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. TC Community 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