🚀 How to Start a Successful Online Business: Lessons from a Pro
Starting a business can be a daunting task, especially if you're new to the game. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. But the truth is, the sooner you start, the better your chances of success. In this article, I'm going to share with you some of the lessons I've learned on my journey to becoming a successful online business owner. I'll show you how to follow in the footsteps of others, climb their mountain to see their view, and create your own successful business.
🏔️ Lesson 1: Climb Their Mountain to See Their View
When I first started out, I realized that if I wanted to be successful, I needed to find someone who was already successful and emulate their business model. I needed to climb their mountain to see their view. This meant finding something that was already working and replicating it for myself.
For example, when I was dropshipping on Etsy, my first successful product was print-on-demand mugs. I found a shop that was already successful and had a clear start and end point. I looked for shops that had a few thousand reviews and were based around one product, like mugs.
Once I found a promising shop, I ran the numbers to see how profitable it was. I used a tool called Allura to analyze the shop's analytics, including total sales, revenue, and listings. This gave me a clear idea of how profitable the shop was and how much money I could make by replicating their business model.
🧠 Lesson 2: Wisdom Comes by Learning from Others' Experiences
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of inputs. In other words, there are a few key things you can do that will have a big impact on your success. The problem is, these things are often the ones we don't want to do.
To be successful, you need to focus on the 20% of inputs that will drive results. For me, this meant focusing on the quantity of listings I needed to post. I figured out that if I could put up enough listings, eventually I would start to see outsized returns.
The best part about this is that it can be automated. Everything from idea generation to making and uploading mock-ups needs to be as easy and automated as possible so that you can do it efficiently and every single day.
💰 How Much Money Can You Make?
If you can get past the initial failure gap where you're not making any money for a few months and you're modeling your business after proven successful shops, it's more than possible to make $10,000 a month in profit. If you can switch your mindset to putting in 30 minutes to an hour a day every single day, you'll easily cross $20,000 or $30,000 a month as well.
Starting on a platform like Etsy gives you the opportunity to then scale onto your own website like Shopify. You'll already have a database of previous customers who have bought your products that you can run targeted ads to. Doing this on a website that you own allows you to control how much traffic you drive to the website, which can in turn raise your income ceiling higher than you might be able to on a platform like Etsy.
🎉 Highlights
- Find someone who is already successful and emulate their business model
- Use tools like Allura to analyze successful shops and replicate their business model
- Focus on the 20% of inputs that will drive results
- Automate as much of the process as possible
- Starting on a platform like Etsy gives you the opportunity to scale onto your own website like Shopify
- It's more than possible to make $10,000 a month in profit
🤔 FAQ
Q: How long does it take to start making money?
A: It can take a few months to start making consistent income, but if you model your business after successful shops and focus on the right inputs, you can start making money sooner.
Q: Do I need to have a lot of money to start a business?
A: No, you don't need a lot of money to start a business. You can start small and scale up as you make more money.
Q: Can I start a business if I don't have any experience?
A: Yes, you can start a business even if you don't have any experience. By modeling your business after successful shops and focusing on the right inputs, you can learn as you go and become successful.
Q: How do I know if my business idea is good?
A: Look for successful shops that are already doing what you want to do. If they're successful, it's a good sign that your idea has potential.
Resources:
- Allura: https://allura.io/
- North Prince: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthPrincePrints
- Ikerson LTD: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ikersonltd
Introducing AI Chatbot: https://www.voc.ai/product/ai-chatbot. This AI chatbot can automatically reduce large amounts of work on customer services.
