How to be an online entrepreneur


1. Have the right mindset.

When we were young, we were raised to believe that the ONLY way to be successful in life is to study hard, get your degree, get a good job (meaning a 9-5 deskbound job) and spend your entire working life setting aside a portion of your income to build your nest egg. However, this means that by the time you retire (55-62yrs), depending on how much you have saved, you could probably afford between one luxurious holiday or one to two years of budget traveling. Is that any way to live?

How do the rich stay rich? They have the Millionaire Mindset that’s how. They think differently from the masses. They dare to take risks and they are not afraid of failure. But, most of all, they truly believe that they deserve to be a millionaire.

You see, most people are used to believing that they should be satisfied with their lot in life, and don’t understand the greater context of the fact that we each control our “lot in life”. Until you believe that you deserve what you are worth, whatever business you venture into, you will lose the stamina and lack the tenacity to keep it running. Believe in yourself, you are worth a million bucks, and more!


2. Determine your budget.

Once you have adopted the right mindset, now comes the serious planning. The great thing about starting an online business is the low start-up cost ($50-500). Be reasonable and stick within your budget. Determine how much you can invest without putting yourself in serious debt. You also need to consider how much you can put aside for the monthly/yearly costs for domain names, affiliate programs etc. The reason I put budgeting before deciding the business is so that you are able to start a business within your means. Most times, people pick a business and put all their savings into starting it up and they often overlook the operating costs. Starting a business is about taking calculated risks.


3. Look at the opportunities available/ Research

The next step would be to take a look at the dozens of methods of making money online (blog, online shop, educational site, direct selling, internet marketing etc). Do your research on the different methods and choose something that interests you and meets your needs. Decide how much time you are willing to invest in the business hourly, daily and/or monthly. Businesses like blogs and online shops need to be updated frequently in order to keep your customers coming back whereas internet marketing and direct selling will often involve an intensive start-up and become self-generating as time goes on.


4. Go for it!

Lastly, once you have a budget and you have found an opportunity you would like to undertake, go for it! Think like a millionaire, be brave, believe in yourself and do it with diligence and passion.

“If you never try you will never know, just what you’re worth.” - Coldplay

Welcome natant to the forum...thanks for sharing these thoughts!

No problem, that's what the forum is for =) I'll be doing another posting soon on generating traffic..stay tuned!

Always good to have others motivate you~~so thanks!

First a comment. Many of the rich are rich not because they have a different mindset but because their parents were rich.
About starting a business, this holds true for offline and online, try and do it as a group.

Thanks natant,
your writing is easy to read and understand. So thanks for that.
I do have a comment though about mindset - you mentioned...once you have the right mingset....I have observed over the years that this is not an event, like say completing a degree. It is something that needs to be constantly worked on ... particularly for those of us who grew up with the 9-5 mentality instilled.
Keep at it and never stop learning - that's the way.

I would add that you should have a good product to sell -- and enough people to sell it to.