Why Do 90% Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months Of Operation? (Revealed!)

Why Do 90% Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months Of Operation?

If you want the answer to why 90% of online businesses fail within the first 4 months of operation, then this article is for you.

Whether you choose an online business or the traditional brick-and-mortar business, you will fail if you do not understand what is involved. It is true of anything really.

I started researching online businesses in 2017. It was only in October 2019, that I made a personal commitment to deep dive into it. 

Today, I am thankful for the success that I have achieved. I am no Neil Patel, Brian Dean or Pat Flynn, (yet), but I am on a successful and steady upward trajectory.

Let me share what I now know to be the real reasons for failing. Once you know them, you can make the changes that you need to achieve success.

Why 90% Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months Of Operation


90% of online businesses fail within the first 4 months of operation because of a lack of commitment and consistency. There is no rocket science to starting and building an online business. All the tools, resources and support are readily available. However, without commitment, dogged determination, consistency and unconditional support you will waver and eventually lose your way. The attraction to working online for most people is being an overnight success. THERE IS NO SUCH THING! You have to work hard to achieve what you want.

As I shared, I did 2 years of research before I dived in and started to build my online businesses.

Over the past 3 years, I have been a member of one of the largest and most successful Content & Affiliate Marketing communities online. This year, the community celebrated its seventeenth anniversary.

Why Do 90% Of Online Business Fail Within The First 4 Months?

With over 1.5 million members it is an ideal community to conduct research on what works and what doesn’t. Which Is what I did.

In this blog post, I will share my findings and also my own experiences. In 3 years, I have been able to create many successful streams of online and passive income.

It took a lot of hard work, late nights, long days and relentless commitment. But, it is all well worth it.

Let Us Start With Some Statistics


I like to make decisions based on facts. Here are some key, real-time statistics to help you understand the depth and breadth of what having an online presence means.

Why Do 90% Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months

 According to DataReportal, over 5 BILLION people around the world now use the internet. That is over 60% of the world’s population of almost 8 billion people.

Access to the internet is even easier given that over 5.3 billion people are mobile phone users. The internet is at their fingertips.

Here’s where things start to get enticing for online entrepreneurs and those persons who want to start a business on the internet.

Why Do 90% Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months

Over 60% of internet users between the ages of 16 to 64 years buy something online every week!

In 2021, over $3.8 TRILLION US dollars was spent on online consumer goods and services purchases.

With these statistics, there is no wonder why people are rushing to start an online business. It just makes good business sense.

Currently, according to Statista, there were almost 2 BILLION websites online at the end of 2021.

Why Do 90% Of Online Businsess Fail Within The First 4 Months

You may think of that as a lot of competition, right? But, do not give up yet.

In April 2022, Web Tribunal reported that of the almost 2 billion websites online, less than 400 million of them are active. Thousands of websites are born every day and thousands are also sent to the graveyard.

Why do you ask?

Well, that is what I am here to tell you.

The old 80/20 rule applies here. Only about 20% of all the websites online are active and the number of inactive ones keeps growing each day.

In short, while many more people are starting online, even more, are stopping, quicker than when they started.

The reasons for failing rest more in human nature than in the technical tools and resources available.

Here are some of my findings.

The ‘Shiny Syndrome’ Attraction


This is the number one reason, in my opinion, why 90% of online businesses fail within the first 4 months.

There is so much bling and false advertising out there about how to Make Money Online (MMO) and how to get rich overnight. The advertisements are false and misleading.

MMO is an online niche (market) in itself. Every day, thousands of people are scammed online and lose their money because of the false promise of instant success.

Just like a traditional, brick-and-mortar business, there is NO SUCH THING!

One of my peers, Roy B. in the UK shared this on his profile in our members’ community.

Why Do 90% Of Online Businesses Fail WithinThe First 4 Months

I could share hundreds of these stories with you but Roy captures them very well. There are tonnes of scams out there and too many people get caught up in them with nothing to show for it, literally.

That is why I took my time and did a lot of research before I jumped in.

In our online entrepreneur community, I read many stories of people giving up when, in fact, the process could have been a lot easier if they had started in the right place.

By the time they join our community, they are so desperate, exhausted and financially burdened that it is difficult to recover.

Low Commitment


This definitely ranks high on my list of reasons why 90% of online businesses fail within the first 4 months. In my coaching practice, it is also the behaviour that I spend the majority of my time helping my Clients to master.

You must be committed to your purpose, your reason for wanting to have a business, and your “why“. This is your rainbow as I like to call it.

It is what gives you eustress and pulls you closer towards the completion of your goals and objectives.

If your commitment is low, you will give up easily and not be dedicated to achieving a successful outcome, regardless of what challenges you may face.

And, you will face challenges.

There will be a learning curve because you are new to the business of online work and resources. You will have to be open to failing, trying again and repeating that cycle if necessary.

When you make a commitment, you have to make up your mind to see it through to the end.

If you do not, you will fail and eventually give up.

RELATED TOPIC >>>> How To Convert An Idea Into A StartUp

Inconsistent Action


When I made the commitment to start investing my time, efforts and money into creating, building and scaling my online businesses, I realised that I had to be fiercely consistent.

If you are working in a traditional business, you have to show up every day, not so? And, you have working hours, right?

Why would you think that working online would be any different?

It isn’t really.

Sure, you may have seen the travel lifestyles that many Bloggers and YouTubers may have. They are in a different country every week, getting invitations to luxury hotels and events and laughing their heads off creating TokToks.

But, again, none of their successes happened overnight.

They were consistent and worked in and on their business every day.

Roope K, in our online community, is a great example of this. He has built a successful online business with YouTube as his main channel.

Why Do % Of Online Businesses Fail Within The First 4 Months

Roope has been a member of our community for over 7 years. During that time, he has built a solid reputation and online business, has over 58,000 people in his network, has attended many of our annual Las Vegas Conferences and now offers classes for our elite members.

Each day, he produces content – blogs or vlogs – and helps people learn and get started online.

As he says:

Making a sustainable income online takes time and effort. But I have seen that if you consistently “sow the seeds” (Read: Take action!), it will pay off. Keep on sowing those little seeds every day and one day you will reap a big harvest.”

No Unconditional Support


As I shared before, I was “looking around” the internet for a couple of years before I made the commitment to dive in and get started building my passive income portfolio.

AWAI’s Accelerated Copywriting Program got me hooked and I knew that I wanted to make a career change. Although the programs at AWAI are excellent, I quickly outgrew the support that was available and needed more.

That was when I found my base community in October 2019. The members I found there took my learning and development to a whole other level and I have not looked back since.

It did not matter where I was from, how old I was, what my experience level was, the industry I wanted to establish myself in, nothing. 

The only thing that mattered was the fact that I wanted to learn and I was open to the guidance, lessons and direction being offered.

Day or night, the community is available to me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, without fail.

I benefit from 17 years of experience from over 1.5 million members across the globe.

Bloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, SEO, Copywriting, Copyediting and everything in between is available to me.

It is primarily because of this engaging and unconditional support that I have been able to find success so quickly. I continue to grow and also invest my time to give back to our community and my network of over 3,500 members.

I could not have achieved what I have without this support and direction.

ADDITIONAL READING >>>> What Is The Future Of Blogging?

Closing Thoughts . . . 


With 90% of online businesses failing within the first 4 months, the internet is a literal graveyard.

I was determined not to be one of those failing statistics and have my efforts go to waste.

During my first committed year from October 2019 to the end of 2020, I turned night into day and burned all the midnight oil at my disposal. I did not miss a day.

It was hard being a single parent, working full-time, travelling and making time to invest in learning new skills. Through the support of the community of entrepreneurs, I was able to push through.

Not only did I develop new expertise but I also strengthened my resilience, grew my courage and rediscovered my voice.

By my second year, I had established a young consulting business sharing what I was learning with others who wanted to get started. At the start of my third year, I scaled again and dedicated more time and effort to blogging.

This year, I added another passive income stream by monetizing my first website with ad revenue. I will continue to repeat that process and grow my income stream even further.

This has become my profession and career and I could not be happier.

Thank You For Reading My Content


If you would like to explore what it means to start an online business and succeed, I would be happy to support you and guide you through the process.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

Cassi Of Troy - Thank You

About The Author


Cassi Of Troy is my online, personal Brand established in 2019 when I began my online entrepreneur journey. It was in October of that year, just before the COVID pandemic started to ricochet across the globe, that I decided to transition my career.

In just under 2 years, I was able to pivot my traditional, brick-and-mortar21-year-old Management Consulting firm into being a Google Authority and a number one ranked website for respected content.

Through Affiliate Marketing and ad revenue, I monetized my website and now enjoy an enviable lifestyle with all the time I need to support my 12-year-old Ballerina. As s single parent, that flexibility is priceless.

We travel between our birth country, Trinidad, to Europe, Canada, Central America and North America regularly. Quiet time is enjoyed exploring the outdoors, practising our Stilt Walking skills, and researching and writing about our experiences.

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