Frequent Questions People Have Asked Me Since I Started My OnlineBusiness And My Challenges So Far

Doing an online business is a very challenging thing. Here, I don’t mean the real risks involved in the business, the time and effort you have to put in etc. Of course those are indeed real challenges.

However what I am going to talk about in this post is a different kind of a challenge. Having to answer the so many questions that you keep getting asked the moment you dive into an online business!

Don't get me wrong, I don’t consider these questions annoying or discouraging, but I want to shed

some light and insight on what it all takes for people to get into an online business.

And this post, is especially for women – no offense for all those men reading this post; you can absolutely use the insights!

OK so lets dive in.

So, are you going to become a business woman?

Actually my husband  asked this question when I told him that I am going to quit my formal job for doing my online business.

In fact, my husband was the first person to call me “business woman”. And the second person was my sister! How Sweet?

Becoming a business woman was not my dream. I won’t lie to people (while being interviewed) when they ask me: “Did you dream about building a business of your own?”

No I did not have a dream or even a tiny bit of a thought of becoming a business woman.

In fact my dream was to be a boss in one of the high paying firms in My country

But somehow I lost passion for that, considering how long it may take you to get to that level, especially in a country like Mine.I hope the president of My country is not reading this (lol)

As God would have it, having worked for five months in my formal place of work, I discovered my online business

And that’s how my business was born!

Will your business generate consistent income?

Usually the members of my family used to ask this when I initially started. I totally understand their concern. Since I told them I will quit my job and I am planning to do business full time, they asked me this question a lot.

My family members don’t want me to take a risk and also put my family’s financial situation at risk. That’s totally understandable.

Don’t you want to settle in life with a “permanent job”?

In My country, we have this crazy belief – once a person completes his/her studies and graduates, he/she should “settle” in life by going to a permanent job – a job that guarantees that the person won’t be fired for silly reasons, for poor performance etc. and that also provides pension after the person retires from the job until his death.

The idea here is that even if you become old and are not able to work, you can be rest assured that you will still have an income.

A person is called “settled” in life if he/she gets a “permanent” job.

And doing business is perceived risky – as you can’t guarantee consistent income, there could be ups and downs with profits and losses.

You need to make investments upfront.

You need to work hard. More importantly, you have no guarantee that when you stop working (say you get old or get sick etc.) you have no assurance that you will have some form of income.

This is the picture, at least in Nigeria (I know there are other countries too!).

But here’s what I see about a day job or a permanent job.

I work for someone. I work on strict hours. I work to satisfy or complete someone else’s dreams.

All these are not my kinda thing.

Risk – yes I love to take risks, of course without jeopardizing the financial situation of the family and myself.

I love to work with a lot of flexibility – when I want to take breaks I should be able to take breaks, holidays, naps whatever.

And regarding income after I retire – I can confidently say that if I work hard and build a strong foundation for my business so that it earns passive income for me, I can retire from working for my business even sooner than the folks at permanent jobs.

The only thing is that I am not sure if I’ll be willing to retire soon, I won’t know what to do with myself lol.

Becoming a successful business man or woman

In my honest opinion all it takes to become a successful business person are the following:

1. Confidence

2. Clarity (clear and precise goals)

3. Passion

4. Knowledge, awareness, skills etc.

5. The right action plan

6. Willingness to give it the best shot.

The Challenges I have encountered so far....

There's no business that one can start as a beginner and one won't encounter the usual challenges as a newbie. Online business is not an exceptional. When I started, I decided not to consult anybody for assistance. I was more than ready to go through the stress all alone. I learnt everything on my own from the scratch. 

So the few challenges I had was because I wasn't ready to go to anyone when I needed assistance. I failed so many times. i wasted some few buck too, because as the popular saying goes, what you don't known costs you money. As God would have it, Google search engine was always there to answer all my questions. This has helped me a great deal because in the process, I was able to discover so many things. And God has been there for me all along. So I'll simply say the challenges made me the better person I am today...

The General Challenges You Should Expect As A Newbie 

Most people are so scared to even get started in the first place. They're scared of taking certain risks which may hinder them from attaining a certain level of achievement in this business. Some people want to get started, but don't know how to go about it. Some people know how to go about it, but don't have the required start up capital or the basic tools like a personal computer and internet connection. Some have the basic tools but don't have a reliable person who can tutor them so they could achieve success within the shortest time possible. 

Another challenge one may overlook is that, Most people who are just starting an online business work from home... At home, there are many distractions that compete for our attention, time and focus. E.g TV shows, children, spouse, friends etc...

As an owner of an online business, you must always remember the reason why you wanted to start an online business. Irrespective of what drove you to the decision to work from home, in order to be successful, you need to treat and respect your home based business the same way as you would respect a business at an office....that's the only way you can achieve the desired success that you crave for.....

What do you say?

Let me know what you think….