It’s almost too easy to start an online business nowadays- there are videos promising you thousands tomorrow if you start your business today.
But the reality is sadly all too different…
Is that a reason not to try…of course not…but being prepared will give you more of a chance at succeeding.
To succeed you need to have these 7 essential skills for online business:
- Time management
- resilience
- learning
- flexibility
- humility
- Content creation
- Self management
With these 7 skills you will be more prepared to face the challenges of online business startup…
Let’s have a look at each on in more depth….
Do you have enough time
One thing you cannot change is time – it carries on regardless of what you are doing.
Given that you are considering starting an online business – do you have the time.
There are those that promise you 2 second profits, but you know that is too good to be true.
You maybe able to spend less time on your business in the future, but at the beginning – as with anything new- you need to put in the effort.
It is worth sitting down and realistically mapping out a typical week to see how much time you can put in- and maybe dividing this by two- as those little disasters come up all too frequently.
So if you have over 15 hours a week you can dedicate to your business at the start then good…
But how long will you keep going….
Do you have the stamina
Can you keep going…
- When no one is visiting your site
- When you are really tired
- When you feel that all is for nothing
With an online business, you will start with a rush, get overloaded with new information, start your site, find your niche, find products, create some content, find there are no visitors and after a couple of months give up and say online business doesn’t work – it’s all a con…
But done right…online business does work and you can succeed.
You need to know that it will not happen overnight, but you will need to keep going…
Can you say it will take 3 months or so…nope …sorry….
It will all depend on so many things that it is impossible to tell how long you will need to keep going before you start to get a return on your investment…
Because that’s what it is…a time investment for the future…
When your business starts to make enough and is stable enough for you to give up your 9 to 5 then it is payback time ..quite literally.
You get time…time to do what you want …when you want….
But until that time you need to keep going and realise that your business is growing…
And for all this to happen, you need to know how to do it….
Do you have the knowledge
Nowadays there are some skills that you don’t need and that has opened up a lot of opportunity for more to join the online business revolution.
The fact that you don’t need to know technically how to code your site anymore or create a membership site or an 
online store has opened up a whole new world for a lot of people.
But there is a lot more to creating a successful online business than putting up a website.
You need to know a lot about management of sites – what content to put on there- how to write it for your audience – how to find and place affiliate links – how to find out how many visitors you have had – how to analyze these figures – how to run a social media campaign – and a lot more …
This is not to put you off but to show that there is still a lot to creating and running an online business – despite what others tell you.
And the best way to get started is through a course – ideally with a mentor.
With a good course teaching you the business skills you need you are led through the minefield without injury…
And with a mentor as well ..you get the feedback that you are on the right course.
But what happens if you find out no one is interested in what you have to offer…
Can you adapt
The new online market place is a fast changing place.
You may find a product that does extremely well this week will not sell at all next week as the market has moved on.
Starting your online journey may be one you start with a product in mind, but it is not down to you whether this is the product that you end up with.
It is down to your customers…
You need to be able to deal with something that is a habit to avoid with most people – that is failure.
I like to now call it learning rather than failure.
Even success i like to class this as learning -or you learn nothing from success.
But you will learn that you need to be adaptable online to survive.
The landscape is ever changing and through constant learning and updating your skills you will tweak your business for your customers.
And you may even need to find others who can help….
Do you need help
Once you have started your business you will come across things that are completely new.
In the beginning most of what you will be doing is new and it is a steep learning curve…
But knowing that there are others who have gone through this process and you can ask them for help is a wonderful feeling.
As long as you have at least tried, so you have done a little research into the problem but are not getting it, then most don’t mind helping – as they may have been there themselves…
But having that humility that you don’t know everything and can’t so everything is something you may have to face up to…
It doesn’t come natural to a lot of people, who think that it is a failing to ask for help, but it is not…
If you are shown or told how to do something and then ask again – then maybe….
But if you don’t know and have tried and not succeeded then there is no embarrassment in asking for help.
In fact a lot may have more respect that you have asked – you now have gone from a know-it-all, to a human -who doesn’t know it all and is willing to ask for help when stuck…
But always do due diligence on the help you are given, some may think they know but are giving false advice.
So while the courses teach you how to setup your business you also need to learn how to persuade people you are the one to listen to and can help them…
What can you create
Creating content that others want to read is a skill that can be learned, some may have a part natural talent but most struggle with it.
So you have all of that stuff with your site and finding what you want to promote and now this….
Yes, you will need to find your voice to talk to your visitors…
And you need to be engaging…
Not many will sit there and read a technical or clinical article which does not include them or engage them..
So you need to find the way of creating conversational writing – with only half the conversation going on….
I do it by talking to myself and writing what i hear in my head…..
I get really frustrated that my fingers can only go as fast as they can and i keep typing the wrong letters…or i keep adding bits that sound better and having to delete some bits….
But it is a skill that can be taught, and you must be prepared to practise…and have it read by others and take the criticism in the manner that it is given …to help you improve…
You will also need to come up with a strategy for your content – be it one that spans the whole site or just a small promotion that you are trying out.
Plan it before you start and things will progress a lot faster…
And don’t forget that you will need an understanding of SEO ( Search Engine Optimization) – how to get onto page one where all the searchers click…
There will be less ad hoc thinking and your time management will be a lot better.
Reading back through it – it does almost sound a bit negative.
This creating an online business sounds a lot like work….
Well…it can be with the startup learning curve, but once you are onto the planning promotions and content creation then things start to settle down into something you can relax into and enjoy…
You are thinking of promoting something you like aren’t you….
But learning how to succeed with an online business and actually doing it are two completely different things.
And the only way to find out whether you have the ability or are willing to change so that you have the ability is to do it.
Do you have the personality
If you are someone who likes to have others do everything for them – then maybe a business in a box approach is for you.
But even with that, and you will be paying for that, if you don’t know what is supposed to be happening when then you maybe getting ripped off.
If you go through the process of learning how to create an online business but find that you don’t or can’t learn how to do certain bits – that’s no problem.
There are plenty of people out there who can help you – but you need to know what they need to do, before you ask them to do it.
And then you need to know that it has been done – until you can trust them.
So if you find you are not able to do everything you need to for an online business then you can still succeed – it will just take a bit more money.
Does it take a special personalty to create a successful online business…
Well …sort of….
You need to be open to learning, adaptable, hard working, have stamina, want to do it….
And that last bit is most important – want to do it….
And you need to realise it is not about you…
It is all bout them…your visitors…
To a certain extent they really don’t care about you – they just want answers…
And if yours is able to break through their half focus, then you are part of the way there.
But you need to take you out of the equation and really focus on them.
And if you still want to create an online business…
What’s the fastest way to get your online business setup
As i said above time management is one of the skills you will need to learn or develop.
And having a good course and mentor is one of the keys.
Well I started my online journey a few years ago, knowing very little about that side of the online world. 
And there is always that nagging doubt that you have just been ripped off or are waiting for the next upsell.
That’s what i was like with the course i joined…but it didn’t happen…
Thee were no upsells, there was nothing else to pay and all the course was open…
There is a huge community – all willing to help…
And one of the best bits is that it is free to start….
You get to try the course – all level one – and have a site you can setup and add content to.
There is plenty of user generated content to help you along.
But there are a couple of things i would say about it.
When you decide to go premium then the first month is $19, followed every month after that by $49…
This gives you access to the rest of the training, hosting, weekly live training – and all the replays…
And a host of other bits….
I would suggest that you have access to at least 6 month of fees before you upgrade – why – so you are not chasing the dollar.
This method – called affiliate marketing – does take time to start to earn you money.
And the other one is that you will need to pay for your own domain -this is a yearly fee of $14 (ish)…
So not too bad…
Everything else is there for you to create your online business.
So why not check it out and sign in for free….
