2 Harsh Lessons I’ve Learned from Starting an Online Business (and Failing)

Starting a business and branching out on your own is difficult. Let’s not beat around the bush here. It’s a staggeringly different reality compared to the one so many of us are accustomed to in our comfortable, cozy desk jobs.

I’ve always been passionate about online business, especially affiliate marketing. It’s something I discovered at the ripe old age of 14 and quite frankly, it blew me away.

The prospect of building a business that was entirely online with a low startup cost and high-profit potential blew my mind. What made it even more attractive was that you didn’t have to spend all day on the computer. You could set up systems that would automate the majority of your business for you.

I think it’s fair to say I fell in love with the idea of having an internet business.

Notice that I say idea. Like with anything worthwhile, it takes dedication, consistency, and hard work. I definitely wasn’t ready to put in the actual work required to build a profitable online business.

So I made the mistake of quitting my desk job and jumping head-first into online business too early.

Here are some of the things I learned from the mistakes I’ve made:

Waking Up Without Passion or Purpose

Soon after branching out on my own, I came to a realization that working entirely on my own wasn’t something I enjoyed.

I liked being around people but I hated the office politics and general nonsense I had to put up with at my office job.

One of the hardest things for me about switching from an office job to working for myself was not having that accountability every day. I ended up sleeping in for many days of the week and having super-slow starts to my day.

I was so used to having that routine in place that I didn’t know what to do with myself when I decided to branch out on my own.

I struggled for months.

Was I doing the right thing?

I was following my dreams of becoming financially free and inspiring people all over the world to live a life of freedom and passion.

But the rubber wasn’t meeting the road. It just wasn’t happening.

I eventually discovered the power of accountability when I found my business partner. This changed everything for me.

Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way. But you don’t have to!

The power of accountability can’t be underestimated. If you’re looking into branching out on your own or you’ve already started your solopreneur journey, finding an accountability partner will help you grow your business in so many ways.

How Do I Find An Accountability Partner?

Reach out to people you know that are doing similar things to you. Attend networking events. Join online communities and get talking to people!

I’ve heard about entrepreneurs that have multiplied their bottom line just by meeting people and making connections at networking events.

Actually Doing The Work Required

We’ve all heard people talk about the power and importance of discipline. It’s one of those things we hear so often but many of us don’t actually practice ourselves.

The power of discipline separates the winners from the losers. Having the ability to prioritize and organize your tasks is crucial to running a successful business.

This is something I lacked in a massive way. Something I had to cultivate.

I’ve grown up in a generation where most people spend their days glued to a screen. A time where the average attention span is literally seven seconds long.

I didn’t understand the meaning of discipline. I didn’t have the ability to stick to one thing and be consistent.

I had to unlearn so many of the bad habits I picked up in my teenage years before I could even think about staying focused and disciplined with everything in my business.

My massive struggle with these two things taught me how powerful they are because without them, you just can’t run a successful business.

If you find yourself in a place where you can’t focus on a task at hand and you’re really struggling to stay disciplined with your daily workload, it’s worth doing some introspecting to find out why you feel like this.

Go back to your why. Why are you building this business? What is it that inspires you to do what you do?

If it’s just for the money then it probably won’t work out for you.

It could also be something else. You might be building the business for all the right reasons but you’re just not in the right headspace to actually take action and put yourself out there.

You could be suffering from trapped emotions or have other issues with your mindset that need to be looked at. Open and honest introspection is the most powerful way to develop yourself as a person. Be objective with yourself (as hard as that sounds). Use the resources you have to find out why your behaviors aren’t aligned with your passion and take remedial action.