Starting an online business

Eight Tips on how to start an online business By Tiffany

Tiffany is work at home mom. She is  working at home for a decade. This is a series of eight articles on online business. In this article she explains about challenges of work from home. You will learn various passive income ideas from her on how to earn extra cash from internet based business.

I was tired being a cube-dweller & lifetime commuter.

I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

I waited a long time to make my choice.

I knew I wanted to work from home

I did a few odd jobs during the years that my husband was completing his MBA from an Ivy League college. My work also helped my sister while she completed her medical studies too.

I always thought that being able to work from home would make my life easier. It also appealed to my latent entrepreneurial talents. Somehow the comfort of having a fat paycheck month after month was not allowing me to build enough confidence to start working at home. Soon, I did not have a choice. My daughter was born prematurely and with medical complexities. It became necessary for me to work from home, so I was really sort of, pushed into it.

I started with some online marketing and learned the tricks of the business the hard way back in 2001. Later, I received a request from Arindam, asking me to share my personal experiences with online marketing. I thought it would be a great idea, so I agreed to write down a few critical points on how to become successful at internet marketing.

Follow these 8 tips to fulfill your dream of working from home.

(1) Having "The Talk" With Loved Ones

You may have to muster up the courage to convince your spouse or parents that there is something you want to pursue.

In most cases, there will be a few raised eyebrows and pursed lips along with some heavy sighs. That is normal, so please do not take offense.  These people simply care about you and want to protect you from getting hurt.

You must remain confident if you want them to be confident in you. If you go into the conversation with doubt, then your loved ones will take it upon themselves to talk you out of any plans that you were trying to make.

It is also important to use the right language. Tossing words out that they will not recognize is just going to make them panic because it is something new and unknown. Do not jump right in and say you are going to be an "affiliate marketer" or "SEO expert."

(2) If you are hurting for money, do not start this now

Having bill collectors at your door is the wrong time to launch an online marketing career. Contrary to what some marketers claim, this is not a “make money fast” business. Keep your regular job and pursue an online career in your spare time. If you are too tired after work or never feel like it, then you do not want it bad enough. However, do not come home, quit your job one day, and expect your family to feel good about it when there are bills to be paid.

A better way to start is to work on it little by little. Then when your online income equals or nears your offline job, you can present it to them as a swap, not a loss.

(3) Have a plan and be prepared to share it

You don’t need to hand over an entire professional business plan, but having your basic steps mapped out on what you need to do is essential to making others (and yourself) feel confident about the journey you’re embarking on.

Whatever you do, do not start with a laundry list of things you have to buy. If you say, “First I have to buy and get a website set up,” they might think that means $10,000 when you really know its $9.99 for a domain and $10/month for hosting.

Don't subscribe to the idea of "start your online business free " because there is no free lunch in the world. You need to have minimum start up capital say $200 to $250.

(4) Be prepared for timeline demands

Inevitably, someone in your circle is going to want to know how long this “money making thing” will take. Well you cannot reasonably know that. However, it could help you and your loved ones if you set a deadline for seeing any type of return.
You do not want to be sitting around two years from now having spent a fortune, with not a single penny earned.

Do not get defensive when someone asks this question. It is scary to see someone set off into the unknown. Reassure them that you are not going to get involved in a sinkhole.

You should have a moderate budget and timeline to start with, so that you can reassess your actions if things are not going as planned. That is smart thinking no matter what industry you work in!

(5) Have a good example to show them

Depending on what you want to do, find a good role model, someone you might compete with in the near future. If your friends and family need more reassurance, you can walk them through what you will be doing.

Try not to overwhelm them, because they will not be familiar with your plans like you are. Sometimes, working from home is a viable solution, which is all it may take to secure the support of our loved ones.

The worst-case scenario can also happen whoever you are. Sharing your dreams with someone who tries crushing them can be frustrating. Try to accept the opinion gracefully and end the meeting. You are going into a solo career, and it is time you get used to being in control of your destiny.

(6) Saying “No” to Errands Just Because You’re Home

(6) Saying “No” to Errands

As a work at home entrepreneur, you are suddenly going to appear as a doormat to all of your friends and family. It is imperative that you learn the art of saying, “No.”

You are going to find this happens a lot if you have a large group of friends and family who know about your work at home career. It might not be babysitting, but they’ll ask you to run them to the airport, pick up their dry cleaning and take their dog for a walk…all because your career allows you the leisurely lifestyle of not having to commute.

Some people do not have the confidence to say, “No.” It is like pulling teeth. Subsequently, friends and family end up walking all over them – even if they are not knowingly abusing the situation.

 (7) You are Still a Good Parent If You Work in Front of the Kids

You have to ensure that you are not neglecting your work duties too much out of guilt. It is hard when you are sitting there and you are doing well with your product development and your little girl walks up with big blue eyes asking you to play Barbie with her.

Saying no, means a wave of guilt washes over you.

You have to get real about the situation. Your kids are lucky to be in your care, in the comfort and safety of their own home. You simply need to be confident in the way that you address their needs.

Part of where I see people lacking confidence in balancing parenting with work productivity, is that they are stringent with their time management. You simply cannot be rigid when it comes to running a house with kids and a brand new business – both require constant love and attention.

My kids know that if they need me to hold them, they walk right up and I put my keyboard down and they hop up on my lap. They also know that if I had big plans to spend time with them but a project comes up that I have to finish, then our play date might be a little bit later.

Patience is key to your success.

It’s better if you set the hours that work for your family, and for some, that could mean working from 6 AM until 9 PM, with a back and forth method of working and parenting intertwined.

(8) Setting Sail on a Solo Career

If you have ever been in a job outside the home, then you can probably relate when I tell you how much I could not stand many of my coworkers (and bosses for that matter).

I always felt like the bosses took credit for all of my hard work and my disrespectful coworkers drove me insane with their quirky habits and demands. Once you become a solo entrepreneur, rather, you lose the confidence that you once had in yourself as an employee.

Suddenly there is no boss to take the fall if the company fails to meet its profit goals – no boss to dole out tasks and responsibilities and handle budgeting. There is just you.

Coworkers, as annoying as they can be, do take up some of the slack for you when you need them. They each shoulder a burden and you work as a team, which can be comforting when you need to stay on track to meet a deadline.

All of that will be yours now, as you take the reins of your own business. How can you feel confident that you will succeed? It feels like your entire staff just got layoff notices and that you are on your own.
  
First, you have to believe in your abilities to either do all of those jobs yourself or outsource them to people who can help. Just because you cannot hire employees yet does not mean you cannot hire a freelancer to pitch in and take some of the stress off you.

Second, give yourself a break. I do not mean take time off. What I mean is celebrate every success you have, from the day you say “Goodbye” to your job to the day you register your first domain, up to the first paycheck you get in the mail as a self-made entrepreneur.
  
While you may feel shaky, scared and nervous about the whole “solo entrepreneur” mission you are on – that is okay, too.

I am going to tell you about one more secret.

The top successful entrepreneurs also stressed out about making it and maintaining their momentum. Do not be too hard on yourself if you have moments of weakness. Just make sure you do not sit in a state of worry for too long. 

If you are stuck, email me. I will give you a swift kick to snap you out of it.

Be sure to bookmark this page! In next post, I will discuss online business ideas for WAHM’s. In subsequent article we'll discuss in more detail on how to start an online business.

Comment from Arindam: This article is part of series how to start a business. Please share your opinion on starting an online business below.