I am often asked, how can I start an online business? A business that doesn't trade my hours for time and doesn't require the traditional 9-5 work schedule.
This is the first step to becoming an online entrepreneur. Online entrepreneurship has changed my life forever. I can spend my days golfing and doing whatever I want because I don't have a typical day job. This, however, doesn't mean it is easy.
Running your own business (Online or Physical) is difficult
Running your own business online or a traditional brick and mortar business take effort, focus, and time. The key difference is that becoming an online entrepreneur has a much lower bar to entry. This is one fo the main reasons, I love being an online entrepreneur. I can start up a new online business with just an idea and a business plan.
I don't need to go rent an office, hire staff, and run newspaper ads. I can run with my new business idea and see if their is traction before I start aggressively investing to grow it.
The best part of being an online entrepreneur is the location freedom
You can literally work from anywhere. This makes it so much easier to just grab your laptop and go. If you are able to scale your online business, you can start hiring. If done properly, you can hire yourself out of your day job and have not only your location freedom, but time freedom as well.
The best way to think about an online business is it should be able to run without you. If you are the only person who can do the work, then it is not a business, it is a job. The best online businesses are those that can be systematized and repeatable.
Successful online business examples you can start
- Consulting (Time intensive - harder to scale but easy to start)
- Service-based businesses (Similar to consulting in terms of time and scale)
- Selling information products (Great cash flow - but upfront time is high and scaling can be difficult)
- Affiliate marketing (Great scale but requires you to sell other people's product - So they better be great!) For example, this blog post was written using Jasper which is an AI tool. I am an affiliate for them.
If you click this link, love the software and buy it. I am paid a commission. It is so META it actually works. Click here to check it out.
- Creating and selling a physical product (Capital intensive - but great scale)
Most of these can be started with little to no money and can be run part-time. The best online business for you is the one that fits your personality, skill set, and goals.
What is the best online business for you?
Start with this question and not the others and you will be well on your way to building a successful online business.
Now let's dive head first to get a better understanding of what it would be like to start and operate one of these online businesses.
- Service-Based Businesses: These are businesses that provide a service to their clients. This could be anything from coaching, to consulting, to graphic design, and much more. The best part about service-based businesses is they can be started quickly and with little to no capital.
- Building a blog: This is my personal favorite and what I am currently doing. Creating a blog one of the best online businesses you can start because it is so easy to get started. But, because its so easy to start there is fierce competition.
Why I am building blog (Because I still can go golfing)
I prefer to build personal blogs that have your own unique perspective and will allow you to work on for a long time. Getting organic traffic is NOT an overnight thing, as it takes time to rank for competitive keywords.
Once you have established blog posts you can monetize in many ways. Ads, Affiliate marketing, Referrals or even making your own product. Essentially all the online business models can be executed from a blog.
- Affiliate Marketing: This is a business model where you promote other people's products and earn a commission on every sale. Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money online without having to create your own product.
- Creating and Selling a Physical Product: This is a bit more capital intensive but can be a great online business. The best part about selling a physical product is you can create it once and sell it over and over again.
This is where I have most of my personal experience in and it can be scaled to truly massive revenues but the cashflow required to create your own product requires deep pockets.
This is what has made me most successful but requires skillsets in many categories such as Facebook ads, Google Ads, Email Marketing, Copywriting, Product development, Logistics, and the list goes on.
If you are an ecommerce brand, we do offer pre-vetted experts in those areas to help you grow your brand.
Just click HIRE MY AGENCY Experts to get connected.
These are just a few of the best online businesses to start. The best business for you is the one that fit's your personality, skill set, and goals. Choose wisely and don't get discouraged if your first attempt doesn't work out. The best businesses are built through trial and error.