Published on October 27th, 2016 | by Guest

10 Widespread Myths about Starting an Online Business

We live in a digital world, where internet, smart devices, and digital tools are widely used. The market, like always, is evolving and rapidly adapting to the newest trends. A lot of entrepreneurs prefer starting an online business rather than an offline one.

There’s even a new big niche floating around: “how to make money online”. It is one of the most popular niches nowadays, along with the weight loss niches. Because there are so many “gurus” that are teaching how one can have online business success, there are lots of myths that new entrepreneurs take as facts and truths.

Online business success is harder than you could probably imagine. Besides the huge effort one has to make in order to succeed, there are also a thousand variables and setbacks around the way. Good choices and a lot of commitment until the end of the project are essential!

As new online entrepreneurs don’t know what to expect, we have gathered a list of ten myth-breakers explanations. You will learn what to do, and what not to do in order to start your online business with the right foot. Let’s begin.

Myth 1: If You Have a Lot of Passion, You Will Have Success

Being passionate about what you do is always a good thing. It will boost your motivation when you’re feeling down, and you’ll have an easier time while putting the hard work that’s required.

But, there is a huge but: passion doesn’t equal success. Everyone is passionate, but surely not everyone is driving expensive cars and holds successful online business. The big “gurus” are doing everything they can to make more profits out of you, so they’re telling you whatever you want to hear.

When you hear that the road to endless profits is paved by your passion only, understand that you are being misguided. Business systems – that it, what makes a business successful. The way you organize it, the tools you use, the strategies you approach, and so on!

Myth 2: You Can Work Full Time and Be an Online Business Entrepreneur in the Meanwhile

Of course, some people can have different side hustles while still working an 8 hour shift every day. But that leaves them what? Maximum of three to four hours to develop their online business. It is possible, yes, but an online business can mean a thousand things. It could be a huge e-commerce store, or just a very small affiliate marketing blog.

Especially if you are new, I can assure you that entering the online business world and doing it successfully requires a lot of time and hard work. Some successful entrepreneurs work from ten to twelve hours per day, and they complain that they don’t have enough time.

If you are just starting out, the best suggestion would be to keep your full time job and start doing the extra work during your evening hours. When you see the potential and you are confident that things are going to work out, only then quit your job and go pro.

Myth 3: You Can Start Your Business with a Few Bucks

Have you ever read about the “free methods” of starting a business? If you check out Google results, you’ll find dozens of articles pretending to teach you the right ways of starting a business for free.

Let me tell you from the start: there’s no such thing as a free online business startup. There are indeed a lot of online websites building services, free domains, or maybe even free hosting.

The last thing you want to do is to set the foundation of your future business with low quality resources. Usually, free resources are just a small part of what it is required in order to succeed. The best advice would be to save up some dollars and establish a budget for your business. Depending on what you want to start, you can find good solutions and go for cheaper (but paid) options.

Myth 4: You Need Investors in Order to Pursue Your Idea

Myths are quite funny, as many times they tend to contradict other myths. As mentioned earlier, you can’t start a serious online business without having an at least decent budget. Well, some people believe that they stand no chance if they don’t have proper investors and funds.

While getting investors for your project can prove to be truly beneficial for your future success, you have to be aware that you can do it without having thousands of dollars to invest. There are ways, and so many people start from scratch.

Myth 5: You Can Automate Every Aspect of Your Business

Again, here’s another myth that is widely spread among newbie entrepreneurs. Automation means allowing tools, software, and employees to run your online business on auto pilot. It’s everyone’s dream to be a “boss” and have passive income while just sitting and doing nothing.

Well, in reality, it’s nothing like that. Entrepreneurs that start their business from nothing will always still have work to do. They must make decisions, take care of important aspects that no employee or software can, and be present for the important events.

Myth 6: You Must Take Care of Every Aspect of Your Business

You do not have to do everything alone. Most of the successful entrepreneurs realize that their time is extremely important. In order to learn all of the required skills, they choose to outsource what they don’t know what to do.

For example, every online business needs content. Also, most of the businesses rely on websites to perform their activity. In case you don’t know the technicalities of building good-looking websites, you can choose to go for a website building service.

If you’re bad with words, definitely go for a writing service that provides well written content with good research. Outsourcing is awesome because it allows you to focus your time on aspects that only you can deal with.

Myth 7: Being an Online Entrepreneur Equals Non-Stop Travelling

Even though this dream life possibility is widely spread among online entrepreneurs communities, things are not so simple. Indeed, there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs that are living that life, but out of 100, maybe 5 are actually doing it.

You have to understand that in order to leave everything behind and start travelling, your online business needs to be extremely stable, and you have to outsource human resources and professional software. You need a great business stability and responsible employees that can deal with everything.

If you create your business from scratch, you’ll be the only person who will understand and be aware of the in and outs of the entire operation. More than often, it’s hard to leave and make someone else responsible for everything.

Myth 8: Social Media Promotion is Cheap and Easy

You may have heard people saying that social media is a great way to promote your business. That, in fact, is a true statement. What crosses the boundaries of truth though is the fact that getting targeted traffic through social media is extremely cheap and easy.

Nope, it is not easy. In fact, in order to organize a successful social media campaign, you have to go through a lot of testing and optimizing. You will lose money, and it won’t be easy. When you start your online business journey, you got to have the right expectations.

Myth 9: You Can Work Whenever You Want

Most of the times, you can work on your online business from your own place, from office, or from a beautiful beach. The only things you need are an internet connection, a device, and time. Many new entrepreneurs are fooled and live with the illusion that they can work whenever they want.

Even though it’s possible, to work whenever you feel like, you must understand that developing a successful business takes away 99% of your effort and time. Maybe you think this is bull, but just take a look at what other established entrepreneurs are saying.

Taking advice from people who can show results is one thing, and taking the word of “online gurus” that only teach people how to make money online is another thing. Be careful who you listen to; they might prove to be frauds.

Myth 10: Online Business Success is Easier than the Offline One

You can often start an online business with less financial resources than it would otherwise be required for starting an offline one. Everything happens on the web, and you will only have to deal with online tools and communication.

When I first got into internet marketing (or the online business activity), everyone promised me overnight success. E-books, webinars, articles, and so many other resources claim that they hold the formula to quick success. I soon found out that that’s a big lie meant to make me spend more money on training material.

In order to be successful online, you have to be very knowledgeable in your topic, constantly informed, and ultimately, you must work hard and smart. If you’re not fine with putting up the necessary hours, you’re doomed to fail. Treat your future business seriously and expect to walk a long journey until your actually taste the success you want.

Conclusion

Always analyze the information that you’re receiving. There are a lot of myths circulating around the web, and you must be very careful with what you choose to believe. Starting an online business is not as easy as it seems, and most of the myth-breakers ideas presented today can clarify the issues and expectations you might be having.

Tags: business, myths, online, starting, widespread