2020 was the year most people finally realized how truly fleeting financial stability could be. One moment, you’re thriving – excelling at your 9-5, counting profits in your business, and brainstorming investment strategies. Everything looks good, and in the twinkle of an eye, you are told to shut down your business indefinitely and sit at home for months. Your day job closes down and you’re stuck indoors with no means of livelihood, except for a meager stimulus check that not everyone even gets. In the US alone, 22 million jobs were lost to economic regressions caused by the pandemic.
Despite the horrors and difficulties of 2020, as thousands of businesses suffered painfully, others thrived and grew even stronger than before. Most of these lucky businesses were online brands that didn’t require a lot of physical interaction. Many businesses marketing physical products were on the lucky side because delivery services were still allowed to operate. Certain restrictions and limitations still affected them, but they were better off than those who had no functional online operations.
According to Australian entrepreneur and online business-building expert, Jaikishaan Sharma, the whole concept of job security is a risky illusion, as proven by 2020.
“The pandemic taught people that they need to turn their passion into a paycheck because you can’t rely on just one income stream anymore,” Sharma says. “2020 was truly an eye-opener. We know that a 9-5 comes and goes easily because job security is an illusion.”
Sharma is the CEO of Sharmaatricks, an online learning community focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build successful businesses and create their own online success stories. Sharma’s company works to connect individuals “with social media-based business opportunities, learn and support one another — all with the goal of helping grow home-based businesses with accessible tools and educational resources.”
Value for your time
A lot of people are stuck in highly insecure jobs beyond their own free will. Knowing that a job does not guarantee a financially stable life is one thing, but it’s an entirely different matter to know how to do something about your situation – when there’s still a choice. In 2020, millions of people were economically destabilized without notice as the world shut down due to the virus. It painfully dawned on so many how important it is to build an adversity-proof business that could withstand any future regressions.
One of the most common difficulties in trying to start an online business is the inevitable overload of information. The internet is crawling with countless articles, courses, blogs, and communities claiming to have the best lessons on entrepreneurship. While a lot of them actually offer good stuff, it’s incredibly easy to drown in all that information.
With over 70,000 registered community members worldwide, and counting every day, Sharmaatricks was born out of the CEO’s desire to help people eager to navigate the whole concept of business creation. You don’t exactly need to have an MBA to run an online business. Sharma explains that most people are terrified of building businesses online because they are convinced it would be too technical to manage.
“When people think about online platforms, social media businesses, and making money online, they think that it’s technical,” Sharma explains. “But it’s not technical anymore. It’s as simple as the click of a button. The way we’ve created our system, we have 24/7 online training available if people need guidance. Our community doesn’t have to go away searching for answers for hours. It’s all available in our training in video format. All you need to do is watch and implement.”
There are three major branches of online business education on Sharmaatricks:
Product research: Based on your passions, skillset, preliminary knowledge, location, training, access to funds, and other factors, the community helps you discover the products or services with the highest potential for excellent profits in the future. No one wants to start a business and be stonewalled for years. The goal is to convert your value into high revenue and this foundational step is usually the most critical for every aspiring businessperson.
Marketing training: Members can learn to leverage social media to build a digital presence, gain an interested audience and convert these connections to profitable transactions. What’s a large following on social media if people aren’t patronizing your products or services?
Sales systems: Sales systems are tools that help entrepreneurs and marketers manage their sales opportunities effortlessly. The community helps you learn how to find or build appropriate systems that are maintained for your brand and automate your entire sales operations for higher efficiency.
People are actually learning to build successful businesses in less than 30 days because sometimes, it’s just as straightforward as it sounds.
Gentle awakenings
Sharma has over 12 years of experience in sales and marketing when he worked a 9-5 as the leader of a telemarketing team. He thrived and excelled until 2015 when everything changed following a car accident that affected his spinal cord.
“The doctors said I had only a 5% chance of ever walking again, and as a door-to-door salesperson, I knew my means of livelihood had just been snatched away,” Sharma recalls. “One moment, I had a great 9-5 job and could feed my family. The next, I was down to ground zero.”
He added: “Having only one source of income is akin to none. I felt lost. During a particularly rough time in my life, my mother was paying all of my bills. If not for her, I would have lost my house.”
However, Sharma refused to be beaten down, especially when his little girl was born. She was a precious ray of hope and eventually became his greatest source of inspiration.
“One day, I was sitting in my wheelchair, and I saw my daughter playing on the floor,” Sharma recounts. “She was so happy and care-free. This fleeting moment in time stuck with me, and I knew that I had two choices: either do something or regret my entire life spent sitting in this wheelchair. It was time to dispel those feelings of negativity from my mind. From then on, I was more committed and driven than ever before.”
Sharma’s gentle encounter with his child spurred him onto a path where he doubled his effort at learning and growing. Following his miraculous spinal surgery in 2019, Sharma took his first steps at the same hospital where he’d been told he would be wheelchair-bound for life.
To date, Sharma still keeps his wheelchair around as a reminder of how unpredictable life could be, especially when you have no backup plans.
“It’s a reminder of what I overcame,” he says. “It’s a reminder that there’s more to achieve. When we honor the past, we create an open space for the future. But when we cling to the past, we’re likely to repeat it. Never forget where you came from because it’s a part of where you’ll go.”