Since the start of the pandemic so many people have been discovering that there are professional opportunities outside a traditional corporate career. While there are many things to praise about the 9-5 life, it does not suit everyone. Creative personalities especially can feel like they have so much more to offer than what their role requires. If this sounds at all familiar there are ways to pivot your career and move away from tradition and into the online business sector to satisfy both your desire to pursue creative passions and your need to make money.

Determine Your Skill Set

Turning a hobby or a passion into a career is not necessarily difficult, however you do need to assess if you have the skills to be successful. These skills are going to go beyond the creative, and even product development, into things like financial management, human resources, and employee strategies, and even legal licensing and permits in some cases. Think about if you might need to go back to school to get a leg up on the business side of things before you jump in all the way.

If you do decide to go back to school, even if just for a certification and not a full-on degree, that is a significant financial commitment. There are a multitude of low interest personal loans you can consider applying for to help you pay for everything. The best part about a low interest loan, is that you do not have to be stressed out that this form of debt is going to cripple you. Take time to explore all your options before fully committing to a program of study, and a loan to pay for it.

Research the Market

Once you decide on a niche, and a general direction that you want to take your online business, you need to do extensive market research. Some of the latest e-commerce trends popping onto the scene might seem like they were an overnight success, but don’t buy into that hype. The people behind those success stories spent hours and hours identifying a target market and determining the need for their service or product.

Prepare the Other Parts of Your Life

Making a transition such as this should not be taken lightly, and you deserve to be honest with yourself about what this is going to mean for the other areas of your life beyond your career. This is not meant to be a scare tactic, rather an honest perspective to consider. If you have a partner or children, they will be impacted by the change in your schedule, and the demands that this new career path will make of you so talk to them about how that will look and in what ways you can work as a team to minimize the growing pains.

When you are on this journey do not forget to look after yourself. The pace of starting a business can be quick and it can be easy to become burned out and feel like there are not enough hours in the day. While you will never be able to completely eliminate stressors, you can certainly identify ways to alleviate stress so that you have some tools in your toolbox for when the going gets tough.