You have been throwing around this idea of starting an online business for some time now. You’ve known for a while that you are not doing what you are here to do. You feel deep down that you could be making a bigger impact than you currently are if you just had the right platform. You wonder if starting an online business is the right move for someone like you.
Maybe you are…
A teacher who has worked with third graders for 15 years…
A nurse who works in a diabetic management clinic…
A nutritionist who practices out of the back of a health food store…
A parent who needed to stop working outside the home…
A chiropractor who pays too much for clinic space…
A vet technician who loves animals but finds working in a clinic too emotional…
Whoever you are, the good news is, the last couple of years have changed the online landscape. Where people used to think that taking their coaching or health practice online was more of a sideshow, but now the opposite is true. People expect you to be online because they want to be able to access knowledge from experts they trust from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
I have worked with thousands of practitioners and coaches over the last 13 years to help them take their idea and turn it into online businesses. If this is the direction you are headed, here are five specific strategies I suggest you do so that you can turn your dream of having an online business into a reality.
Change your METHOD not your MISSION.
Your mission is what you are here to do and the difference you are here to make. Your method is the way you fulfill your mission. Consider a teacher who has a mission to help kids with ADHD thrive in a classroom. They don’t need to work in a classroom setting to fulfill that mission. They can take their love of helping kids with ADHD and turn it into a program that offers resources and solutions for them and their parents.
Almost every mission without exception can be fulfilled through an online program. Think about what you love to do. What is the problem you have always been passionate about solving? Who do you want to help? This is what you are here to do.
The best part about changing your METHOD not your MISSION is that if you are currently doing something you love, but working in an environment that is taking more from you (or your family) than you can give, you don’t need to abandon your whole purpose. You just need to find a new and different way to do what you love to do.
Don’t Quit Your Day Job (yet)
There is nothing stopping you from doing a good amount of work on readying your business, without needing to quit your day job. This idea that you need to go “all in” right away and burn all your current stability and financial bridges doesn’t make sense and may actually impact your ability to be successful over time.
Staying in your current job while you work on the foundations of your business will give you the finances you need to invest in your new venture without feeling the pinch of losing your current income.
Talk To Your Family and Friends
Talking to your family and friends is the next very important step. You have certain people in your life who this decision to start an online business will impact and the more they are on board, the fewer misunderstandings there will be. You will need TIME to work on your business. You may need to renegotiate certain responsibilities, outsource help for childcare or household duties or eat more take-out.
You may need to put boundaries on your leisure time with friends or put a pause on your volunteer work while you are transitioning to online. Remember, these sacrifices are for your personal growth, well-being, and happiness. Affirm your right to growth while also acknowledging that not everyone will be supportive of how these changes will impact them.
Invest in Business Development
If you are going to transition to an online business don’t go it alone. The amount of time it will take you to learn all the ins and outs of starting an online business on your own versus the amount you could pay someone to fast-track you through the process is a no-brainer investment.
Doing everything (anything) on the cheap will lead to frustration and months or years of wasted time. If you are serious about starting your online business you need to keep up the momentum. The easiest way to keep up the momentum is to have every step you need to take from idea to launch broken down into bite-sized chunks so that you can see continued progress.
The only way you can get a list of steps from A-Z is to work with someone who has gone through the whole process (several hundred times). They have already done all the research, made the mistakes, failed, and corrected their processes so that you don’t have to.
When you are considering a business development course, always ask “What will I end up with at the end of this course?” Will you be given a bunch of theories that you then need to try and implement on your own or will you have access to personalize coaching and feedback, and leave with a read-to-go business in hand? Both types of business development coaching exist so make sure you are getting what you need.
Don’t Focus on the Wrong Things
When people are first putting together their plan for their online business they end up wasting a lot of time and money on things that will do absolutely nothing to help them start getting clients and making money.
Focusing on things like building a website, creating a logo, getting your brand colors all worked out, designing handouts, and making complicated spreadsheets are all things that will eat up your time and money and get you nowhere.
I know that may sound counterintuitive but it’s the truth. Nobody is going to choose to work with you because you have a fancy logo or a cool website. They are going to work with you when you communicate to them that you have the best and only solution to a very specific problem they have.
Next Steps
The decision to start an online business may seem like a huge undertaking but with the right mentality and proper support, you can begin increasing your impact and income in a very short amount of time. So, if you are ready to pursue taking your business online and are looking for some feedback on your idea or insight into the process, click the link and book an Idea Validation Call with my team.
