Have you ever wondered what you would actually need to do to start and run an online business?

I was faced with that question unexpectedly a few years ago when my corporate job disappeared.

I had already been exploring online business, anticipating a second career as a life coach after retirement from my corporate job. I had learned quite a bit, but still found the complexity a bit overwhelming.

Suddenly, I needed to figure it out much faster.

I really needed to know: What does an experienced professional need to know about running an online business?

Doctor’s Notes

My corporate career had prepared me well for some parts of running a business. I understood software development, project management, leadership, and how to deliver valuable products and services.

But I had always been an employee focused on excellence in product and service delivery.

There were other people in the organization responsible for carrying out other business functions like marketing, sales, finance, and overall business strategy.

When you become an independent business owner, that changes.

You’re suddenly responsible
for the whole business
and all of its functions.

That’s one reason experienced professionals can find themselves surprisingly overwhelmed when they take on building an online business.

We’re not starting over professionally. But we are faced with how to take our expertise and build a business around it.

And that’s a very different challenge than managing a specialized corporate function.

Online Profits Insight

What Does an Experienced Professional Need to Do in an Online Business?

The Five Essential Activities of Every Expert Business

When I was learning about online business, I encountered an almost endless list of things I was supposed to learn about: websites, social media, email marketing, lead magnets, sales funnels, webinars, courses, CRM systems, automation, and more.

But those are mostly tools and tactics, NOT what you need to do to run a business.

So I took a step back from all of that to ask a more fundamental question:

What does the business actually need to do?

At the highest level, a business needs to attract clients and serve clients.

From there, you can identify the essential business activities that need to work together to drive the business.

Understanding those activities gives you a much more structured way to think about your online business, and the systems and technology you need to support it.

That’s what I explore in this week’s Online Profits Insight:

Read the full Insight article here... 

Kajabi Korner

Start With the Business. Then Choose the Technology

One of the easiest mistakes to make when starting an online business is selecting technology before you’re clear about what you need the technology to do.

You start with a website. Then you need email marketing. Then a landing page builder. Then a payment system. Then somewhere to deliver a course or other purchased content.

Before long, you may have several different systems that all need to work together.

A better approach is to first understand the business activities and customer journey you need to support, then determine the capabilities your online systems need to provide.

That’s one of the reasons I use and recommend Kajabi. It brings many of the capabilities needed to support an expert online business into a single integrated platform, including your website, content, email marketing, sales, courses, coaching, and community.

Design what your business needs to do first.
Then select and build the systems to support it.

Sprint to Success!

Take a Quick Business Activity Inventory

After you’ve read or watched this week’s Insight, take a few minutes to look at the five essential activities:

Content • Marketing • Sales • Delivery • Community

Rate yourself from 1–10 on each one.

Where are you already strong? Where are you struggling?

Then ask yourself:

Which one of these five activities most needs my attention right now?

You don’t need to improve everything at once. Pick one area and identify one specific action you can take this week to strengthen it.

That’s your sprint.

Community Updates

The Online Business Roundtable Is Starting!

I’ve been talking about starting the Online Business Roundtable, and this week we’re getting it underway.

Each week, I’ll introduce a Topic of the Week with a short presentation, followed by an open roundtable discussion where we can ask questions, share experiences, and learn from each other.

August  28, 2026 
1:00 pm Pacific
Your Online Business Is More Than a Website

When experienced professionals decide to establish an online presence, one of the first things they often think about is building a website.

But a website is only one part of an online business

What else do you need to attract leads, build relationships, offer solutions, and serve your clients online?

That’s what we’ll explore together in this week’s Online Business Roundtable. The opening presentation will be about 20-25 minutes followed by an optional roundtable discussion.

Register Now (Free) 

Thank you for being here.

I’m excited to continue building this community together.

To your online success!