There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you’re considering starting your own online business. After all, there are a lot of great reasons that you might want to! Over the years (especially recently) even more people have wanted to transition from a “regular” job to live the entrepreneurial lifestyle. But before doing this, you should consider the good things as well as the bad things before starting your own business online.
If you’re seriously considering doing so, here are the good and the bad things about starting your own online business. Hopefully this will help you so that you can figure out if this is for you or not.
Good: Flexibility and Control
When you have a “regular” job, you’re told when to come in to work, and how long to stay. Your boss will tell you what to work on. You don’t have much flexibility or control in anything. You’re basically told what to do and when to do it.
When you have your own online business, you get to control your day-to-day life and schedule. You can create the life that you want with as much flexibility as you want. If you prefer to work a few hours at a time and then take a break, that’s not a problem. If you want to work 3 days a week, you can do that as well. You can work at whatever times you want, and take time off whenever you want as well. It’s great if you also have other responsibilities as you can work around them.
You’re not only in control of when you work, but what you work on. You get to decide if you spend your time writing, drawing, creating and more. You’re the boss, so you decide what your online business is! Do you want to be a writer and get paid when someone buys your book? Do you want to create courses and sell them? Do you want to create content on a website, and get paid when people visit your website and click on ads? The options are endless.
It’s all up to you. You get to decide what you work on, and how you want to earn money. No one is telling you what you need to do. You can work on what you want to, outsource what you don’t, and build your business in something that interests and excites you.
Bad: It’s Risky and Requires Responsibility
On the other side of that, no one is telling you what to do. Every decision you make is up to you. It’s your responsibility if it succeeds or fails. You might choose to only work 4 hours a week, which might not be enough to accomplish everything you need to do to become successful. You may not end up doing the right things within your business to earn the kind of money you’re looking for.
You don’t get a set salary, so you might end up not making as much as you were at your job. You might not make enough to pay your bills either. There is no guarantee you’ll make any money at all, so it is risky to start your own online business.
Good: It’s Highly Rewarding
While having all of this responsibility can be stressful, it can also lead to more rewards. As you become successful, you’ll know that the work that you put into it is the reason that you are successful. This can build confidence and create even more value for your target audience.
It can also be highly rewarding monetarily. At your job, you get a set amount of money. It doesn’t matter if you work harder or longer hours, you’ll still bring in the same salary. On the other hand, with your online business the sky is the limit. Working more can earn you more money, and you can keep adding to your income by doing more things and selling more products. Often you don’t even need to put more time into it, and can still earn more money.
Bad: It’s Highly Competitive
A lot of people have an online business – whether they do it full time or part time. Depending on the niche you choose, there could be some other people, or a lot of other people in it! Having an online business is competitive, but that can be a good thing. It gets us all to create better content, and offer more to our audience. However, competition can also create stress and make it hard to stand out.
That’s why it is essential to use that energy to find a way to better your products and services, so your target audience forgets your competition even exists. Create content that is incredible, and you’ll keep growing your audience.
Good: You Get to Pursue Your Passions
Having your own online business allows you to turn your passions and interests into a profitable business. If you’re really interested in a subject, you can create a business around it! The more passion you feel about your business, the more likely you will succeed. This is because you understand the topic and your audience better than anyone else.
This means you should be wary of pursing a business idea that you don’t have a huge interest or passion in, as it will be harder for you. You won’t want to put the time and effort into it, and won’t be able to understand your target audience’s needs as well.
Bad: It’s Inconsistent and Unpredictable
When you work at a job, there is a good chance that things are pretty consistent. You do the same types of things in your position. Every day with your business is going to be different. You could decide to do different things. You could realize that one thing you’re doing isn’t working for you, and you’ll need to find something else to do that will be better. It’s very unpredictable, and until you’re doing it you won’t know if you’ll succeed or not. You may need to make many changes before you have the audience that you want and are making the money you need.
There will be time spent on education so that you can learn more about how to succeed within your business. You’ll be working on different things each day, and there will be ups and downs within your business.
Before you decide to quit your job and start an online business, it is essential to review the good and the bad, and take time to decide if this is the life that you truly want. Freedom and flexibility are wonderful, but they do not come without work.
Enjoy,
