Today, in the Internet world, anyone can be in business.
In the past you would’ve needed to own or rent a brick and mortar type of business, outlaying thousands even hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions of dollars just to get started!
Nowadays, with the inception of the internet, you can start a business for under $100.00 and because of the low entry cost it is usually to the detriment of the business.
Why?
Because of the low entry cost of starting an online business, most people don’t take it that serious and don’t treat it like a REAL business.
But whether you spend a hundred, or thousands of dollars, or more, the fundamentals of ANY business apply to any business no matter how much to invested into that business:
Business Plan
You need to have a vision of your business fully mapped out before you start. Many people start a business and never plan anything except the false belief that they can make it as they go.
You need to know:
- What sort of business model/system will you build?
- Will you be an affiliate or a product owner?
- What sort of product will you have? ebook, videos, audios… MP3 or will you build a membership site?
Before you proceed, ALL of this should be clear; not only in your head but on paper!
Operating Capital
Now, let’s dispel another myth; the word FREE. If you’re serious about this business, forget about Free. Free is for chumps and fools. Sorry but FREE is a gimmick and is designed for people NOT in business. EVERYTHING costs money and you need operating capital (money).
A domain name, website and hosting all cost money. Now you’re probably going to say, “You can get a free website & hosting by getting either a Blogger or WordPress account.”
True; but like in any business you want to building an ASSET so your domain name… is an asset; your website is an asset you can later on sell for a real profit. A Blogger or WordPress account is difficult to transfer to someone else.
Traffic is another expense you’ll need to budget for.
Again I realize that you can get free traffic through article marketing, SEO, link building and many other ways. The problem with this type of traffic is, it takes too long to really generate consistent and reliable results; something that is critical in business.
Personally, I’ve gone down this path without any success (free traffic). I prefer PAID Traffic. Why? Ultimately because it’s IMMEDIATE, consistent and reliable; something you CAN build a business with.
Sales / Profit
This is basically the name of the game.
No sales = No business, but even more important than sales is profit. If you’re not making a Profit then you’re really not in business, you are running a hobby.
As I mentioned above, I choose paid traffic because it’s almost instant and you can see if your offer is converting into sales.
The other great benefit is you can start small, say around $10 – $20 and if your offer is converting, you can scale up. Some of the Traffic resources I use are, PPC, CPV, Solo Ads, Banner Ads and just to name a few.
The major benefit of having an Internet business is that you’re not tied down anywhere. With a laptop, you can run your business from anywhere in the world.
Let me know you thoughts – Comment below.
