Most people seem to love the idea of an online business. This makes sense because they always keep on hearing about how people are making thousands of dollars a day by just “pressing a button” or “while sleeping”.
The reality is different. The people who are earning thousands of dollars online “while sleeping” are either lucky, insanely brilliant or have had their huge share of losses and setbacks.
In other words: Online businesses (for the most part) are not easy to start and maintain.
This situation is worsened by the fact that there are literally thousands of ebooks out there telling people that it is “very much probable” that they will earn a full-time living online. The truth is, while that can work, the learning curve and the losses on the way to success can be huge and very discouraging.
For example, everyone seems to talk about how Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, quit Harvard and is now enjoying his life. People also relate to “how quickly Twitter became a worldwide phenomenon”. I can tell you that people only talk about their successes. So if you see a huge success story, I guarantee you that there are thousands of other failures which you might never hear of because people never talk about their failures.
The chances of you (or anyone) starting another model of social networking and actually making it successful to even a fraction of what Facebook achieved are negligible. And if you think Mark Zuckerberg (or any other renowned online business or website owners) are leading a worry-free life, you would be wrong. They actually have a lot more things to worry about, simply because their actions are seen (and critisized) by a lot of people.
Do not be pulled in by “get rich quick” ebooks which tell you that you will be living in your own mansion by the end of this year. While most authors try to teach you everything to the best of their abilities, you lack something they don’t: Experience. Without experience, you will not be able to manage an online business.
There are other aspects of an online business which can make the experience very daunting. First of all, you need to work on an idea which actually works. Along with that, you need to bear the full risk, expect minimal return for the first 6-12 months and work very hard at it in the beginning.
Other than that, managing every single aspect of your online business will frustrate you and burn you out in the beginning. Imagine learning how internet marketing works, spending your cash on it, manage your website and your customers and the idea of an online business doesn’t look so good. Sure, you can hire employes or outsource, but is that really a feasible alternative when your business is in its initial stages?
This post is not in any way directed to discourage people from starting their business. If you think you have the passion to do it, go for it. I just wanted to touch upon a few things other authors would not talk about.
Here is the most vital point of it all: In the beginning especially, only start a business in a niche which you actually love. If you are in it because you love the work and are not only motivated by money, you will be able to continue building your business when your cash runs out (and it will from time to time).