As mentioned in my previous blog post, I am committing myself to publish a step by step approach on how I will create and build an online business from this blog.  By achieving this, I am hoping that you too can benefit from this journey.  Granted, I have already made the first step by creating this blog. I will demonstrate how that can be accomplished in an upcoming blog post.

However, the most important first step is whether anyone really has the right mindset to pursue this type of journey.  Motivation to stay the course is so critical.  So many have started and abandoned the whole process.  The main reasons are:

• Lack of confidence
• Lack of support
• Fear of failure
• Steep and time consuming learning curve

These are common emotions that we all possess at one time or another.  The challenge is to overcome these roadblocks and to demonstrate to yourself that you can achieve something you never would have thought possible.  People do challenge themselves to achieve unbelievable results.  Like running a 10K run or even a half marathon.  Some have tried parachuting out of a plane.  Then some of us would just rather challenge our minds and create something that might actually turn out to be useful and helpful to others.

With the right mindset and the motivation to succeed is crucial before even thinking about starting an online business.  Even then, there will be failures along the way.  However, these failures can be incredible learning experiences to build on for any potential future ventures.

My first objective in starting an online business was to research the market I’m focussing on, that being the retirement or soon to be retirement community.  What do retired people really want or need?  What would make retirement life a more enjoyable time?  What opportunities exist out there for the retirement community?  What would help to improve the overall retirement lifestyle?

Asking those type of questions would be the beginning of creating an idea for a potential solution to help satisfy a need or want.  However, how do you know if that potential solution would be of any real interest to your target market?  I will address that in the next blog posting on how best to validate your idea through sampling of your target market.

Are you with me?