Starting Your Online Business - 3 Key Challenges

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1) Absence of a Mentor

A knowledgeable mentor can pave the way past challenges and provide options that could raise your game and allow you to venture into more difficult-to-access markets. Mentors will also interrogate your business model and ensure that your business plan can withstand key stakeholder scrutiny. They also have valuable lessons learned from their past encounters.

Mentoring can provide all the benefits as shown under:


Some specific ways that mentors can be of benefit to you and your online business are:

  • Mentors can provide you with a window into the lessons they learned so you do not have to make the same mistakes
  • A mentor can provide you with drive and inspiration that on your own you just may not be able to bring out
  • A mentor can lead you in the right direction, save you hours in time you would have otherwise wasted and money that you would have spent to get knowledge the mentor could share with you for free
  • Mentors can provide an introduction to key market leaders that as a newbie you would never have access to
  • A mentor can tell you to keep going even when you feel like you have run out of steam

2) Managing Risk

Searching for a solution that meets your learning and online business needs can be very harrowing. I have seen stories of many members been hoodwinked into programs that have cost them hundreds of dollars by offering them an inside track or being let in on the next best secret or being an invitation to be part of some mastermind or VIP group. It’s not hard to understand when the ROI (Return on Investment) is not realized why there is so much pain and feeling of failure. That anguish is what builds mistrust for future programs and heightens the fear to try new initiatives.

We can deal with risk in the following five ways as depicted:


We, therefore, have to build our capabilities to better assess these and other investment opportunities. Some questions you need answers to are

  • Is the program legit and who are the leaders involved reputable?
  • What are independent 3 rd party source reviews of the program?
  • Does the program seem too good to be true?
  • How easily can I exit the program? Can I get my money back if dissatisfied?

3) Funding

It is very true that the start-up costs of running an online business are likely to be much less than a brick-and-mortar establishment. Many expenses like rent, security, insurance, permits, property upkeep, renovation, or build costs need not be incurred.

However, there are costs that might be minimal at first but will increase depending upon how you scale, operate and manage your business.

Depending upon your own situation Some costs that could be incurred are

  • Equipment costs (e.g. laptop, phone, camera, mic)
  • Internet connection subscription
  • Business registration fees (e.g. LLC costs, bank account setup charges, business levy etc)
  • Software and platform fees (e.g. one time and recurring fees if you decide to access plans above basic)
  • Professional fees (e.g. costs for the drafting of your consultant contract or for agreement with suppliers)
  • Marketing and advertising (e.g. campaign costs if intending to scale along with professional branding associated costs)

Depending upon your jurisdiction there are a number of sources that could provide funding support and financing for your online start-ups. Some of these are shown under:


What are the challenges you are dealing with in starting up your online business?

Hit me up a like if you enjoyed this read and please share your comments. I also appreciate them.

Blessings

Hugh

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Recent Comments

94

Right on the money, very good read, Hugh. Harping on the mentor bit here- having a mentor or coach has been such a great resource. Most people dont really keep one around- I am glad I have one, especially with more than one site and most of them not in the affiliate marketing arena.

Lest I forget there are many coaches on here at WA- all you need is post a question and at least one will be at your door 🌞 πŸ‘

Exactly Chris all it takes is to reach out and ask. We are lucky to have such an abundance of talent at our fingertips.

Hi Hugh a great post and information. All very valid and a good mentor can make a big difference! My challenge is generally time - if I could crowdfund for an extra day in the week I would...
Thanks for sharing this you have got me thinking about something I was stuck on.

Enjoy your weekend.

Tracy

Really happy that you found it a useful read Tracy.

The infographic on risk is great. I will look for it online.

There are always challenges to starting anything new. One of the biggest is to keep going. It is easy to stop when you are learning something new and say "I can stop whenever I want".

That is not the path to success.

Alex

In relation to risk that is why I am such a big advocate of things like 'what ifs' and 'scenario planning'. These tactics sharpen your ability to address the high impact and likely risks that could derail you.

Also true about persistence, grit, determination and/or stamina which are all qualities that are so necessary to stay the course.

That is true, we must possess the determination to keep going. It is easier to give up. But less rewarding.

We must also recognize as well that some pathways lead to dead ends and we must be able to assess and abandon those strategies if we believe they have no ROI or other benefit.

Yes, it is dangerous to be too involved with one thing. We have to be prepared to move on when necessary.

Exactly!

All valid points and I agree that a mentor is a "nice to have" but many here don't have one. Even the person that we joined under is not our mentor yet they keep getting commission. In any case, with WA, it's less important as everyone is quick to help. Funding with WA is less of a problem as well. It is NOTHING compared to brick and mortar.
My problem is finding time to accomplish everything on my "to do" list. It's never ending and it's not like I sit around eating bon bons all day. πŸ˜‚

Hey Deb you are right the way our platform is designed even if we do not have a Mentor or he/she is not living up to expectation, you can still get a lot of guidance from the wider community. Not common when comparing other programs. Do you have a mentor?

I for one do not think that you can really scale up and do it all yourself. There is an inflection point beyond which you have to hire or outsource. Failure or unwillingness to do so will compromise quality or cause you to burn out. And then if you do fizzle you won't have time for anyone because you would be confined to rest in bed with yukky fluids and certainly without bonbons.

No, I've never had a mentor here nor in my 9-5 but I'm used to being independent. 😎

Do you mentor anyone here?

No, I haven't. I have in other venues though.

You probably are a taskmaster or should I say taskmistress lol

Have been spying on me?????? πŸ˜†

lolπŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒ

A really well-structured blog post, Hugh, filled with all the pertinent points.
Not only for starting out but also as we grow and scale.

My challenge is time.
There is just not enough for all that I want to do.

I have started to break out some tasks that I think I can let go of, but I still prefer to hold on to the foundation for a little while longer.

A good script here to share (with credits) in my YT Channel. πŸ˜‰

Thank you for sharing.

Cassi

Such a fundamental concern that affects all of us. Thanks for pointing this out. And thanks for the promo lol.

You are welcome, Hugh - on both counts. πŸ™‚

Cassi

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