Starting an online business sounds like an attractive idea. You’ve heard the stories about entrepreneurs who have turned online start-ups into global businesses and made millions or the teenager next door whose YouTube channel earns him more than his parents.
You share that ambition to make millions or maybe just want a different way of earning a living. In spite of that, you don’t have any knowledge of what an online business involves or what you can offer to online customers. You’ve read that successful entrepreneurs had a big idea, but is that all it takes to turn an idea into a business?
The reality is that there are certain things you need to do before you start searching for the big idea or before you try your first online venture. Believe it or not, many entrepreneurs first had the determination to succeed, the idea came later.
Having that in mind, it is clear that you should start paving your way towards online entrepreneurship as soon as possible. Here is a list of things you should start doing now if you want to become a successful online entrepreneur in the future:
- Start thinking like an entrepreneur – it’s a whole new mindset!
- Improve your skills and competence.
- Join online entrepreneurship communities
- Find out everything you can about that opportunity – become the expert.
- Start demonstrating your expertise on social media to establish your presence in the online world, build a profile, and a future customer base.
- Start searching for the big idea
- Ready or not, go for it!
- What does it take to act like an entrepreneur
The entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking and a way of doing things. Entrepreneurs have a constant need to improve their skills, learn from mistakes, and take continuous action on the ideas they believe in. So, what are the traits, and have you got them. Entrepreneurial way of thinking embraces:
- Passion to believe in their idea.
- Vision to see that something can be better.
- Taking risks.
- Self-confidence to know they can deliver.
- Motivation to see their vision through.
- Flexibility to adapt to challenges.
- Determination and perseverance.
- Resilience to deal with failure
Bare in mind that entrepreneurs are not born, but made… self-made. You still have the chance to become one if you start soon enough. So, if you want to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset do everything described below
- Work on your skillset, improve your competence.
If you plan to start as a solopreneur (work by yourself) you will have to heavily rely on your own skills whether it is strategic thinking, content writing, website management, software and app development, internet marketing, etc. You can always outsource the tasks and the product/service development to other experienced makers, but you still need to be well informed and competent to know what to ask and what to expect.
On the other hand, if you want to engage co-founders as team members you will have to be highly competent in at least one important skill needed to start, develop, and run an online business.
Start with what you already know and improve, and then find out what might get handy when starting an online business and decide if you are going to learn or outsource those skills. To find out which are essential and which are advanced skills when starting an online business click here.
Our Online Business Startup Guide can bring your competence, for becoming an online entrepreneur, on a higher level.
3. Join an online entrepreneurship community
An entrepreneurship community can be a great place to share experiences and ideas, meet valuable contacts, or get advice. Think of the community as a support group for your new business.
- Look online to find a community focused on your area of interest.
- Join and take the opportunity to meet and share experiences with fellow entrepreneurs at online events.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for advice; communities are built on the principle of sharing information.
- Reach out for co-founders and team members.
- Look out for potential partners offering complementary services.
One great community for online entrepreneurs you can join today is Indiehackers.com.
4. Become an expert in your field
If you come up with “the big” idea first and then you decide to become knowledgeable about that field, great. But, usually, it’s not the way it works. Successful ideas come mostly from entrepreneurs that have the expertise and/or experience in some or several fields. The reasons for that are obvious. They are familiar with the industry, they know the existing problems, they are aware of the customers’ needs, current products, and so on. Therefore, your intention should be to become an expert in the field of your greatest interest and/or where you see the greatest potential to become a successful entrepreneur. Choose an industry/filed close to your current expertise or industry you feel passion for and are willing to become an expert in.
5. Build your presence on social media
Now you’re starting to think like an entrepreneur. It’s time to make your presence felt.
- Build a profile on social media by joining the most relevant like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, or product review sites.
- Stay active by joining discussions, commenting on posts, or posting your own material in your area of interest to demonstrate your expertise.
- Gradually build your online authority and personal brand.
- Attract followers to help build a potential customer base for your future business.
6. Start searching for the big idea
You can start brainstorming ideas even on your day one of your journeys to become an online entrepreneur. Anyway, the real ideas and real business opportunities will start coming to your mind after you improve your knowledge and competences, assess and improve your skills and expose yourself to an active online community of entrepreneurs and potential customers. Only then you know the problem you want to solve or the service or product you can make better.
First, put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes. Find out everything about that customer, about existing products and competition:
- What do they buy?
- Where and how do they buy it?
- Who do they buy it from?
- How satisfied are they with the product or service?
- What more do they need?
- What would make them change?
The vision to see a better way is the starting point. If you think you can make a difference by doing something better, you’ve got a basis for an online business. This can take a number of forms:
- Improve the quality of a product or service.
- Make it easier for a customer to buy a product.
- Make a product easier to use.
- Promote it differently or on a different channel.
To help generate ideas, you’ll find a useful process in Step 2 of the Online Business Startup Guide:
- Look for an idea that will differentiate you.
- Make sure your idea is achievable with your skills and resources.
- Experiment with variations on the main idea and communicate them on social media.
- Use feedback to evaluate the potential of your idea.
- Validate and test the viability of your ideas.
7. Time to go for it!
You’re on the way now. You’ve done the preparations. You have a great idea in your hand, but now comes the greatest challenge, the market itself.
Related > The single Biggest Mistake you can make when starting a Business Online
If you become successful with your first try you are a very lucky bastard. Most of the online entrepreneurs don’t succeed on their first journey. On the other hand, if you fail, don’t quit just like that. You just passed the first test as an online entrepreneur. Next time you will do far better.
Here are some tips that will help you grow as an online entrepreneur and increase your chances of success every time you try:
- Experiment with more ideas.
- Try with small projects first.
- Make mini-marketing campaigns and learn from them.
- Don’t be afraid of failure as you build experience.
- If you fail, try to improve the solution before you experiment with another idea.
- Team up with co-founders to embrace chances and disperse risks.
- While you’re experimenting, keep the day job, your day as an entrepreneur will come.
As you can see, it’s not easy even to prepare to become an online entrepreneur. The real challenges come after you start your first business, you see some success and you go all in. The entrepreneurial story never ends, but it’s worth it, and not only for the financial rewards. There is more about it, but you will have to discover it yourself.
Ready to go further?
Make sure you have the business knowledge and skills to take full advantage of any online business opportunity. Start thinking about an online business now, using our e-Business start-up guide.
