I read a statistic recently that said 90 percent of new online businesses fail in the first four months. Four months! The reasons for this? There are many. Having spoken to the experts at Linkeo Ltd recently, here are the top 7 reasons people seem to fail at starting their own online business, and how you can overcome each one.

Lack of commitment

You talk about how much you want to start your own business with your family or friends, but you never really commit to getting started. You keep waiting for the ‘right time’ or continue to ‘think about it’ without ever getting started. The solution to this one is quite simple: decide to do it and commit to doing it.

Poor planning

You finally get started but you didn’t plan well enough for the financial, emotional, mental and physical implications. You didn’t save enough money, you didn’t do enough research. As a result, you run out of money and ideas very quickly with no plan of how to get yourself back on track. Dealing with this issue boils down to planning ahead and doing your research. Connect with other entrepreneurs in the same field and ask them for advice.

Lack of action

You simply don’t take enough (or any) action. Or if you do, because you’re new at business your actions aren’t properly aligned to your business so you waste a lot of time. What you should be doing is taking consistent action that is aligned with your business. Who is your ideal client? Where can you find them? What problem are you trying to solve for them? How can you monetize what you are doing?

Not having an idea who you are marketing to

Feeding off the point about lack of action, if you don’t know who your target clients are, or where to find them, setting up a shiny new website, Facebook page and business cards won’t solve your complete baffled as to why new customers aren’t queuing up out the door (so to speak)). Solving this issue is not that complicated however. You simply need to get clear on who you want to help before you do anything else. Choose your audience, research it and promote yourself accordingly.

No Marketing Skills

If you have no idea about copy, SEO or sales, no matter how fantastic you are at what you do, you won’t be able to sell yourself, and you’ll get very little business. So either learn sales, or partner with people who do. You’ll soon find that marketing and promotions will attract clients to you. Sales is all about matching their problem with a solution. Your solution.

Trying to do it all alone

You decide not to enlist the help of professionals and instead try to figure out everything on your own. You spend hours each week on non-money making tasks, such as fixing annoying tech issues with your website or mailing list. You end up scared, overwhelmed and lost, and frustrated at your lack of results. Don’t be afraid to seek professional advice and support with anything you are struggling with. Sure, money can be tight when you’re in your first year of business, but you can still shop around. Just get started with some sort of support and upgrade things as you can afford to.

Comparison to others

Looking at what everyone else is doing and getting overwhelmed by their results can spell new online business disaster. Comparison crushes your creativity and feeds self-doubt, worry and concern. In the words of that famous Disney song, let it go. Avoid getting caught up in the hype of others peoples success and results. Everyone is on their own path, stay focused on your own journey and keep yourself moving forward step by step.

Being an entrepreneur is tough, mentally and emotionally, especially when the results in the first year are often inconsistent. But you can do it. Learn from your mistakes, try new approaches, and most importantly keep showing up. Sometimes obstacles can slow your progress (sometimes a whole lot at once can really throw you off track) but you’ve just got to deal with each one as it arises, keep coming back and showing up. You can do it. You can make your new online business a success.