Online Business Basics: Overcoming Failure

The online business boom really garnered a ton of media attention about 10 years ago when “dot com” was one of the most heard terms on television and in publications like Newsweek. That type of online business was completely unexplored territory and definitely had its ups and downs. Today, the online business world is a different place but is especially ripe for the picking if you have the drive and motivation to make it happen. It sounds scary but the number of people who attempt to form an online business compared to the number that actually succeed is extremely low. Some circles will swear as many as 90% will fail.

One of the main reasons an online business will fail is simple. Laziness. I’m not going to tell you this doesn’t happen to me because it most certainly does. This will apply to every single type of online business you can think of. Some examples are people who run online shops but fail to update their merchandise on a regular basis and the people who have grandiose plans to build a top notch set of websites dedicated to selling a particular product or type of products but barely get a 5 page site running.

The second most popular reason for failing in any online business is simply giving up. The Internet isn’t going to start dumping money into your lap overnight. People love to read about the “Internet Gurus” who make a fortune every single day and think they can do that too. The truth is, you absolutely can make that happen but it’s going to take a lot of work, long hours, and quite a long time making absolutely nothing (unless you get lucky).

So what can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen? Scheduling. Plain and simple. When you work a 9-5 job, you have the responsibility of doing that job the entire time. You can’t take an hour off to watch television or take a 3 hour nap right? It’s tempting at home and this can easily become a pattern that will lead you down the road to destruction. You have to make a schedule and you have to stick with it religiously. If you “bend” the rules a little here and there, eventually you will bend them to the point that there are no rules. Many people interested in starting an online business are still working a full-time job already so they don’t have a lot of time. Scheduling is especially important if your overall goal is to make a full-time income from home. If you work full-time, you will have to dedicate a couple hours each night to setting up your business and really nail it on the weekends.

A good schedule should consist of something similar to a normal work routine. Wake up at 8am, take a shower, then head to work (even if it’s across the room). Work for 2-3 hours straight, then take a lunch, then work for another 2-3 hours. By work, I mean actually working on your online business whether that’s adding products to your site, building new pages, writing content, or doing SEO (search engine optimization) work. Don’t fool around on Facebook or Twitter, stay far away from YouTube, and don’t even check your e-mail unless it’s work related.

A good schedule and the ability to stick to it can make or break an online business, especially if you are just starting up. Stick to it and good things will happen much faster.