The deadliest yet easiest mistakes in online business: Green snakes under the green grass.

It is very easy to get stuck when you start doing business, especially online. Everyone can relate to such challenges. The founders of create and go, the go-to place for anyone wanting to start a blog faced it. Now they make over $25789 each month. 

Everyone has a story to tell about their struggles, but a few things are common, and will never change.

These mistakes have stopped others, might be stopping you and will continue to stop others from succeeding. It is usually just one or two, but on close examination, they have the most tremendous effect on the failure or success of your business.

Good news, you can now know them and prevent yourself and others from making them.

1. You’re not putting in the work or you are putting in the wrong work.

2. You need to give it time to work. There’s no other alternative. Most online businesses do not start producing results until 6 months later.

3. To sell product or service you need to get people who need it, prove to them they need it and convince them to part with their money.

If you are running it part-time, that’s more time, dear.

4. There’s no passion deep down there. Passion leads to dedication and and focus which are necessary to grow. If youve never honestly felt so excited to work on your business to the point you sleep late at night or wake up early, you need to do a rain check.

5. You do not have the necessary skills. Just as a plumber needs to learn how to fix pipes and a surgeon people, you need to learn the RIGHT skills for your trade. Blogging without knowledge of SEO is akin to serving food in a dark hall. 

No one will see it unless they stumble upon it by mistake.

For each type of business, learn what is necessary.

6. You will need to spend money, whether you have it or not, like it or not. Everyone that has been successful doing business online will tell you they had to pay for one thing or another. It can be a tool, or knowledge, or outsourcing a part of business they could not do themselves or had no time to do.

7. Mentors. The faster you can get one, the more mistakes you can avoid. The faster you will see growth in your business. They serve as guides, friend and pillars of support when you want to just quit.

8. Put God first. Not second or last. When you are receiving help from One is above all, you are guaranteed success.

9. People don’t need what you are giving them. If it doesn’t solve a problem they have, especially on a level that really affects their lives, you are gonna have a hard time getting them to even listen to you.  Or you are placing your service or product in front of the wrong people.

10. You are not standing out. If you’ve been online for a while, you understand how harder it is to stand out, get your customers attention and actually keep it. There’s just too much noise out there. Unless you can be heard above it all and can prove you are a good kind of different, you will see no money.

So many mistakes that can be avoided from scratch and as you go on.

Which mistake have you made, and how did you solve it?

Do you suffer from money challenges? Discover how I tackle them, especially uninvited emergencies here.

Simple ways to get amazing productivity and results in your startup

Getting the right things done the right way, at the right time is essential to the success of any business, especially start-ups that have to get results with limited time and resources.

Here are 41 simple tips to get more productive as a business owner, especially as a side hustle startup.

1)        To get any type of result in the first place, you must be doing something.  Take ACTION, get to work, start anywhere.

2)         Work from your calendar, not your to-do-list if you really want to get something done.

3)     1440 minutes a day. Think about how valuable one single minute is. What can you do in that one minute? Capitalize on the time you have.

4)         Identify your MIT (most important task). Break that down into smaller tasks and get the discipline to work on that first thing in the morning. You’re at your cognitive best in the first two hours.

5)         Stop when you’re tired, not when you’re done. Because as an entrepreneur, you can never be done.

6)         To overcome procrastination, beat your future self that will make an excuse to derail your goals.

7)         Carry a notebook. Jotting down notes helps you to retain information. Your brain is made to process, not store in the short run.

8)         Control your inbox. Shut down your notifications and schedule time to check it (and social media). Be intentional about it.

9)          Say no to meetings whenever possible.

10)           Say no to everything that doesn’t help your immediate goals. Every time you say yes to something you are saying no to another. Choose wisely.

11)           Follow the Pareto principle: the 80/20 rule. 20% of your activity is responsible for 80% of your results. Find the 20%.

12)           Focus on your unique strengths. Delegate. You might do it better but let go of perfection in favour of time. Don’t get stuck on it if you can outsource it.

13)           Batch your work with recurring themes. Do your most important tasks together. Allot certain days or times for catchup or admin work. Take time off.

14)           Touch things once. Don’t open emails until you’re ready to process them.

15)           Pray. Use early mornings to strengthen your mind and body.

16)           Productivity is about energy and focus not time. Take care of yourself first and take breaks to recharge for boosted production.

17)           Invest in the right training/education. Knowing exactly what to do and what to avoid will help you get the work done in the shortest possible time.

18)           Clarity and competence. Be clear on what you want to do.

19)           Do not ignore the power of technology. Learn how to use systems and apps.

20)           Know all keyboard shortcuts.

21)           Write whenever you can. It helps give you a clearer picture.

22)        Don’t forget to live. Have time for self, family and fun. Re-energize and recharge often.

23)           Use the Eisenhower matrix to prioritize tasks. Urgent & important. Not urgent and important. Urgent but not impotant. Not urgent and not important.

24)           Do your productive activities when no one is around.

25)           Plan ahead of time, especially how you plan on spending your week.

26)           Recognize your wins, no matter how small and celebrate. It will boost your morale and help you move closer to the larger goal.

27)           Have monthly goals.

28)           Can you do massive action in a short period? It will help you get things done rapidly. Sometimes success requires speed.

29)           Start your productive day by working on one or two easy tasks first.

30)           Work on your hardest task next.

31)           Consistency is the key in business. Small and frequent is better to avoid inaction later.

32)           Be accountable. . Find a partner or resource to help you stay responsible.

33)           Learning something new? Take notes. You can go back to it later and you will surely pick up things you missed the first time.

34)           Track how you spend your time. Do this for a week. Identify time wasters and get rid of them.

35)           On transit? Grab an audio book or a podcast. You finish a podcast in the time it takes to get to work.

36)           Learn how and when to say no.

37)           Engage in personal growth. Mornings and evenings are the best time for this.

38)           Do fewer things with better focus. Six main tasks a day has been proven to be a magic number.

39)           Learn to delegate better.

40)           Make use of the Pomodoro technique. 

    “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to to the hundred other good ideas that there are. Innovation is saying no to 1000 thongs”- Steve Jobs.

41)           Take care of your health. You can only work and enjoy the benefits if you are healthy.

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Being productive is just the second step. First you must know where to put all that energy and effort. Check out my Whatsapp group here to discover my favourite means of hustling right from home.