Our conclusion from the last 2 years of being an online business CEO
Running your own business is not easy, as you may already know. Especially in a fast-paced online business, you are constantly faced with new challenges. You're doing a lot of things for the first time, and often at the same time.
While we don't have the perfect solution for every challenge, we have gained experience that we would like to share with you. When you find yourself in a growth phase and are confronted with new challenges, remember, to grow with it and you are not alone. The challenges prepare you for things that will follow and that's great!
Challenges In Online Business
Challenges in online business are around every corner. We have encountered the following challenges after 2 years in the online education business. Have you faced them too?
Challenge #1: Finding (Good) Employees
Finding good employees is not an easy task. Not because there aren't enough qualified people to do the jobs, but because you need to find the right people who love your business as much as you do!
As a business manager, you need to carefully consider and evaluate which tasks you will delegate to your employees. Think carefully beforehand about what will bring in customers and what will contribute to the satisfaction of your customers and only outsource tasks that are important for the growth of your business, not those that you feel you have to do because everyone else is doing them.
In addition, you must know what you want your employees to do (and not do). In our experience, customer acquisition may stay with you as long as possible. Customer support or straightforward tasks like creating content based on videos you've already created can easily be outsourced.
Kriss' Tip: Hiring employees is trial and error, so I'm quick to decide on hiring employees, but also quick to decide on letting them go. After three missed opportunities, they have to go.
Challenge #2: Take On New Roles
As a business leader and leader of employees, your role changes. You no longer do everything yourself and you need to learn to hand off responsibility. There are about 5-10 areas in a company that need to be managed.
You can't have full control everywhere, but you can ask yourself, which areas are important and where is my focus?
Set priorities and learn to direct people so that they know exactly what needs to be done. This will help you in your role as an entrepreneur and manager and help you do what is required of you as a person.
This way you can also enjoy your roles as mother, daughter, sister, friend, wife, etc. You get to grow into your new role as an entrepreneur.
Challenge #3: Avoid Panic Decisions With Practiced Patience
Panic decisions refer to any decision that comes from the fear of not being or doing enough. This includes, for example, creating new products or new marketing campaigns. Out of panic, these decisions are rarely well thought out and result in you lacking the time to take actions that will move your business and your customers forward. Allow yourself to have quieter times where you can gather strength and reflect. When making new decisions, keep your goal in mind, as well as the satisfaction of your customers, and keep your business sustainably automated.
Would your decision contribute to you reaching a 10K or 100K month in the future? If yes, go for it! No? Then don't do it. Online business minimalism is the magic word here!
Challenge #4: Take The Pressure Off Of Yourself
“Growth happens when you're bored with yourself.”
Many entrepreneurs know when everything is going well, they have the urge to make even more money or optimize their product further. The bigger the company gets, the more thought and maybe even pressure you'll put into certain decisions. Suddenly you're revising a social media post multiple times to ensure there are no typos. A healthy amount of pressure is certainly a good thing if you want to be professional and get good results for yourself and your clients, but you may also learn that not everything will be perfect all the time.
In an online business, challenges are waiting for you. Keep in mind that you are not alone in this and that all who want to make great things happen to go through these "growing pains." The challenges are your chance to learn new things, try things, grow as a person, and stay flexible. Because that's what makes our journey as entrepreneurs so special and unique.
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