Starting your own online business from home might seem like an easy thing to do at first.
However, once you think about it a little more you start to realize that you probably don’t even know where to begin.
You wonder:
Which online business is the best? How do people make money online? How are they so successful?
In this quick guide, I want to show you what you need to start an online business, what mindset should you have, how long will it most likely take to earn your first dollar, and give you some tools to explode its growth faster.
How to Start an Online Business?
Some online businesses might seem like an overnight success but usually, they have thousands of hours of work and a graveyard of failures behind them.
Here are some general rules to follow when starting your own online business:
1. Pick a business and stick with it
Avoid the shiny object syndrome.
Only by focusing on 1 business for a long period of time can you get ahead of 99% of people.
Consistency at one thing compounds over time.
If you get seduced by other “easier” ways of making money you will start over from 0.
Starting a successful online business will feel impossible because you will find yourself at the start line with every new business idea you try.
Pick one and stick with it.
2. Learn by doing (avoid analysis paralysis)
It’s okay to research your business and the strategies in the beginning, however, don’t get caught up in the research phase.
The best way to learn is by doing.
Become a just-in-time learner.
Instead of learning the entire thing and clogging your brain with it, just use learn it at the time when you find yourself with a problem.
You don’t have to prepare by taking 10 courses or going to college, just use Google – it’s free.
“Most things can be learned to a reasonable degree with about 20 hours of focused effort. The problem is that most people wait years to start the first hour.” – Alex Hormozi
3. Failing = winning
You have time, you have a lot of time to succeed in business.
Especially if you’re in your 20’s.
The reason failing is winning is that you can’t learn if you don’t fail.
We learn a lot more from a failure than from a victory.
So when you fail, the next time you do the same thing you have a much higher chance to win, and over many failures that chance becomes very close to 100%.
4. Expect it to take 10x longer
We overestimate what we can do in a year but underestimate what we can do in 5 years.
Just like many things in life, building a successful business compounds over time.
You don’t start seeing results unless you’re far into the future, that’s just the nature of the exponential curve.
But once the results begin to show themselves, they’re going to be a lot bigger than you expected.
The only way to lose in business is to stop trying.
5. Use software to automate your online business
Software that every online entrepreneur should know:
1. Payhip
A website where you can list and sell digital products like wallpapers, courses, PDFs, templates, and more. (And it’s free!)
Alternative – Shopify.com
2. Rytr.ai
Rytr is a content generation tool that can help with script and article writing, article title ideas, email copy, and more.
Alternative – ChatGPT
3. Tango.us
This is a Chrome extension that lets you create how-to guides, in seconds using screen recordings.
Alternative – Loom.com
4. Notion.so
Notion is a powerful and flexible tool that helps you organize your work, school, and personal life.
Alternative – Craft.do
5. Figma.com
Collaborative web app for interface graphic design.
Alternative – Canva.com
6. TubeBuddy.com
Browser extension that adds a variety of YouTube analytics tools to your YouTube channel.
Alternative – VidIQ.com
7. Grammarly.com
Cloud-based typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes.
Alternative – GingerSoftware.com
8. Skillshare.com
Online learning platform where you can watch or create online courses.
Alternative – Udemy.com
9. Webflow.com
A website builder that enables anyone to create responsive websites without having to write code.
Alternative – WordPress.com
6. Aim big
Pursuing a 10x bigger goal is not necessarily 10x harder, it’s just a different path.
You can do this simple exercise:
- Write down your current goal. For example, my goal is 500€/month from my side hustles.
- Write down what would a 10x bigger goal look like. My 10x goal would be 5000€/month.
- Then answer this question: if someone else in the same position as me had achieved this goal what would they’ve had to do? Write down on a piece of paper the actions, milestones, habits & skills that a person would have to have to achieve this 10x bigger goal.
- Finally, ask yourself: is there anything really stopping me from doing that?
7. Use leverage
Leverage lets you detach your time from your business.
Instead of trading your time for money, you can use leverage to stop working for an hourly wage.
There are 3 types of leverage:
- Capital
- Code
- Media
Capital or money leverage involves hiring others to work for you using your money. That’s how the world’s biggest corporations operate. The problem is that you have to have a lot of money to take advantage of capital leverage.
Code leverage involves coding software that can operate without you. Most computer programs such as Discord, Microsoft Word, Photoshop, and Notion use code to leverage themselves. The problem is that you have to know how to code to take advantage of this type of leverage.
Media leverage involves creating content that platforms serve other people even years after you’ve created it. Building an audience is a hell of a lot easier than having $1M and hiring 100 people or learning to code a whole software from scratch. That’s why I chose this type of leverage for my online business. I started a YouTube channel.
8. Patience is king
“Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable resource shaping the quality of life.” – Tony Robbins
Expand your time horizon. Think decades, not days.
If you can stick with doing something for 2 years consistently, you will beat almost any other human on the planet.
No one can compete with someone who puts such an unreasonable amount of time into something. Others can only see it as delusional.
9. Learn something new every day (knowledge compounds)
Notice how the red line and the green line stay almost the same for a long period of time.
But then, after a while, they veer off in opposite directions.
By learning something new every day you will compound your knowledge over time.
Tools You Need to Start an Online Business
5 Websites Every Entrepreneur Should Know
Read MoreHow To Make A Legit Website (With 0 Coding)
Read MoreBest Courses to Take Before Starting an Online Business
The best value-for-money platforms to take online courses are Udemy and Skillshare.
Skillshare is the cheapest because they give a 1-month free trial with which you can take any courses on the platform completely for free.
Here’s how to get Skillshare 1 month free trial.
Here are some cool courses for every online business owner:
Which Is the Best Online Business to Start
The best online business to start is the one that you can automate later on.
One that can earn money when you sleep.
Examples of such businesses are blogs, YouTube channels, courses, digital products, print-on-demand & paid newsletters.
I recommend checking out my list of the best business ideas to start earning money online.
What Online Business Can You Start With No Money?
The best online business models are those that don’t require you to trade time for money and are infinitely scalable.
Here are the best online business models that require no money to start:
1. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is recommending or marketing someone else’s product and getting a commission for its sale.
Affiliate marketing involves joining an affiliate program, having a customer click on your affiliate link, and then purchasing a product or service.
There are many ways to promote affiliate products such as blogs, YouTube channels, paid ads & more.
2. Selling digital products
The best part about digital products is that you only have to create them once and then you can sell them forever.
A book, template, preset, e-planner, course, PDF, workout plan, or preset can be made once and sold 10,000 times.
You can also become an affiliate and sell someone else’s digital products.
3. Creating content
Building an audience online doesn’t have a ceiling because there’s no cap on how many people can watch what you create.
If your audience knows, likes, and trusts you they are likely to buy from you.
The best platform to build an audience is YouTube because it pays its creators to create content.
4. Print on demand
Print-on-demand is infinitely scalable because you can either sell more products or create more designs.
It’s passive – people buy from you while you sleep.
You can also sell print-on-demand products on many different platforms (such as Redbubble, Etsy, or even YouTube) and to many different audiences.
5. Freelancing (selling a skill)
Freelancing is the only business model in this list that requires you to trade your time for money (but not always).
If you learn an in-demand skill like video editing or YouTube thumbnail design you can earn a nice income from freelancing.
To detach freelancing from your time and make money while you sleep you can create an agency or do drop servicing.
Essentially a customer pays you for a freelancing gig and then you hire someone else for cheaper to do the same work and keep the difference.
Best YouTubers to Watch To Learn Online Business
The best YouTube channels to watch if you want to learn online business are Alex Hormozi, Ali Adbaal, and Nischa.
These YouTubes will teach you strategies, tools, and mindset you need to have before starting and succeeding with an online business.
Alex Hormozi – general business advice, thinking about business, best negotiation, investment strategies, sales tactics, and business development.
Ali Abdaal – starting a YouTube channel, mindset, productivity, self-development, side hustles, creating content.
Nischa – taxes, saving money, side hustle ideas, money habits.
FAQ:
How Can I Start Selling Online With No Money?
You can start selling online with no money.
The most common ways to make money online with no money are selling digital products, print-on-demand & dropshipping.
This involves selling your own digital product, which costs no money to make, or selling someone else’s product and splitting the difference with the original seller.
What Business Can I Easily Start?
The easiest business to start is to sell your own skill for money or provide a service to someone else.
This requires learning an in-demand skill such as video editing and then offering your service to other people that need it.
You can also start building an audience by starting a YouTube channel which makes earning money online further down the line a lot easier.
How Can I Make Money on My Own?
You can make money on your own by starting an online business.
There are many online businesses that you can start for free.
You can make YouTube videos for free, sell digital products, make courses, sell templates & more.
What Business Is the Easiest to Make Money?
There is no one business model that is the easiest to make money.
If there was everyone would be doing it and it would slowly become not the easiest.
It is possible to be successful with most online business models if you stick with them for a long time and have a growth mindset.
What Kind of Online Business Is Most Profitable?
Profit = revenue – expenses.
The most profitable businesses are those that don’t have a lot of expenses.
Products that you can make once, such as courses, books, or templates, and sell 10000 times are the most profitable because they have the highest profit margins.
How Can I Start an Online Business With No Experience?
Everyone can start an online business without experience.
There are many online courses, free YouTube videos & other resources that can teach you more about starting an online business than some college degrees.
What Business Can I Do From Home?
You can run almost every online business from home with just a Wi-Fi connection and a laptop.
Such businesses include YouTube automation channels, blogs, eCommerce websites, freelancing, selling digital products, print-on-demand, making Amazon video reviews & more.
How Do I Start a Business With No Money and No Idea?
The best way to start an online business with no money and no idea is to copy what already works.
Success leaves clues.
Follow them.
You don’t need a breakthrough idea to start making money online.
You can take an already existing business idea from someone else and improve on it, making it slightly better.
Was This Guide About Starting Your Own Online Business Useful?
Thanks for reading! 👋
I hope this guide was useful.
I will leave you with a few resources that helped me start some of my favorite online businesses.