Now obviously all of this doesn’t change the fact that creating and shipping a product first time can be scary. Here are some common fears
This is a fear of not having enough expertise or skills. Here’s the thing: you don’t need to be the best.
You need to focus less on yourself and more on what needs other people have. Then match this to what value you can offer.
I’ll be providing a framework for you to work through that helps you do this.
We’ll intentionally focus on keeping your first online business manageable and achievable. From there you can launchpad to bigger, more ambitious projects if you so desire.
This is a fear of failure, worrying that the business will not succeed and you will lose time and money invested.
I won’t guarantee people will buy.
Odds on they won’t.
But you adjust what you are selling until they do!
The way we’ll be building and launching products is designed specifically to help you hone in on product-market fit and to make each launch incrementally better than the last. And we’ll structure each launch so that there’s minimal time and money invested
This is fear of competition.
Here’s a mind-bender : competition is a good thing. Huh, why?
Competition means that a market exists.
I’d much rather face competition risk than market risk.
If a market exists you can find a space in it against competitors. We’ll discuss how.
If the market doesn’t exist then you’ll have no customers. Game over.
So you always want markets that have existing companies. You want competition
This is fear of the unknown.
Stepping into the unfamiliar world of entrepreneurship can be daunting. Doing something new is always scary!
We want to be good at everything we do. And when we do something new guess what - we’re not good at it!
Embracing a growth mindset means knowing that as a beginner you’ll be rubbish but deciding to push through this until you (sorta!) know what you’re doing.
This course will aid this process by giving you a tried and tested framework and a support community.
This is fear of isolation.
Leaving a regular job can mean losing colleagues and a daily routine.
This is very true - but you’ll get to meet a new set of peers, all working on themselves and their businesses.
You’ll build your own tribe, surrounded by people with similar goals and aspirations.
How to start meeting these people? Right in the community that comes with this course! Come find your allies.
This is a self-limiting belief generally but even if actually true you’re in luck!
We’re in the heyday of no-code tools and AI technologies that you operate by chatting. Can you work Whatsapp? You can work ChatGPT.
When I started online business it was necessary to know HTML/CSS and maybe some Python.
Don’t know what those are? You don’t need to.
Everything is much more accessible nowadays and built so that anyone with an hour to learn can operate powerful online business tools.
This is fear of financial risk.
Worrying about investing capital without a guaranteed return is legit.
With traditional businesses this is a valid risk. Taking out a building lease for 3 years, buying equipment, hiring staff etc. is highly risky.
Hundreds of thousands are spent before making your first dollar. You need the business to work or you’ll be ruined.
To me - that’s a dumb way to start a business.
Thankfully online business - at least following the path I’ll show you - is not like that.
We intentionally only spend cash when we know there is a return. And all our initial steps will be time focused rather than cash focused.
This is a fear of losing security.
Giving up a stable income from employment is hard.
I like to say that the most addictive drugs are i) heroin ii) cocaine and iii) a stable 9-5 paycheck.
I never recommend anyone quit their day job to start a fresh business.
Instead build alongside your stable income and when your business is cash-flowing the same (or more) than your 9-5 go ahead and drop the job.
You can also segue by shifting to part time as a mid-step to further de-risk the journey.
Obviously we all have different life situations so this advice differs for everyone. If you have kids, a mortgage and other expenses you’ll need your business locked down before giving up the 9-5. If you are a recently graduated student with no outgoings, living at home and with time on your hands then by all means go full time on your business.
The good news is that the steps outlined in this framework can be performed regardless of your situation.
If you work on this business full time then obviously you will move faster than someone working 9-5 - that’s just maths.
But if you have just an hour a day you can progress and build a business asset that will eventually give you greater security.
This is fear of the workload.
Many have concerns about the demands of managing everything themselves. As a first time business owner you will initially be wearing a lot of hats.
There will be a lot to do upfront. But at least you are in control of the work and your success.
And as we move further down the process we will increasingly automate and systematise. Because we’re building from scratch using online tools and using AI our ability to systematise is high. All these tools can be easily automated.
In fact Module 5 is specifically about setting up these automations so that we have time and energy to scale.
This is the fear of losing work-life balance.
Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming. This is true.
But arguably not a bad thing.
I find myself always jotting down notes for projects I want to work on.
Even on the beach -or especially on the beach!
But this is in part because entrepreneurship is fun. When you are doing something you love for work the idea of “work-life balance” ceases to make sense.
It’s all life.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t take breaks - you definitely need to reward yourself.
Thankfully owning an online business allows you to do so easily - travelling the world, taking breaks and living wherever you want is much easier when you don’t to worry about limited holiday days, an office to go to and expected 9-5 hours!