What is it all about?
Whether you’re unsure or just don’t know what type of online business to develop, skill stacking can help you get to where you want to be with less complications, and more pace.
Skill Stacking can be a very useful way to determine a path for your future venture and to create a unique set of skills that, when combined, will make your business offer more valuable when compared to your competitors.
Let’s Start
The initial process is sometimes reflective, so don’t expect to complete the following task in one go. List all your credentials, proficiencies, and things you’re innately interested in, now or in the past, as well as your resources: your maximum available funds (more on this later) and daily/weekly spare time. This exercise may also help inform you if you can benefit from acquiring additional skills to support your existing ones.
Now, the analysis can begin. Ask yourself: What in your list is useful? What’s in demand? Can you produce a unique set of skills when combined that makes your business offer real value?
An alternative motive for Skill Stacking is when you’re starting an online business with the primary goal of making an additional or replacement income. This is because creating a business often requires a high level of dedication and commitment, the passion for it may at times be very limited. When this is the case, it is always advisable to start with a business idea that is close to where you are now, in terms of knowledge base and interests.
Example: A Project Manager is a profession where, amongst other things, excellent communication skills are used. However, many in this job complain about being constantly stressed by the high expectations from their bosses and heavy workload. Meanwhile, there’s high demand for remote customer service agents for startups. Business owners realise the importance of growing and maintaining a solid connect with their customers and will find the skills of a project manager highly valuable to them. In this role you can find you can expand your role and gain full satisfaction from your very appreciative boss, or bosses.
An important step of Skill Stacking is to research your idea to ensure there’s online demand. For instance, you may want to combine your professional skill of being a Project Manager. Whether you have a direction or not, any search engine will give you a list of what the ‘Most In-Demand Skills & Jobs…” These can both give you inspirations and confirm your choice.
- If you’re taking the Freelance route, as outlined in my Best Online Business Models for Beginners: Research Freelance sites such as fiverr.com and Upwork. Study the profession you want to replicate (for inspiration, do not duplicate), with the addition of your unique added-value service. Note the services are delivered at various levels of pay rates. These increments are often vase, so don’t be put off at the starting rates on the initial page.
- If you’re taking an alternative route and want to broaden the appeal of your offering, then Keyword Research is advised. A free PDF guide is offered on on this website to download.
Summary
Skill Stacking is perfect when you only have a few loose ideas on what direction to go in when deciding on an online business choice. It’s also a great way to build confidence and gain inspiration to future business ventures. One important factor; when it comes to online businesses, chose the ones that are most in demand, aim to adopt new skills that may be useful in future business ventures. The ideal business strategy will be a business venture that will allow you to build a client list that is then easily transferable.
Good luck.
