How to Start an Online Business (in 5 Simple Steps)

Have you been sitting on an idea for an online business but have no idea where to start? Since the pandemic started, 1:5 small, brick and mortar businesses have gone out of business.

Now more so than ever, learning how to start an online business is one of the best things you can be doing right now to take your power back.

Now ... one of the things I am most passionate about is teaching others how to start an online business so they can step into their purpose and bring their gifts forward to the world.

11 years ago, this month, I put in my two weeks’ notice at my technology architect job designing trading system for Wall Street and never looked back.

I was DONE with my work to not being tied to positively impacting the world.

I was DONE with the dread I felt as I sat in traffic for 40 mins each way.

I was DONE with other people dictating my time and worth.

And honestly I secretly wanted to be a stay at home dog mom.

The date was 8-31-2009. My timestamp of freedom.

Leading up to that decision, I spent 6 laser focused months building up my online business so that it was consistently generating $1000/mo.

Once I knew how to generate a consistent $1000/mo., I was confident I could 10x it.

That online business was a health, wellness and green living business that took people through a guided process of cleaning up their diet and home. I paired with product recommendation that I got paid to promote, an idea I got from the Oprah Show of all places. Thanks Oprah, your positivity and inspiration are greatly missed.

Although my focus and business have evolved over the past 11 years, the healthy lifestyle principles I taught in those early days are more relevant today than ever before and are something I still incorporate into my coaching to this day.

Now one of the things I am most passionate about is teaching others how to start an online business so they can step into their purpose, bring their gifts forward to the world and turn it into a profitable business.

Let’s dive in.

In this episode You will Learn How to Start an Online Business (in 5 Simple Steps):

And how these 5 simple steps will allow you turn that idea you've been sitting on into a profitable online business.

How to Start an Online Business in 5 Simple Steps:

Figure out what passion/idea you want to monetize

How to start an online business 101.

What are you most passionate about?

Is it a product? Is it a skill you could teach? Is it a service you could provide?

Don’t overthink this one. You have been preparing your entire life for this moment.

What life experiences have you had that could be used as a vehicle to impact change?

What have you gone through that you could be an advocate for?

What are you most excited to talk about when your feet hit the ground in the morning?

What is desperately needed and relevant right now?

Where are there a gap that needs to be filled to make this world a better place?

Some areas that are trending right now:

Figure out how you want to deliver your product/service

The next step to go through when learning how to start an online business is to figure out how you want to deliver your product or service online.

Figure out what feels most in alignment with the impact you want to make.

And just remember, this process is fluid and will change over time.

“The idea is the easy part. It’s the execution of the idea that becomes the difficult part.” ~ Mark Cuban

Some examples of how you can deliver your product or service:

Define your ideal customer and start building your audience

One of the most important exercises to go through when learning how to start an online business is to figure out exactly who it is you are trying to reach through your product or service.

AKA your ideal customer

Who needs your product or service?

What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night?

What are searching for online to try to solve those pain points? What exactly are they typing into Google?

“If you can articulate your prospects’ problems better than they can, they will automatically and consciously credit you with knowing the solution.” ~Wyatt Woodsmall

Start cultivating and conditioning your audience now before you have a tangible product or service to sell.

Pick your preferred medium and start building your audience of people who know, like and trust you now through content creation.

Mediums include podcasting, blogging, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc.

Start putting your technology systems in place

The next step to think about when learning how to start an online business is choosing your technology systems.

This part trips so many entrepreneurs up. Why? Because there are so many options to choose from.

When I first started down the online entrepreneur path 11 years ago, all I wanted was for someone to tell me what technology platforms to use based on my goals.

Instead, I ended up Googling, reading endless blogs and purchasing so many courses I’ve lost count.

The decision fatigue was real.

With my background as a technology architect, I love helping my clients move from technology overwhelm and into step by step action and implementation.

All online businesses will need to put these 5 “technology system basics” into place:

If you don’t feel comfortable implementing the 5 “technology system basics” noted above, hire someone. Seriously your time is the most precious commodity you have.

Finally in addition to the steps above, you will need to choose the technology platform to create your product or service in. For example, if you plan to create a course Kajabi or Teachable are good course creation and delivery options.

How to get the word out and Turn Leads into sales

In step 3 we talked about defining your ideal customer and starting to build your audience of people who know, like and trust you.

Once you know who you are talking to and what problem you are solving getting the next step is to start getting the word out.

I encourage my clients to do this in simple 4 steps:

With every Episode of Jess Janda TV, I like to empower you with a POWERFUL FREE RESOURCE that you can download and incorporate into your life right away.

Have you been sitting on an idea for an online business but have no idea where to start?

The world is waiting for to step into your zone of genius so you can bring forward that special gift that only you have.

Stop Googling and Start Implementing!

This week I’ve put together a resource called my ONLINE BUSINESS ROADMAP. In it, I outline how to go from “idea” to profitable online business.

Click the button below to download my step by step Online Business Roadmap and finally move from overwhelm and into aligned action today.

You can SO do this! I believe in YOU.

Jess