A lot of people never start building online because they think they need to know everything first.
They think they need:
- a perfect website
- a perfect niche
- a complete business plan
- expert-level knowledge
- expensive tools
- advanced branding
before they can even begin.
But the truth is:
the barrier to starting has never been lower than it is today.
Want to build a website?
There are thousands of free tutorials on YouTube.
Want to learn WordPress?
Ask ChatGPT.
Want to understand SEO, Pinterest, email marketing or online business?
The information is already out there — often for free.
The main obstacle is no longer access to information or technology.
It’s overthinking, perfectionism and the belief that they need to become an expert before they can start.
Start with an interest — not just a business idea
One of the biggest mistakes people make is choosing something that only looks good on paper.
Maybe it’s profitable.
Maybe it’s trending.
Maybe someone on YouTube said it’s a “great niche.”
Then a week later, someone else says another niche is even better.
So people keep researching.
Comparing.
Switching directions.
And months pass without them actually building anything.
I personally don’t think chasing trends is a very sustainable way to build something long term.
Especially if the interest isn’t really there.
Because eventually, the excitement fades.
That’s why I think it’s often smarter to choose something you can realistically see yourself thinking about, writing about or working on for years — not just something that happens to be popular this month.
Honestly, one of the best places to start is often your own hobbies and interests.
Not because every hobby automatically becomes a business.
But because genuine interest makes consistency much easier over the long run.
Especially with things like:
- blogging
- YouTube
- SEO
- newsletters
- digital products
- social media content
These things usually take time.
That’s one of the reasons I started Hamster Wheel Exit.
I’m genuinely interested in questions around freedom, work, time, online business, systems and building a different kind of life.
That interest makes it easier to keep showing up.
Keep the setup simpler than you think
A lot of people overbuild before they even begin.
They spend months:
- comparing platforms
- tweaking logos
- researching tools
- redesigning websites
- planning endlessly
instead of publishing something.
But to start building online, you really don’t need that much.
In many cases, you only need:
- a domain name
- a simple website
- one main platform where you regularly publish content (such as Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn)
- a topic you care about
- a willingness to learn while building
Right now, I mainly use Pinterest and Instagram as my publishing platforms — especially Pinterest.
That’s enough to begin.
And don’t spend too much time trying to find the perfect domain name.
A lot of people get stuck there for weeks or even months.
In most cases, it’s better to pick a solid name and start building.
The website will evolve anyway.
And the website itself does not need to be complicated.
In many cases, a simple setup is enough:
- a homepage
- a blog
- an about page
- a contact page
That’s it.
Everything else can be added later.
You may not even need payment systems right away.
Depending on what you’re building, it could take months before your first sale happens anyway.
In the beginning, it’s often more important that people can:
- find you
- understand what you do
- contact you
- follow your work
The rest can evolve over time.
And today, even the technical side has become much easier.
There are now AI tools that can generate an entire website in minutes.
They may not be as flexible as a fully customized WordPress setup, but they dramatically lower the barrier for people who simply want to get started.
You don’t need to position yourself as an expert
I think this is where many people get stuck psychologically.
They believe they need to become an authority before they’re allowed to publish anything publicly.
But that’s only one possible position.
You don’t have to be the “guru,” the expert, or the person with all the answers.
You can also be:
- the builder
- the experimenter
- the enthusiast
- the documentarian
That’s largely the approach I’ve taken with Hamster Wheel Exit and The ExitLab.
I’m not pretending to have everything figured out.
I’m building, testing, learning and documenting the process as I go.
People are often more interested in following a real process than listening to someone pretending to have all the answers.
Publishing is part of the education
A lot of people think confidence comes before action.
But often, confidence is built through repetition.
Through publishing, testing and experience.
You learn an incredible amount simply by doing the work consistently over time.
I’ve personally made this mistake before.
I spent too much time building before I started publishing.
Tweaking websites.
Changing structures.
Trying to “prepare properly.”
Even building a course on writing.
But very little was actually being released into the world or tested on.
With Hamster Wheel Exit, I’ve tried to approach things differently.
Now I publish first and improve along the way.
That approach has taught me something important:
Publishing creates momentum.
And momentum matters far more than having a perfect setup in the beginning.
Because once you start publishing consistently, you also start learning faster:
- what works
- what interests you
- what kind of systems you actually need
Most of that becomes clearer through action — not endless preparation.
The structure, the website and the systems can all improve later.
But momentum is harder to build if you spend too much time waiting for perfection first.
That’s why I often come back to the idea that: publishing is the education.
Not because you magically become successful overnight.
But because action creates learning much faster than endless preparation.
You do not need a perfect setup to start building online.
But you do need a setup you can realistically keep returning to over time.