I am going to start with a bit of a ‘controversial statement (as I am quite prone to do):-
Starting a Business, Online (or Offline) is NOT for everyone & actually may NOT be for YOU.
If you are looking at working for yourself and starting up a business, you might be the best Joiner, Painter, Mechanic, Salesperson, etc, BUT it may not be for you – If you don’t have or acquire certain traits, skills and experience, you will probably fail (maybe ending up owing a lot of money!) and being an employee is probably better for you: especially if you prefer:-
regular hours,
regular pay,
regular holidays,
sickness pay, or
are risk averse,
lack willpower and stamina.
Working for yourself and starting a business is definitely NOT a job. You have got to ask yourself if starting up and (hopefully) running a viable, successful business is for YOU – and no-one else.
This is exactly the same for an Online business, maybe more so. Just setting up a website for your Offline business is definitely NOT classed as running an Online business – really, all Offline businesses should have a website as an online presence as a minimum, however if you are really set on setting up an Online business, then there are specifics that must be addressed:-
It is NOT EASY
It takes TIME
It takes MONEY (maybe not a great deal initially but it does cost if done correctly!)
It is NOT a ‘Get Rich Quick’ solution
You will need to LEARN & develop a new set of skills and be comfortable with Marketing
An understanding of Computers will be required & you must be willing to learn
In comparison to a ‘traditional’ bricks & mortar’ offline business, an Online business can be very cost-effective as a start-up. So… What do YOU consider as an Online business?
Lots of people have found many ways to run a successful (profitable?) Online business, I have personally made a decent living selling items and information on a ‘popular’ auction site but the method(s) I have learned are only a few and I am currently still looking to learn other methodology and processes.
As an example, please ‘Google’ (funny how this has become a ‘verb’!) or place in your search engine “make money online” – at the time of writing this gives 165 Million results, so there are many ways (some good, some not so!) regarding making money online. Have a good look around and see how big the online business is, and how vast the number of opportunities are. The only thing I recommend is NOT to buy anything before you have had a good look around – there are lots of scams and totally useless products/programs out there – so Caveat Emptor:- ‘Buyer Beware’!
I want you to understand the range of opportunities out there, and that what may be suitable for some people may not be suitable for others.
Looking at things from a positive angle however, I believe the plus points of an online business are:-
Anyone can start and run a business, with no restrictions on age, race, gender, education, privilege
No commuting or having to get up and get ready for an early or late start
You are working for yourself, not as a wage slave for an ungrateful boss/company