In this week’s episode of the Extra Paycheck Podcast we’re talking about the most important thing that you need to pay attention to when starting a business.
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Whenever we take on a new project we have a tendency of feeling overwhelmed. The Extra Paycheck Blog and Podcast are about online business however this rule applies to most things in life. You want to start making short films? You want to brew your own beer? You want to buy a beat up classic car and restore it? Chances are these projects will always stay project because you don’t understand how you’ll be able to achieve success in such “complicated” project.
Starting an online business (or even an offline business) is no different. I have met hundreds of people that told me about these awesome blogs they were going to launch however many of these people failed. The main reason for this failure is lack of action. It’s as simple as that.
Some of these folks shared many details about their dream projects and usually it would go like this: “I really enjoy making my own gold jewelry and I am getting good at it. I am going to start a popular Instagram account in order to show off my creations and I’ll certainly make a lot of sales through there.”
That’s actually not a bad plan as I’ve seen this strategy work for numerous entrepreneurs. Unfortunately when I would reconnect with that person 6 months later I would find out that this project is still just a dream. Or maybe it’s completely forgotten. Of course I would ask, simply out of curiosity, “so what ever happened to your jewelry brand?” And I would get the typical set of replies: “Well, I can only make 1 piece of earrings per day and that wouldn’t be enough to fulfill the orders”. Or “well, I don’t know how to declare this kind of income and I can’t afford an accountant at the moment” or “well, I found there are already several people already doing something similar, there is no way I can succeed with that as well”…
All the answers are generic and they are nothing more but excuses. In all 3 cases the real reason is: “I failed to take action”. You can’t run out of inventory if you haven’t sold a single item. You shouldn’t worry about your income tax while you aren’t making any income. You shouldn’t worry about your competitors because they started somewhere and many others will start after you and many will succeed. You shouldn’t worry about any of that at all because you didn’t even create that Instagram account.
You should worry about not taking action. Breaking your head because you don’t know how to run a multi-billion dollar earring company is useless until you get to the point where you actually have to deal with that.
My biggest suggestion is NOT looking too far ahead but rather concentrating on one step at a time. Today you should set up that Instagram account (or blog, or whatever else). Tomorrow you should post your first photo. After tomorrow you should post another photo but also use hashtags this time. The next day you should follow a few people who might be interested in your earrings or you could also start following other jewellery brands and see what they do. One step at a time.
Remember how I always say that there is no shortcut to riches? Becoming good at something takes time. Building a successful business takes time. However you’ll never build a successful business by spending a year on reading motivational books, feeling sorry for yourself and waiting for a big breakthrough. You’ll become successful by consistently taking action.
Scroll up and press the PLAY button to hear the full episode.
Also available on: iTunes | Stitcher | Tunein | Google Play | Mixcloud
You will also enjoy:
Earning $90,000 From A Man Fashion Blog With Brock McGoff (episode # 96)
Unique Ways To Profit From A DIY Home Improvements Blog With Serena Appiah (episode # 90)
Starting a Profitable Food Blog With Vicky Berman (episode # 61)
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If you do have any comments or question, please do use the comment form below! I will answer every single one 
– Alex
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