What is an Internet entrepreneur?

To be an entrepreneur is a dream of many, and yet only a handful of people try it. Even less continue after the first fail. To be an entrepreneur means to take risks and start an adventure. To expand your thinking and to enter a world of endless possibilities.

The internet has definitely made it easier and less expensive to start and allow more control and flexibility. Advances in technology have opened many new doors and learning has become way more accessible.

To simply put it - to be an internet entrepreneur is to be involved in any venture that is run over the internet.

Some example could be:

and many more..

Don’t leave your job!

When you decide that you want to be an entrepreneur, the idea of quitting and taking all the time to work on your project may be too appealing.

I advise you not to do it!

I understand that you may be excited and anxious about it, but staying on the job, while you start your business could teach you a few important lessons.

You will no longer work a 9 - 5 job, but probably 6 - 20. It will be hard, but you will know and understand why most people never start. It could be horrible, you won’t sleep well, you will have to make sacrifices.

If you succeed, it will be worth it. If you don’t - it would be worthy even more!

The moment you have your result, even if the results are negative, you will learn your own limits and your own power.

Learn to make money, learn to be patient and only then quit.

One piece of advice tho - try to make your current employer a business partner. Perhaps ( if the job allows it ) you can make a shift and continue working with him/her even after you decide to resign.

Become a consultant and quit with a new client.

Not every job and endeavor allows it, but if it does - give it a shot.

Work on your mindset

Find your real “why”.

I believe this is really important. If you just want to make money - I don’t believe it is really sustainable in the long game. You have to have a passion and you have to believe in what you do.

Money flows when you create a system of long term goals, real purpose and real passion. Finding why you do it is important to be real and honest to yourself and your customers and audience.

The book “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek is one of the best books you can read!

Another important thought that has to cross your mind from time to time is to remember to not be afraid of failure. You have to fail a few times to get better. You may not fail your business, but you most definitely will make mistakes.

Learn from them!

Do your research and do it all the time!

Find everything you can find in your competition. Be researchable and be consistent. Writing it down in the beginning and never doing it again is not a good plan!

Do it as deep as you can. If you lack the competence or if you feel it could be done better - hire someone to do it for you.

You need that data to know your game and to find what they lack.

Another great idea is to try to find and improve a niche that is not too saturated. A good way of changing your mind in that direction is the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.

If you find an idea that allows you to dictate the rules and play mostly “alone” you are on the right track of getting the success you desire.

Another important line here is to do research not only on your competition, but on your product or service too. Get data from your customers. Collect the feedback and do your improvement all the time. Don’t neglect and don’t stay behind the ship. You don’t wanna miss that information!

Develop a business plan

This is way too important and I can’t stress it enough!

Don’t start anything if you don’t have a real and concrete plan! There are many books that allow you to write it and test it. Choose a few if you are not certain how to do it, but don’t neglect it.

Don’t expect to do it on the go. You have to have a strict roadmap.

This is something that you should hire a consultant. A money you won’t regret spending.

While doing it, you will familiarize yourself with the administrative part of the business, your weak and strong points, what to outsource and what your first hires have to be.

Manage your time and find a time management system

Be prepared to put in many more hours than expected. It is an illusion most people have that when you become an entrepreneur you drink coffee all the time, take vacations and work only a few hours a day.

Totally wrong. You work way more and way harder!

You become the most responsible person, every failure is your failure and if money is involved, it could be stressful and painful at times. The grind and the harvest is great, but it comes with a lot of sacrifices.

Take the time to prepare a system and use software to manage tasks and ideas. Write a lot. Have a notebook at your side all the time. You don’t really know when an idea may come to life.

Don’t procrastinate and don’t waste a lot of time that is not driving you in the right direction.

Learn while you go

When you first begin to put in the hours, you can’t expect to know everything. Don’t wait for that moment and don’t push yourself knowing it all.

Another problem with trying to learn it all is that if you expect that, you may not even start.

While you must know your reason for doing it and you must know your road map and goal, you don’t need to know every “how”. You can learn that on the go.

At one point you will get to a point where you can’t physically take any more tasks and you would need an assistant or a hire.

Expect to outsource a lot of the tasks.

Your network is one of your greatest assets

Get to know people. Get to know a lot of the right people.

Go to a lot of seminars, meetings and webinars. Contact a lot of people and don’t be ashamed to ask for referrals or information. Expanding your professional network is important for growth.

When you have enough “audience” try to become social and create a social company. Bring back to society and help others. This is a great way to do two things:

Don’t neglect your personal social circle. Remove and avoid toxic friendships.

It may be hard and you may feel horrible, but when you get yourself away from those people, you will see improvement of your mental health and more focused character.

Hire the right people

You can start alone, but this road is not to be walked that way.

When you prepare your business plan, expect and try to plan your first hires. Write your biggest weaknesses and expect to fill them with people as soon as possible.

One advice I can give you is try to work with a professional hiring agency. You still make the last call, but you won’t waste your time with the wrong candidates. Especially if you don’t have experience “reading” people. It is good to have professional advice at your side.

Use the right technology

You need software to run your online business. This could vary for every business, but you need to track and analyze data.

You need to have storage for all your customers and you probably need a way to sort and automate data.

Try to find the software you need and write what can be automated and improved. If you need software that is not yet developed, hire a developer.

There are many ways to do it - there is Upwork, Fiverr or your personal network.

If you don’t find the right candidate or you are not sure what exactly you need - write me an email. I would be happy to discuss it for free - no strings attached.

Advertise your business

Consider hiring an agency for digital and social media ads.

But try to be your own brand. Show yourself and expand your presence.

There are many ways to be “present” - twitter, linkedin, facebook. Just take a pick and stick to it.

Financing

I have talked to people that struggle to make a living even with a lot of customers and clients.

Charge and ask for the right money!

I have a colleague that is a little bit shy and lacks enough confidence. We were supposed to work on a project together, that she got from a sale she made.

All good, except the price. The problem here is that she requested money that was so away from reality that it killed all the motivation in the first week. We just got too little money. We worked for two months for almost nothing.

This is a problem because when you don’t charge enough - you don’t do the best work possible. You just can’t motivate and sustain a work load. You want it to end, you do it just to make it work. That is horrible for the client and also for yourself.

In the long game - at some point, you exit the game, because you just can’t stay competitive and can’t innovate. You can’t hire people and you get only the small projects. Nobody can take you seriously if you charge too little.

Be productive

This is something that could be expanded into an article itself. In fact - I already have it.

Check the pomodoro method here:

Get started now

The best day to start is today!

You can start writing your business plan today. You can expand your business idea. You can start talking to people about it.

One way to push yourself is to burn the ships and inform the world about it.

Just don’t waste time!