Are you crippled by fear? The kind that tells you life will be tough if you quit your full-time job and follow your dream of becoming an entrepreneur?

Maybe your full-time job brings you the bread, cheese, jam, butter and whatever else you enjoy. And the fear of losing out all this to start something of your own has been holding you back for a long time.

You’re certainly not alone, but you need not be stuck. You do have an option that can bring your commitments, ideas, passion and skill together successfully and give you the fulfillment you seek. 

Set up an online store

Keep in Mind

As exciting as this may sound, let’s be clear right at the onset that it is not going to be easy. You will naturally have to work longer hours, make personal and social sacrifices and be ready to accept all the risks associated with entrepreneurship. 

But then, nothing worth doing in life is easy! 

Before you create an online store free – ensure there is no conflict of interest with your job. 

And develop the ability to separate the time you allocate to the two, continue to do your job as before and refrain from working on your personal project during your company time or vice versa. 

Examine And Reflect 

What is your motivation for starting the online store? What is it that excites you?

Is it to give shape to that unique product idea that can be of help to many? 

Is it the possibility of reaching customers worldwide? 

Is it that you like the flexibility of working remotely at your own time and place? 

Or is it the lure of some extra money you could make?

It is important to have a clear answer to these questions and be truthful to yourself. What is absolutely necessary for success is a genuine passion and interest in the business idea. That will give you the commitment to do whatever is needed to face the challenges to reach your goal and be successful.

Validate your product ideas and get honest feedback from potential customers before you start developing and spending money on building the product. 

Put Things in Place

Starting and running an online store involves a wide range of activities. Focus on whatever you are good at (and enjoy doing) and don’t hesitate to outsource to skilled freelancers, a part-time employee if you can afford it, or even a virtual assistant who can work on some aspect remotely for you. 

Take advantage of technology and automation that is so readily available nowadays.  Automation can do tasks like eCommerce marketing and sales, scheduling social media posts, sending emails and even responding to customer questions through chatbots while you are doing your full-time job. Accounting software can take care of your accounts and cash flow. 

A hosted service like Go Shopmatic can do most of the tasks required at an online store and save you precious time that can be better utilized.  

Set Your Goals 

Setting realistic and measurable goals for yourself – be it daily, weekly or monthly- targets can help you to stay on track. Setting targets and reaching them is important, but obstacles will be many, especially in your case where time management itself will be one such challenge. Use these as opportunities to learn, solve the problem and move forward.

Don’t Be In A Rush To Quit!

Even after you have tested the market and seen a few orders come in, it is hardly the right time to quit your job. Allow your business to stabilize, and make sure that cash flow issues are managed well before you take that important step. If your newly launched online store has been generating a lot of interest and becoming too much for you to manage, it is a happy problem! You could always get help by hiring someone to take care of the store for a little while longer.

If you are lucky, your newly launched online store could be generating some income for you. However, this is unlikely going to be able to cover all that is needed for your sustenance. So give it some time and allow the product to gather steady revenue and traction before quitting your job. 

In Conclusion

The idea of living your dream by starting an online store while keeping your job is both exciting and challenging. There will be difficulties along the way, but the good news is that with some planning and organization, the task is achievable. By scheduling your time efficiently, outsourcing what you cannot do best and using the right automation tools it is definitely possible to see the idea that was once just a dream, take off.

Find More Inspiration here 

Open an Online Store and change your life 

Find all the support you need to set up on Shopmatic  

 

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