We have already discussed the advantages of entrepreneurship. It is no secret that at Jinn, we are strong proponents of all startups.
Of course, one could argue that not everybody can start an online business and take such risks for themselves or their families. However, the main reason many don’t want to do it is that they consider they are not fit for that or have nothing worth selling.
This statement is probably far from the truth, whatever you have done in the past. It is what you should understand after reading this article.
Online business figures
We all know that the Internet is vast, and there are numerous opportunities to do business. But it is always better to have actual numbers to get an idea of the potential. So let’s start with some figures.
What you need to start an online business with no skills
Assess your strengths and weaknesses
First of all, it is doubtful that you can’t do anything. Instead, you probably have some skills and knowledge that you may not think about or consider useless.
Let’s take an example: if you are a housewife, you are probably not paid as in a traditional job. Therefore, you may think that you do not have any skills that may help you find a job. But there are multiple skills you already have. So if you don’t believe me, check here.
Individually, these skills don’t look significant. But put together, they give a candidate much value. Now imagine if you have other special skills such as cooking specific food
It is essential that you know what you can achieve the best. To do so, you can ask people around you how they see you. Or you can enter your job title in a job encyclopedia and look at the suggestions to determine your strengths.
Of course, that alone will not tell you what kind of an online business to start. But it will at least first help you pick your niche and then tell you the best way to achieve your idea and what kind of profile you should partner with to maximize your chances of success.
Learn, learn, learn
When you start an online business, you have to consider a wide range of areas not necessary within your scope of competence: product development, marketing, finance, sales, accountability, legal, etc.
An easy way to deal with these new things would be to recruit experts in every domain. Believe me; most entrepreneurs would do it if they could. But of course, they cannot, as it is way too expensive.
So that means you will have to get your hands dirty to start your business, including by doing things you are not necessarily an expert at. This is not so bad: after all, we are talking about how to start an online business with no skills. You can already assume that you are far from the only one who doesn’t have all the skills needed. Every startup goes through it. And let’s face it: even with no skill at all, you will have to learn some if you want to start an online business.
In this situation, the Internet will be your best friend. There are numerous sites to get the information or courses you need. For example, there is Udemy, where you can learn from professionals, edX or Coursera, similar but with courses from academic institutions. However, not all the courses on these sites are free, so be careful.
Time is money
You often hear that statement so often that you ignore it. But there is a double meaning in it if you consider doing a startup.
Indeed, you probably won’t get rich just a couple of months after starting an online business. Unfortunately, it takes some time.
But you will also not succeed unless you are dedicated enough to your business. The idea of running a 9 to 5 job and a successful online business in the evenings and weekends may work. However, it also means sacrificing many activities such as after-work drinks or outings with friends.
If you quit your job, you may have to live on your resources for some time before you manage to generate enough revenue from your online. The longer you take to reach that point, the closer you will be from not having enough resources to support your lifestyle, and therefore going back to being an employee for someone else.
Furthermore, the money you invest initially can make the difference between success and failure: you should invest enough; otherwise, you can’t create enough value. But you should not invest too much, or you will burn all your resources prematurely. So be sure to find the right balance between both options.
Examples of online businesses
If you are wondering where to start an online business when you do not have many skills, here are a few suggestions. Once again, you will need to provide a minimum of effort to succeed for each of these suggestions, especially if you do not master the relevant skillset.
Online content creator
WordPress, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify… You have plenty of choices for the platform to use, depending on your target audience. However, defining your digital marketing strategy is better before creating your content. For that, you must first ask yourself who are your potential customers.
Once it is done, keep in mind that a critical factor in social media success is consistently publishing quality content. Indeed, trending topics on social media change very quickly. Therefore, the moment you post something, you must immediately start working on your following content, or else you will be drowned in the stream of activities of other users.
70% of people would instead learn about a company through articles rather than advertisements.
Content marketing gets three times the leads per dollar spent compared to paid search efforts. It generates three times as many leads as outbound marketing but costs 62% less.
Organic traffic improves by up to 157% with added video content.
There are 2 million podcasts out there, making them a much less competitive way to get known than blogs, with 600 million.
Tutoring and teaching
Why not start an online business in your area of expertise? That would make a much smoother departure for your entrepreneurial journey, right? Creating an online course and selling it is an excellent way to start.
The difference between teaching and tutoring is that with the former, your course is available to many students, just like in a traditional classroom. While with the latter, you are in a 1-1 session via Skype or Zoom.
Udemy is a big name if you want to sell your knowledge massively. But for individual courses, you will need to promote yourself and your services to get students, either with your website or via classified ads platforms or social media.
Digital marketing specialist
The few figures I mentioned in this article have not escaped the interest of many companies, which are already long-established on the Internet. And because the competition is stiff to rank first on Google or get thousands or more followers, many outsource activities such as SEO or growth hacking to specialists.
Neil Patel, a famous online marketing expert, started to learn digital marketing at 16 while still in college. Today, he is one of the biggest names in his industry. So that shows that it is possible!
Many people who start an online business struggle with digital marketing at first. Even if numerous experts are better than you, don’t give up! Consider that these experts will charge their services a lot, so you can still get your first customers. With billions of Internet users worldwide, you don’t need to worry too much about whether there are customers for you.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping consists in selling goods without having a warehouse to store these goods. The advantage is that you don’t need to bother with logistics or hold an inventory. Instead, you purchase your customer’s goods directly to your supplier and have them shipped directly to them.
Dropshipping is an easy way to start an online business: little investment required, as you purchase the goods only once your customers order them, you can sell anything from anywhere (depending on the location of your suppliers, of course), you can test different business ideas with few risk, you don’t need to hire many people to run your business.
But it also has some drawbacks.
With so little upfront investment, you can expect the competition is very tough, and the margins are skinny. You are also dependent on the stock of your suppliers, meaning you must know the status at all times, even though it is changing every day. You can work with different suppliers to mitigate the risk, but that often involves extra shipping costs you need to consider. Add the lack of customization for the items you sell and your reputation that can be hurt in case of error from your supplier.
It is still worth considering dropshipping if you want to start an online business with no skills. However, if possible, pick a profitable niche related to your own experience or knowledge.
Conclusion
Even with no skills, there are still multiple ways to start an online business and make a profit. The common factor between the different methods is your time and commitment to your project. So, now that you have some keys to start, what will your choice be?
We believe that a career is more than just a job. A career is the path you take to find your unique skills and passions, and then use those skills to create an impact on the world. We help people find their way by providing information about jobs, skills, knowledge, education and many other topics related to careers. But we also have a Career Advisor that can suggest you the most relevant career for your goals in life. And finally, our platform allows you to connect with like-minded people from around the world who share your dreams or are at different stages of their journey - whether they're looking for advice or want someone with whom they can share ideas and experiences. This way everyone has access to all of these tools at an affordable cost. Read more about us.
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