not going to be easy being a startup and all that, but I am willing to do everything to be successful in everything I do.
Anyways, gonna stop the blabbing and let’s get down to business! 🙂
What am I passionate about? Starting your own business is not as easy as you think. It takes a lot of hardwork and patience. And if you’re not passionate about the business you start, chances are, you’ll never be inspired to work hard.
Do I have the time to start my own business? There’s a huge difference between finding time to start your business and making time to start your business. If you’re willing to sacrifice a few hours each day to start working on your online business, then go for it. But if you’re not, then save yourself from wasting your precious time. If you need some guidance and writing services, don’t hesitate to leave me a message. 🙂
Am I willing to spend money? While it’s not necessary to shell out money to start your own business, sooner or later you have to spend on things like buying your own website, hiring a web designer or maybe pay some website fees. You don’t really have to spend a lot of money on these things, if you do your research, you’ll find affordable services that’s worth every penny.
What can I do today that will bring me closer to starting my own business? Don’t overlook the little things, you can start making your own blog through different platforms like WordPress or Blogger for a start. Or if you want to sell photos or things, you can set up a business email and sign up for photo and online shopping marketplace sites. Or even buy a business notebook (which is just a notebook with your business ideas ha!) so you don’t forget or miss any ideas.
Who will be my competition? I’m not going to lie, everyone is unique, but not everyone has unique ideas. Some people may have already thought about your ideas but don’t let this stop you. Instead, look at them as inspirations for your business. There are so many social media managers slash marketers slash gurus slash specialists or whatever they call themselves today, but that didn’t stop me from putting up my own social media services. Yes, I read their blogs and yes, I’m a huge fan of some. I’m glad that there have been people before me because I don’t have to do the trial and error side of things. I do what already works and make it better. But never copy someone else’s work, you might get attention, but the wrong kind of attention.
How will I handle failure/setbacks? Don’t take this the wrong way, we all want to be successful, but sometimes, the road to success has a lot of failure bumps! Make failure the gasoline to ignite your business. Everyone has experienced failure at some point in their lives, but the sad truth is, not everyone gets back up and continue to reach for their dreams. But never focus on failing, instead, focus on making things happen. If it fails, move on and do another thing to make your dreams happen.
Do I have the courage to start my own business? Everyone has the potential to start a business but not everyone has the courage to do it.
Why do I want to start my own business? The reason why I started Social Pajamas was because I received a lot of job offers/invitations and I declined a lot of them because I can only work so much. One of my clients encouraged me to start my own team so I can handle more projects. I also wanted to share to other people who have the potential to be great social media managers and content writers but don’t have the opportunity that I have. If you want to be a part of Social Pajamas, I would really love to hear from you! 🙂 That’s why you need to have a solid reason why you want to start your own business, because it will help you keep working hard to be successful!
Who will be my customers? You need to think about your audience, about the people you will sell your services to before you start your own business. You have to consider your potential customers (and how many they are) so you will know how big your market is.
Am I ready to be successful? Sometimes, the thing that stops us from achieving our dreams is our self. If you don’t have the mindset of a successful person, then you have the mindset of an unsuccessful person. I believe in the saying, you are what you think. And if you believe you’re going to make it happen, there’s no other way but to make it happen. My favorite way to keep a successful mindset is to read books written by successful people. When I read Robert Kiyosaki’s Retire Young, Retire Rich, it pushed me to open the business side of my brain. Yes, I want to retire young and retire rich so I can travel the whole world without worrying about earning money. Ambitious? YES!
Do you have any tips for people who want to start an online business? Share it with us in the comment section below!