Many people have a brilliant idea for a small business that they want to explore. For
some it could be a small retail shop or the vision could be a large multi-employee
company. Some think about a product and others think about providing services. But all
of them think about the freedom and fulfillment they will achieve by running their own
business.
Despite the romantic notion, we have all heard that 9 out of 10 traditional businesses
fail within the first five years. And those people have lost not only their time and energy,
but likely a substantial amount of money as well. Why? Because when you start a
traditional business there are costs associated like:
-Rental or purchase of physical space
-Office supplies and equipment
-Product costs
-Staff
-Marketing
And the list goes on
paid back whether or not the business succeeds.
The
With an online business, start up costs are usually much lower. And, if you aren't selling
a product, then you can eliminate those associated costs. This not only applies to the cost
of making or purchasing the product, but associated expenses when dealing with
transactions, shipping, and returns that need to be honored to ensure customer service.
The customer is always right, remember?
Any type of business requires the owner to put forth a strong effort in order to succeed.
Most successful entrepreneurs would tell you that you get out what you put in. There are
many promises of ›get rich quickœ opportunities, but deep down we all know they don't
exist, despite our dreams to the contrary. So what you are left with is investing your
time, effort, and money to make SURE you succeed. That is the commitment of the 1 in
10 that DO make it beyond the five year mark.
If you choose to pursue an online business, that time and effort can pay off at much
faster rate because the business begins to run itself. A traditional business owner
generally finds that he or she must invest even more than a 40-hour work week to get the
business off the ground. And adding staff to help out usually only happens when the
owner is completely drained and can justify the additional expense. Therefore,
traditional businesses usually grow at a slow, steady pace and after a reasonable amount
of time the owner can start reducing his or her hours, which may be only back to 40
hours a week at first!
With an online business, the growth rate can be much faster. If you choose to start an
online business such as an affiliate program, very quickly the business will start working
for you - assuming you have invested in a solid foundation upon which to build your
business. By building a solid website and relationships with your prospect list you begin
to generate sales. From here, your customers may become repeat buyers OR they may
begin to sell for you. At the same time, because you have no products or transactions to
handle, there are no backend processes for you to manage. Your time and effort can be
channeled into marketing the business instead of managing the details.
This leads us back to one of the main reasons you wanted to start a business flexibility
in your life. What happens when your business is generating sales for you all by itself?
You can take a break from it! Some people use that break for vacation and some people
use it to start another income-generating business. For some, the flexibility is important
insurance should they become ill or have some other emergency to deal with. And you
can't put a price on that.
So we know that with any business the goal is flexibility and fulfillment, but starting an
online business has some definite advantages over a traditional business such as:
-Ability to work from home for convenience
-Low start up costs
-No boss
-You can start part-time until it takes off
-A wide variety of opportunities exist so you don't need high level of knowledge in
business
-The whole world is your market and the internet is a cheap and easy way to reach
your prospects
-Some online businesses such as affiliate programs reduce financial investment and
management headaches
If you want to start your own business but can't afford to take too many risks, then an online opportunity might be the right fit for you. Do your research to find the right business, invest your time and energy, and you should be reaping the rewards in no time!
Why Consider Creating an Online Business?
