Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of aligning one's online business with personal strengths and interests rather than blindly following trends or chasing quick profits.

Abstract

The article addresses the common pressure to start an online business due to its popularity among peers, warning against entering the digital marketplace without proper alignment with one's strengths and interests. It suggests that a lack of genuine passion and commitment often leads to failure and dissatisfaction. The author advises readers to focus on what truly interests them, develop skills they enjoy, and consider their unique abilities before diving into an online venture. The article posits that by doing so, individuals can maintain motivation and endure the initial challenges of building an online business. It also introduces the concept of affiliate marketing as a model that allows for creating value around one's interests, recommending a process of continuous learning and practice to establish trust and credibility in the online space.

Opinions

Starting an online business should not be a hasty decision influenced by the actions of peers but rather a deliberate choice aligned with personal strengths and interests.
The perception that online businesses can yield easy money without significant effort or skill is misleading and contributes to high dropout rates among new entrepreneurs.
Enjoyment of the process and a willingness to commit are crucial for overcoming the initial period of an online business where tangible results may not be immediately visible.
An online business that aligns with one's hobbies and interests is more likely to succeed because the passion for the subject fuels persistence and continuous improvement.
The market is not oversaturated; rather, individuals may not be putting in enough work or may be pursuing ventures that do not resonate with their personal strengths.
The Goldilocks Rule, which suggests that peak motivation occurs when tasks are neither too easy nor too hard but just right, is advocated as a guiding principle for skill development and business growth.
The article criticizes the approach of working on weaknesses and instead encourages building on existing strengths to gain confidence and results.
Affiliate marketing is presented as a viable business model for those looking to monetize their interests and skills without the need for significant upfront capital.
The author emphasizes the importance of creating value for others as a foundation for earning trust and, ultimately, making money online.

Everyone has a Business Online but You don’t have to

Where to start when you are just getting started

Do you know that crushing feeling when it feels like you are not doing enough?

You look around you and everyone - almost everyone in your circle is starting a business online.

Today, you hear one of your friends has started his online business — dropshipping, Last week, Mary in accounting told you about her freelance career writing on medium and how much she’s making monthly working from home.

you see the good news and question where you are in life.

What is next?

You start looking for something so you do not feel left out. You hate your day job and you are looking to transition to something lucrative online.

You decide to follow the “crowd” jumping from the highest paying opportunity to the next without gaining any real traction.

Now, you hate your side hustle as well.

Always looking for the next business opportunity that would lead to more money with less effort.

This is why so many people start a business online and ultimately give up just before they have learned enough to make a proper decision.

Starting an online business to make “$10,000 a month” is not as easy as those youtube ads you see would want you to believe.

With no skills on your part? No effort? and no practice? ( If you do find one that works let me know )

You begin by chasing and joining every “quick way to make money online” and this scenario repeats itself as

You don’t like what you are doing enough to keep at it
You look at every opportunity and take too long to make a decision
You make a decision without fully committing and now it seems you made the wrong one so you quit

Rinse and repeat.

But you need MONEY. We all do

For satisfaction, ego, to take care of loved ones, or any of the strong emotional reasons we give ourselves.

So why should I be telling you not to start an online business?

If you are doing it because everyone is doing it, you are going to quit.

If it doesn’t align with your strengths, you are going to quit

If you do not enjoy the process, you are going to quit before the reward comes.

Most especially if this is new to you.

The market is not saturated, you either have not put in enough work or your competition(the successful ones) enjoy the work they do. They’d eat you alive.

Having an online business you hate is worse than being paid for a job you hate. With the former, you’d never gain traction as online businesses(most) require a lot of upfront commitment from you with no tangible results at first, and what keeps you going would be YOU.

Your love for the process of mastering an online business choice.
How much you enjoy the skill you are learning
How much you hate your current situation.

These motivations are powerful in themselves. as long as you can enjoy/endure the process of learning a skill no one thanks you for, you’d reap the rewards in the future(How long depends on how fast you implement what you learn).

Instead Of Starting An Online Business Straight Away Do This…

Ask the right question from the most important person that matters i.e YOU

To be successful at anything where success, in this case, means you are good enough and competent enough to start making money off it

You need to enjoy or endure the journey(process) long enough for you to start seeing results. If you build an online business around your hobby it seizes to be a business short term.

It is just a hobby you get better at consistently. The satisfaction you get from it is good enough to keep you interested and going at it the next day.

Do this long enough and you would start seeing little ways you can improve to become better.

But what questions should you ask yourself?

What interests you?
What can you never get tired of talking about or reading about?
What do you see others doing that makes you go “Wow” I’d love to try that someday?
What skills do your friends compliment you on?
What would you love to get good at? (Every “guru” was a clueless beginner like you)

Usually, when people start a business online the first motivation is “what business has the highest pay” then they try to fit their “passion” into the business.

When it doesn’t work they hop on the “passion” is not good enough to get you results.

Of course, they are right — They have been passionate about the wrong thing.

Ayodeji Awosika in one of his books, Real Help: An Honest Guide To Self Improvement wrote on building your strengths and using the results and confidence you gain from that to build on other things.

The key takeaway here is you should start with yourself. What can you do now that others find hard and how can you get better at this.

What would keep you in the best position to use the “Goldilocks rule” — The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right

Something you are good enough but can get better at.

Very subtly balanced. You should avoid working on your weaknesses and build on your strengths

If you love cars, you should not be getting into real estate because “Peter in accounting said he earns lots of money from it”

Building a skill around something you enjoy gives you the motivation to try again and again.

How To Start your Make Money Journey Without Having an Online Business

If you are just starting out, you probably do not have enough capital to invest in an online business that would bring you $10,000 a month.

Waiting till you do is the wrong way to go about it. If you can read this, you have two things going for you

The internet
A medium to access the internet

These are the two most important things you need to start making money online.

Remember the questions you asked yourself?

What interests you?
What can you never get tired of talking about or reading about?
What do you see others doing that makes you go “Wow” I’d love to try that someday?
What skills do your friends compliment you on?
What would you love to get good at? (Every “guru” was a clueless beginner like you)

What can you do with any of the skills you already have?

Use it to work for commissions in an industry you consume from a lot.

If you enjoy looking at shoes and you know the quality ones, it would be much easier building on that “interest” than trying to force yourself to love real estate because “there is a lot of money there”

People still buy shoes and you can be a middle man by recommending quality shoes( you don't have to own them, you just have to know enough about them to show them to the right audience)

The commissions, lessons, and skills you learn from this are what can help you start building.

Your online business of choice should start around your interests. Your strengths.

One Online business model that helps you build around your skill is Affiliate Marketing.

Once you understand and learn how it works you can start building a skill to make money online around your hobbies.

You’d have to create value upfront for anyone to trust you enough with their hard-earned money online.

To do that, you’d need to read, learn, and practice a lot. These things are easier when you’re motivated.

If you would like to keep up with me, stay in touch here