The lure of an online business is strong among people who want the flexibility of working from home, to hours you set and commanding the sort of income that would rival a small conglomerate.

While all this looks very appealing, the hard truth is that for many the road to success will be long and difficult with lots of would be online entrepreneurs dropping out along the way.

Others will reach their goals but will always wish they had a few insider tips before they embarked on their mission for success.

Here we look at some of the cold, hard truths that future online moguls need to know, what they mean and how to avoid some of the pitfalls all too common in new ventures.

1. You Won’t Start a Business on Minimal Time

The hard truth is that if you’re setting up on your own, you’re going to have to put a serious amount of work into whatever you do.

The myth that you’ll be able to work to your own timeframe is insidious. It doesn’t account for the fact that while you might be taking some time off in the afternoon, your customers certainly won’t.

Hard work gets results. It’s really as simple as that and putting the hours in is the only way you’ll ever get your product taken seriously.

Read also: How to Work from Home Online and Make It Rewarding

2. Be Prepared to Sacrifice

Stemming from the above point, if you are prepared to put your heart, soul and bank account behind your plans, then you will end up sacrificing something of your personal life as well, it’s inevitable.

You’ll find yourself cancelling romantic meet-ups, drinks with friends and even time to exercise because you’re committed to seeing the good work that you’ve started through to completion.

You’ll find it hard but you’ll do it because you love it.

You’ll need to ask friends and family to be patient during this turbulent time. But the hard truth is, that some of them will find that extremely difficult and you will be asked to make tough choices.

3. You Will Fail

Possibly many times. It’s normal, it does happen to everyone, don’t give up.

The trick with failure is to change how you view it.

This might be easier said than done. But rather than having a tantrum and deciding the venture was a total disaster, take a long, hard look at how it happened and try and determine a plan of action.

It might be that your website couldn’t cope with the volume of traffic that you experienced. Or that your marketing email campaign came crashing down.

That’s fine, everyone makes mistakes. Consider yours just as bumps along the road to success and keep moving forward.

Read also: Business is Hard, and Personal Growth is Painful

4. You Will Experience Stress

Many people quit their 9 to 5 for the hope that the online world will offer them a calmer way of life, free from the stress of your work cubicle and office desk covered in sticky notes.

While this is a great dream to pursue, the hard reality is that there will be times you will feel under stress.

There will be times when you feel under even more stress than when you were working for someone else.

Your enterprise becomes a part of you, something you care about very much and are driven to see succeed.

5. Growth Can Be Scary

You really wanted a business where you could dip in and out everyday and now you’ve actually become a success and it’s terrifying.

Even more so, the one-man-band you’ve dreamed of isn’t going to work any longer. You’re going to have to take on actual real, human staff to help you run the show.

This can all be, frankly, terrifying.

The thought of getting involved in Human Resource issues versus hiring freelancers and contracted workers, sorting out salary and so forth – it’s not what you signed up for!

Yes while growth can be something to fear it, in fact, provides you with a lot of choice.

If your online business is ticking along nicely, consider hiring someone to run it for you. You can then focus on building other aspects of your business or looking at further ventures.

If you’re not willing to hand it all over, then why not just hire a content manager or similar to update parts of the site.

Setting up your own online business starts the day you can’t take any of your old job anymore and realize there’s a whole new world out there just begging to be conquered with your entrepreneurial skills.

However, this world is not easy. At least not as easy as you thought and there are bound to be many trials and tribulations along the way.

Don’t give up at the first hurdle or decided the role isn’t for you. Instead, take a deep breath and dig deep to create your online empire.

About The Author

Entrepreneur and content marketing specialist, Martina Sanchez works at Lucky Assignments. She greatly enjoys her article writing and blog, which she is constantly updating. Visit Martina’s blog for the latest tips and tricks on digital marketing and SEO content.