Starting an online business as a designer can be a thrilling yet intimidating journey. Whether you're worried about failure, the competition, or simply the unknown, these fears are common but surmountable. I also had them when I started 10 years ago. Thoughts that have been holding me back from launching an idea. I always had side projects. I had so many of them that I even stopped counting them. But if I had to guess, I’d say that number is about 20-30 side projects before 2020. Back then, I was afraid, of what others think of my projects, or I had thoughts about failing. After 2020 things started to change. I started developing my mindset. And all of a sudden, my brain got trained for change. It clicked. I started to ship project for project. Probably 10 side projects in 2 years. Today, I can proudly say, that the following side projects I started after 2020, turned into successful and real businesses making me money and are even making me a living: canvas.supply, framer.money, dark.design. These are mainly product businesses, not service businesses.

So what changed after 2020 in my brain? Here's how I moved past my fears and negative thoughts and stepped confidently into my entrepreneurial journey.

Start small

A project can feel overwhelming in the beginning. This often ends up in canceling the project before you even launch it. Begin with manageable goals and expand as you gain confidence and insights. This could mean starting with a limited product range or offering a single service. Minimize the initial risks and keep the workload manageable. Don’t overload yourself too much in the beginning. Take it easy!

Personal Brand

How people perceive you online has an impact on your self-confidence. Build up a personal brand that reflects your true self. If people like what they see, you as a person and your skills can’t be that bad, right?

Networking

Saw that others are also struggling with the same things. Even the successful people. Once I started to network with people I admired, I quickly saw that they are also just human, and have to deal with the same issues I did. This broke my inner barrier of “Is my work good enough?”. It turned into self-confidence and trust in myself.

Challenges

At a certain point in your business, you will face certain challenges, that might look like they can’t be solved. Don’t think of this when starting. Embrace the journey and just start. You will be able to solve any upcoming problem at the right time. You will grow into it. Always.

Failure

You might think failing is bad. But hey, it’s not. Setbacks are completely normal! Nobody, not even the most successful people on our planet Earth had any issues in their journey. Failure is part of that journey and can be looked at as an opportunity.

Failure = Opportunity.
Failure = Opportunity.
Failure = Opportunity.

Feedback

Improvement is part of everyone’s journey. So why not ask how you can improve? Seek feedback from your friends, customers, and business partners. Next to self-reflection, this is the best way to grow. Make use of it.

Actionable Steps

Now, what can you do to finally start and launch your idea? Here are 6 actionable tasks I want you to take action on:

1. Launch your idea as a minimum awesome product.

2. Build up a personal brand on social media.

3. Message 10 new people you admire and who are doing better than you.

4. Write down the worst 5 things that can happen after launching your business and how you would solve them.

5. Start logging your failures and mistakes in a notebook and write a resulting opportunity next to each failure.

Starting your own business is undeniably challenging, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to realize your passion and achieve personal fulfillment. I went through all of that as well, and it’s the best that could happen to me.

By preparing yourself with the right knowledge, mindset, and strategies, you can overcome your fears and finally launch that one thing you ever wanted.

Believe in yourself.

Best wishes,
Cédric