5 Important Lessons I’ve Learned From Growing My Online Business.

Entrepreneurial experiences are filled with difficult challenges. Some feel the financial pressures, while others just could not cope with the stressful life of having to sacrifice everything.

My startup of Mirsky Mode was no different. It was filled with ups and downs. The important part here is what I’ve gained from those experiences. Here are top lessons I’ve learned:

• Help Comes From The Unexpected.
• Planning is in the Details
• PR Beats Marketing
• Set Impossible Objectives
• Resilience is Key
• Final Two Cents

Help Comes From The Unexpected

When I set out Mirsky Mode, I really felt I knew where my customers will mostly come from. I’ve done the marketing analysis, identified my target demographics and the best methods to reach my products to them.

I did not spend much on marketing and advertising (too expensive), and so relied heavily on my PR Strategies. So much information was shared within my family, their friends and my friends, their friends’ friends and forth. I expected much sales will come from them. Dead Wrong.

Six months into business, I learned to hard truth. While my family members were mostly onboard (not shocking) but NOT my friends. Not many of them were into the idea. Some felt the idea was too generic. Some even put my emails into spam box (yup). Some even gave me the hint that the business has no future. Some did give me the support and purchased the products but the number was just too low.

How to Become Productive at Work Without Working 9-5pm (6 Ways)?

Small businesses often struggle to make their daily business activities at optimal level without the need of emptying their pocket.

Business at Mirsky Mode faced similar problems. I did not have much financial strength and needed to increase my work capacity greatly. So here are the methods which I’ve applied that are cheap:

• Work Early Morning
• Devise Visual Strategies
• Set Priorities
• Individual Delegate
• Take a Break
• Do Not Multitask
• Final Two Cent

Work Early Morning

“Early Bird Catches the Worm”

This is a no-brainer. Our brain is most fresh in the morning after bedtime.

Your brain is most likely to function at optimal level in the morning, after a long rest. Like a computer switched on, its cool core is able to work fast running multiple programs.

Your brain is more efficient and thus productive at this hour.

Get your team to come early once a while. Organize meetings early in the morning, or simply give them reasons to show up early every once a while. Working early while your brains are fresh can really help set up and achieve goals faster.

Your Business Is A Terrible Idea: How to Know If You Have A Great Business Idea?

People are becoming smarter these days, finding new solutions to our problems almost daily, but, how certain are you it could be the ‘Next Big’ Thing?

Here are five steps to take before taking the plunge into the entrepreneurial world:

• Give Your Idea A Step Back
• Perform Survey/Questionnaire
• Pros and Cons List
• Talk to Successful Entrepreneurs
• Re-Draw Your SWOT Analysis
• Final Two Cent

Give Your Idea A Step Back

Take a step back from your idea to allow yourself getting more perspective on it.

You may have found a great idea that solves people’s problems and excited to start working on it. Before you do, I’d suggest you to stop. Give it a few days. Spend the time on what you enjoy doing (e.g. hobby etc) or more research on the industry. Reason for this is it will allow your excitement to calm down letting in your rational thinking into process. By the time you come back to work the idea, you will see in a broader aspect and even spot issues which you did not realize before.

If you are still excited after taking the break, then, you may have found a great business idea. However, if you feel the idea only excites you for some time only and starts getting doubts about it, there’s a chance it might only be a mediocre idea. This does happen to most of the Eureka moments you had (or at least I had) and it is completely normal. But don’t give up on it yet. Despite of what you think about the idea, it is still worth the time and effort to do more research on it before giving up.

Customers Do Not Trust You: 4 Best Ways to Build Trust with Your Customers Online.

Building trust with your online customers involves plenty of relationship building. Whilst it’s fundamentals remain about the same as traditional consumers, your brand needs to adjust accordingly to match with the competitively fast-paced internet sharing. 

Since trust is especially crucial in the online world, I’ve come up with 4 favorites ways I normally use to build trust with my customers:

1. Strong PR Campaigns
2. Disclose Yourself to the Market
3. Testimonials
4. No Hidden Fees. No Hidden Agenda. Be Honest
5. My Final Two Cents