A lot of people want to start an online business while still working at their job. They wonder if it’s realistic to replace that income before leaving their job and focus on a business full time.

This makes a lot of sense. It reduces the risk of quitting your job and starting an online business where you don’t have the confidence yet. And how long it would take until it’s taking off. It is much better to gain the confidence first and then transition out of your job.

I can tell you that this approach is absolutely realistic. More so than ever in today’s world. When I was starting out, I used to work evenings around my 60-hours-a-week job. I’ve also helped many different people around the world from a variety of backgrounds. They all started their online businesses on a part-time basis.

What many people assume about an online business

Many people assume that the easiest way to replace an income is to provide a service based on existing skills. Or if you are able to freelance or something like that. If you just want to replace money that is coming in from your job. Because you hate your job or you got a risk of losing your job. And you got expertise like you are a writer, or someone who can do contracting or something like that. Then this could be an option.

But for a lot of people the idea is different. They spend a few months, like six months or a year to building and growing the foundations of an online business. Eventually this business will enable them to become job-free. Many people in our community want to have more time-freedom, more flexibility. Or they want to travel more and see the world.

What kind of online business to run part-time?

Assuming this is your case, what I would suggest you is to start with a product. Have a product or find a product you believe in, a product which feel confident in selling. It needs to be a product you can sell many times every week. Without spending a lot of your time on customer service and support or transactions. After all, the last thing you want is the following. Coming home after 40 or 50 hours of work and having to deliver whatever it is that you’re selling.

Get started with Affiliate Marketing

With that said, there are a couple of different online business models. Affiliate Marketing is a great one to start with. This is where you sell other people’s products and get commissions. Without having to do any fulfillment or delivery. If you’re an affiliate, the amount of products you sell is unlimited. And the beauty of it is that you can sell those products many times over, 24/7, 365 days a year. So even when you’re at work or sleeping, you are busy growing your income as you grow your sales.

Sell with E-Commerce

Another option is to sell physical products with an E-commerce business. With physical products, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can order existing products in bulk at a fraction of the cost, and then set up a sales system. E-commerce stores like Shopify or Amazon FBA will do the heavy lifting for you. They will process the payments from customers. Plus they will handle the packaging, distribution, and customer service.

In the meantime, you’ll get busy selling the products. By setting up marketing and advertisement campaigns to make those sales happen. You can do this around your job in one or two hours a day.

How to get started with a part-time online business

Many people in our community make their first few sales as affiliates. Earning commissions while they are sleeping or at work. What you aim for is to sell enough units of the products that you promote to replace the income at your job. You don’t have to do any fulfillment or customer service. So while you are at work, sales are happening and you will receive commissions.

My advice

My advice would be this: don’t set a goal to replace your income within 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. Better set yourself up in a different way. Find something that you believe in and you are happy with and work and make that first sale.

Whatever you’re selling, the first 10 sales are the hardest. But once you’ve made your first double figures in sales, you’ll gain the confidence that you can rinse and repeat – and grow. You’ll learn exactly how many sales you need to be making. Each week and each month to have a steady business that’s going to replace your income.

How long is it going to take?

Whatever the timeframe for this is, let it be. That is gonna come down to a lot of variables. How quickly you put things in place and how fast you learn. Whether you hit the right product for the market at the current time. You can invest in education and mentorship which will cut a lot of the learning curve out.
People always want the ultimate answer to the question “how long is it going to take?” But I’ve seen so much diversity – from 12 weeks of incredible growth to 12 months to make a first sale. It comes down to whether you picked the right product for the market at the current time. And to your commitment to learning the ropes and applying those steps.

Watch my video on YouTube

Visit my YouTube channel for more…