Building your own online business is just about the best decision you will ever make but learning how to deal with online business problems will help you to keep going when you might feel like giving up.
I have faced many online business problems over the years and in this post I’d like to just share some of what I have learned. I wish someone had told me some of these things when I was starting out. I remember the feelings of confusion and even hopelessness when problems occurred and sometimes I have to remind myself about how to overcome them
Building an online business can be scary!
Building your own business online means you will be learning a lot of new skills and then putting them into practice. No matter what you have worked at in the past there is going to be some aspect of building your business that worries or frightens you – but that’s OK. Having fears of the unknown is perfectly normal. You just need to resolve to move past your fear to achieve your goals.
The thing I had to learn over and over is that as soon as you move past your fear and do the thing that worried you so much, you realize there was no reason to worry at all. It’s like that big scary monster you saw in your closet as a kid. Turn on the light and you realize that monster is just the clothes you didn’t bother to hang up. It’s nothing.
In fact, you realize that it was actually a bit silly to be afraid of it at all. But you won’t get to know that until you do the things that make you nervous. In your online business that could be writing your own articles to create a blog, joining a forum or Facebook group to interact with like-minded people, putting together a sales page for your product, doing your first product launch, or asking someone to work with you as a joint venture partner.
You never succeed while staying in your comfort zone
Fear of doing things is what keeps many of us trapped within our comfort zone. Yes it’s nice and safe in your comfort zone but you will never grow beyond your current circumstances unless you push beyond it. Ask yourself where you want to be in six months or a years time with your business and then decide what stands in your way of achieving this. Make a point of tackling these problems from the outset no matter how difficult they might seem to overcome.
No problem is insurmountable if you break it down into a series of steps or smaller problems. Having a “can do” attitude is what will break down every barrier standing between you and your success.
Stop looking for perfection! Good enough is good enough!
If you are continually trying to do things absolutely to perfection you will only end up feeling stressed and worried about it and waste a massive amount of time trying to achieve the impossible.
Here’s a story I read recently:
There were two novice internet marketers who were both creating their first products. One of them planned and strategized and researched and planned some more. Finally, he got started, and he made sure to get every sentence just right, every period in the right place, every video made without a stutter or misstep.
That marketer is still working on his product.
The other marketer made mistakes in grammar, mistakes in spelling, mistakes on his videos and you know what? He’s now released not just the one but three different products and he’s doing well. The first marketer hasn’t made a dime yet, and I fear that by the time he releases his product it will be out-of-date and be a complete flop.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you should do a shoddy job or try to sell products that are poor quality. Rather, you should do the best job you can on something and then finish it off and move on to the next task. If you’re always working to make it perfect, you’ll never finish and you’ll never reap the rewards. It’s like trying to find the perfect husband, wife or partner for life – you will just die old and alone!
When something is done good enough, that’s it – it’s good enough. Settle for that and you will achieve a whole lot more and also be a whole lot less stressed!
Enjoy your successes
It doesn’t matter how big or small a success it is – if it’s a success in your business then celebrate it. Your first blog post, your first web page, your first affiliate sale, your first sale of your own product. Big or small – you celebrate it and enjoy the feeling of making progress towards your bigger goals.
You might think it’s a little bit silly to celebrate small successes but there’s a very specific reason that I mention this. You see your fears or past experiences of failures will subconsciously condition you to expect things to go wrong and fail again. However, when you celebrate your success you give a positive reinforcement to your subconscious mind that you can and will achieve more and more success.
Burn out can ruin your business
Having a great work ethic is a very positive thing as long as you don’t let it take over your entire life. If you’re working 12 hours a day 7 days a week, you’re going to burn out and get tired of the whole thing. You need to know when to take a break, have some time to rest, enjoy your life and recharge your batteries.
Have a plan for your business and then schedule your work along with time to just switch off and forget about it completely for a while. You will be much more productive and achieve so much more if you get the balance right between working a resting.
And finally…
Online business problems are something we all face but accepting that they will creep up and learning to manage them is important for your success. This was one of the main reasons I started this blog – to help other rookie entrepreneurs like you to overcome these problems by sharing how I did it.
If you haven’t had a chance yet to download my free guide The Complete Internet Marketing Toolbox then don’t forget to get yourself a copy of it today. In it I list all the tools I use to build my business and overcome the online business problems you might face when building your own business.
I agree building one’s own online business might be the best decision someone can make and I appreciate you pointing out the hurdles that are out there. It can be a scary time for sure, and there will be times when giving up seems like the only option, so it’s important to press onward and really be fearless. I admit that a lot of times I try to make my creations perfect, and perhaps the results are not much greater relative to the time it takes to perfect. A reminder like yours here is pretty refreshing. This is a very positive and uplifting post, thank you. I’m definitely going to check out your Complete Internet Marketing Toolbox. Awesome!
I’m really glad you found the article helpful. As I mentioned, I often forget these things and have to remind myself when facing issues. Perfection is a big stumbling block for many and remembering to make imperfect progress will help.
Hi and thank you for sharing this great information
you are so right
Growing any business takes focus, determination, self-belief and courage to keep working even when things get a little tough.
Aslo having balance and walking away to refresh by doing something you enjoy is a must.
I tried to download your Marketing toolbox but unfortunately, there is no link and I would like to read through this
Maybe you can help please
Hi Vicki. Ooops! Thank you for pointing out the missing link – I have added it now.
I totally agree with your comment about focus, determination, self-belief and courage. These things will take you far with your business.
I really enjoyed the story you shared in Good Enough Is Good enough. I have been in that situation where I overanalyze things to the point of pulling my hair out because it is not quite perfect. I have heard it called all kinds of different names but the bottom line is just what you said, just start. Do something because if we wait for a project or a business to be perfect, we will never start and never accomplish anything. And since this can also cause burnout, we can fail before we even start. Great article! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your very helpful comment Mike. It seems I have struck a chord with my story. It’s definitely better to make imperfect progress than perfect inertia
Hi! Your advice has been super useful. Specially phrases like good enough is good enough! I really like the story about those two marketers. One was a perfectionist, and when he finally released his product, it was out-dated. The other one was proactive, and although he made mistakes, he had the right balance.
Thanks Henry. I think it is so important to not strive for perfection and instead keep making imperfect progress
Great article. It was down to earth and easy to read and understand. It was very positive and was motivating to me. The only thing I might suggest is a couple of images throughout. I liked the example of the two internet marketers. How true;you can only do what you can do and just revise later on, but accept it as it is for now. You did your best. I thought it was a good article.
Thanks for the advice Sandy – I’ll certainly take that on board. I was just taking my own advice – it was good enough so I posted it!
All this is so true David. That perfection bug can really stress a person out and stop you from even trying. I’ve seen this stall happen with many people over the years and eventually when they didn’t achieve their goal they blamed a lot of other issues. Staying positive and trying for the best that you can do in that moment can really work along the path to success.