So many of us think of our paycheck from our 9-5 job as being “secure”. That’s a big reason we don’t want to actually take that leap of faith and start our online business. We love that secure paycheck coming in each pay period.
But is it really as secure as we think it is?
What if your company does mass layoffs suddenly? I’ve seen family members lose a job after 15 years out of the blue. Or what if they limit the hours you can work?
With recent events, like the coronavirus pandemic, having schools and many businesses closed, suddenly the reality of having income and livelihood depend on someone else became very apparent to so many people.
But when you know how to make your own money online, you’re in charge of your own income.
Hearing my friends talk about the uncertainty they felt about their job security during the recent coronavirus pandemic made me realize that I didn’t share their same fear for my income because I know how to make money online.
I want everyone to have the same comfort I experienced.
Here are some things you can do to start your own online business and prepare so you’re the one in control of your income.
Do an inventory of your skills, passions, and abilities
There are plenty of ways to make money online but you aren’t going to enjoy all of them. Just like with any other career options out there, not every online business type is for everybody.
So to make sure that you actually enjoy your new business, do an inventory of what you actually like to do, what you love to learn and talk about, and what are some skills that you already have that could be useful. If you want some guidance on this, check out this free worksheet I created to help you out.
Research ways to make money online doing that
You can pretty much make money doing anything when it comes to online businesses. Now that you’ve done the inventory of your skills, passions, and abilities, you’ll need to research potential business ideas that fit the bill. You can start doing some good ole Google searches for businesses around your passions.
Another way to see what people are successful with is to try searching YouTube for content on this topic. If you see videos talking about your passion with thousands of views, then you know it’s something people are interested in seeing more about.
The caveat here is that just because you don’t see videos doesn’t mean people are interested in your topic. It could just mean they aren’t looking for it on YouTube. In that case, you’ll want to do some more digging online to see what’s out there.
For more ideas on how people make money with their passions, check out this post.
Get started on that business
OK here’s where things get tricky. You know your passions/skills and you know how you could potentially make money with it. Now you have to actually start the business.
While this is definitely obvious, so many people get stuck in the research phase (steps 1 and 2 above) and never take that first step toward actually starting their business. Don’t let this be you, too. Especially since I’m calling it out here.
Yes it’s scary. Yes you might fail and you most definitely will make mistakes, but the only way to truly succeed is to fail and make mistakes because it means you’re trying. You won’t learn what works and what doesn’t until you give it a shot. Regret is not a fun emotion. Start your business and really give it a shot.
If you’re wanting more help getting your business started, there are so many courses online to help you do just that. It really helps to have someone guiding you along the way as you’re getting started. In this article, I highlight various online courses that I’ve found to help you get your business started in a variety of different niches so be sure to check that article out.
Write down your reasons for doing this
Starting a business isn’t easy but it’s totally worth it. It’ll be one of the hardest things you’ll do but it’ll also be the most rewarding.
So when the rough times happen and you’re wondering why you’re up at 4 am again working on your business, you’ll need to remember the reason you started your business in the first place.
What is the end goal with all of this? Sure it’s to make money but for most of us, it needs to be bigger than that. What’s the money going to do for your family? What’s life going to look like for you when you are your own boss and you finally have control over what you do, when you do it and how much money you make?
Final Thoughts
If you’ve found yourself in a situation where your income is threatened because your business is reducing your work hours at their whim or a company just does sudden mass layoffs, then you know what I’m talking about when I say that you don’t have control over your income.
When someone else gets to decide whether you work or not that can feel so helpless. If you’ve considered an online business before, then this whole situation probably has you rethinking your decision to postpone starting that online business.
Having your own business online wouldn’t protect you from ever having financial worry, but it would give you a sense of security knowing that if your kids are out of school or if there was an emergency, then your business will go on. You’d be able to make an income online and the best part is you’d be the one in control of your own income.
If you want to get feedback on your business idea or want more tips on how to get started, either comment below or send me an email at alexia@theliberatedmommy.com.
Thanks for sharing
Interesting Post.Thanks for sharing.Really loved reading this. Keep posting more such information. Thanks.
I believe that setting up tangible goals and a roadmap on how to reach them is very important. You will know what to do, you will see the progress and feel the success when you achieve it. Great post, thanks!