How about an Online Business

Why you should start your own Internet Business

Usually, people are naturally a bit interested and curious about the whole idea of starting an online business. There are of course many reasons why someone would want to start an online business. Being tired of the 9 to 5 job is certainly a major one and also looking for alternatives to supplement their income. Actually, everyone can start a business online today. All you need is an idea or a product and a way to sell it online effectively. So an online business is similar to a traditional ‘bricks-and-mortar’ business. Or at least the same mentality and way of thinking is required.

Generally, people have the impression that you have to be the new Mark Zuckerberg in order to make money online and if you are not then the next best thing is selling things on eBay or on a similar website making a few $ every now and then. If you are one of these people you really need to open up your mind because that’s so not the case today. In my previous posts, i talked about the advantages and disadvantages of working from home and i really recommend reading those blog posts too if you want to fully understand what it means to own an online home business.

But before i start mentioning all the reasons why you should start an online business i will just mention some of the main reasons people hesitate to do it.

Disadvantages of Doing Business Online 

           1. Risk of online frauds and scams

Unfortunately a big part of online marketing and business is full of scammers. But that is not surprising after all fraud exists in every kind of business activity online and offline. The trick to distinguish between the legal opportunities from the scams is that if they simply sound too good to be true then they probably are.

There are many videos online of people standing in front of a mansion, super-car, private jet or a yacht claiming that they have discovered the perfect marketing strategy to make money online and they can show you how to achieve that just in a couple of weeks. That’s obviously a lie. They just rent the limos, the private jets and everything else to make the video and the testimonies from the “happy” clients are completely fake. But still some people believe them and spend their money chasing a dream otherwise, they would have stopped doing it by now. Don’t be so gullible and always remember business (online or not) is about hard work and persistence.

             2. Too much too learn

Some web and marketing knowledge is necessary in order to start an online business. But isn’t knowledge necessary no matter what business you are involved in? Whatever your profession is didn’t you have to study and learn how to do it in the first place? There is definitely a learning process you have to follow and many things to discover if you want to succeed but when there is a will there is a way. Right? You don’t need to be a computer whiz or know coding and programming to become an online entrepreneur. But it’s essential to master the basics in order to succeed like in anything else. Can you succeed without learning?

             3. Fear of failure

Fear of trying, fear of what others might think or say, fear of being scammed, fear of disappointment and generally fear. Don’t be afraid of failure because failure it’s simply part of the success not the opposite of it. The person who never failed in his life is the person who never tried anything.

            4. Initial expenses

People sometimes are worried about software and even hardware expenses. In a world where almost everyone has a laptop or a tablet and an Internet connection creating an online business is really inexpensive. I will explain that below in details.

            5. Wrong expectations

People many times have unrealistic expectations when it comes to online marketing and business. Over the years an idea has been cultivated that money can be made fast online with not too much effort. People expect everything to be easy and when they face a few setbacks they get frustrated. As a result of that, they quit way too soon before they even try seriously. Most of the times people fail not  because the’re not capable enough but because they look for shortcuts and easy ways to speed things up. You can read my previous post about Online Expectations for more information on this topic.

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4 Big Reasons to Start an Online Business 

But enough with the reasons why people are reluctant to build their own online business. Working from home is a challenge and it can look scary at first but it can also be very rewarding. Thousands of people have already done it successfully, people who are self-determined, self-motivated and are willing to put in the hard work. People who are not smarter than me and you, they simply have common sense they are persistent and they dare not to follow the familiar path and don’t business as usual. Now let’s talk about why you should seriously consider starting your own online business.

1) Do what you Love

Working for someone else as their employee means that you are working on their projects. Even if you love your job and what you are working on right now you are still missing the opportunity to put your passion on your own projects. All your creativity and hard work are pretty much used by someone else. If you don’t like your current job then you own it to yourself to try building your own business. Working on what you really love and running your own enterprise is a lot more fulfilling than being a corporate employee waiting for a raise. Life is too short and you can’t afford spending it on dead end jobs. Sharing your passions with the world is one of the biggest joys in life.

2) Low start-up Costs

Starting a business in the “real” world will cost you thousands of $. You will have to pay for rent, insurance, purchase machines & equipment, physical inventory and all your other monthly expenses that you must be able to cover for the first few months before your business turns into any profits. Usually, you have to get a loan to fund your business and that means going into debt. That means you have to take a lot of risk and hope for the best.

An online business, on the other hand, will cost you much less. All you really need is a domain name (the price varies but you can buy one for $14-$20/year) and a web hosting service which you can find for $5 per month. You don’t have to pay to download any software you can just create your website with a free website-building software (like WordPress). You can also install a free theme for your website (like the one i am using), and start an email newsletter for $0. Many great websites that make tens of thousands of $ every month started like that.

You can read more about how to make money from blogging here. You don’t have to ship or create any products although creating digital products will cost you almost nothing (eBooks, e-classes etc).

You can, of course, hire freelancers to boost your business like writers, graphic designers, SEO experts, etc. but that is totally optional. And even then the overall investment is much less than building an offline business. The particular low cost of an online business also means you can start one while you are still working full time which is a great advantage since it lowers the risk you have to take significantly.

3) Earning Potentials

First of all, your business is open 24/7 365 days and it is making money for you even when you are sleeping. There are more than 3.5 billion people online right now and online shopping is on the rise. The Internet is just the biggest market in the world and you can have access to it at a very low cost. Online shopping has been increasing for many years now and that means eCommerce businesses are booming. Your clients can be found everywhere in the world and not just in the area your business is physically located. Although making money online like i said before is not that easy since the competition is fierce investing on it is wise because it’s growing faster than anything else.

If you work consistently, you can come up with a marketing strategy and be productive you can create a passive income that it will require very little maintenance. If you can successfully sell one product online you can sell dozens all you have to do is repeat the process. The strategy will remain the same only the tactics will change. The sky is the limit. Your income is not fixed like when you are employed in a full-time job but it’s determined from your productivity rate and not just by how many hours you work.

4) Job Security

Owning a successful online business doesn’t just mean you’re your own boss but you can also increase the stability in your life. It’s not just that you don’t have to live with the danger of losing your job at any time but if you can master the world of online business you actually created the ultimate job security. If you can make it online once if you learn how to attract visitors and increase your traffic you can repeat the process again and again. After that, you can launch every other Internet business model you are interested in and you can be sure it will be successful. Building an online business can lead over time to a stable source of revenue requiring just a few hours of your time every week. Great companies go bust these days all the time, relying on a “steady” job is much riskier than starting an online business

Conclusion  

Owning a business can be tricky and the road to success is not a straight line. If you aren’t disciplined your productivity will suffer and you might have a very hard time earning any money. The 4 reasons i mention above sum up the major advantages of starting your own online business but there are definitely much more like being in control of your schedule, work from wherever you are, explore your creativity etc. I can keep adding more reasons in the list but honestly what’s the point. If you are not convinced by now it means you have more excuses than i have reasons.

You can start with very little for the sake of adventure and you never know your life could change for the better. It’s really up to you.

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Ready to start your own business? You can check my #1 recommendation and start your Online business today. Of course, it’s free to join ($0).

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Are you an online entrepreneur? Let me know what you think with a comment. Are you an inspiring entrepreneur? Leave me a comment below and share your idea with us.