When I got started in the online world, it felt SO. FREAKING. IMPOSSIBLE. to do anything, let alone get to the level that you see most entrepreneurs at.

When you’re just starting out, there’s a lot to consider, and that’s why I want to provide you with a little extra bit of encouragement by not just giving you a quote or a graphic to share, but four actionable steps you can take today to make the unicorns in your business real.

How to start an online business

1. Do one thing every day.

That’s it. That’s all you have to do. If you can’t take five minutes to read a blog post or one hour on your day off to enroll in a course that’s going to save you hours/days/weeks of your valuable time, then you don’t care enough about your business. And you know what? That’s totally fine.

You don’t have to care about the business you have now—it’s already given you so many skills and resources even if it’s a 150% ‘failed’ business. You only have to care about the business you’re building each and every day, by bits and pieces every day.

Download the free legit + profitable business guide & get one step closer to starting your business:

2. Do what you can with what you have.

When my friend Katie first launched her YouTube channel, her videos looked AMAZING, especially considering she shot and produced them all by herself. When she started telling me all about her videos, I had to check them out, because video is a platform I’ve been exploring but SO hung up on because if you’ve ever tried to edit video (or geez, even do a live Facebook) you know how much can go wrong and how much more work there is.

I’ve been sitting back on some videos and hemming and hawing about getting more out in the world because I realized I was waiting for the *perfect* effects, or the *perfect* editing software, but you know what? You have to just do what you can with what you have, and you’ll learn along the way.

3. You can’t have everything, but you can have anything.

This is something my partner taught me about. We were talking about it in the context of money, but it’s really applicable to anything. You could try to be an okay calligrapher, graphic designer, photographer and brand strategist… OR, you could choose one thing you really like (ahem, like being a lawyer—did I mention this whole section is based off of personal experience?) and be really good at that one thing. You can still do your calligraphy, photography, graphic design and brand strategy on the side, but man... that gets exhausting!

4. Make smart investments in your creative business.

This is the one I’ve only recently started to overcome resistance to. Investing in your business can feel a lot like the chicken/egg dilemma—you need a chicken to lay an egg, but you need an egg to hatch a chicken. Similarly, you need money to grow your business, but you need to grow your business to make money.

Investing in your business willy-nilly isn’t going to get you anywhere but into a lot of debt with tons of regrets and a bitter taste in your mouth about entrepreneurship. But deciding to make that one first investment, whether it’s investing in a professionally drafted contract, buying stock photos or turning over your housework to free up your time, you need to figure out what’s going to be essential in helping you move forward so that your investment is a smart one.

Find out if it's the right time to invest in your business.

Watch this video to create a plan that actually keeps you on task.

Get the Called to Create Workbook and create a blueprint to get your business off the ground.