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I am sure you landed here because you want to start an online business and have no idea yet where to begin.
Maybe you are dreaming of reclaiming your life back because you can’t take the dreaded 9 to 5 anymore.
Regardless of your reason, starting an online business is not as challenging as you may think.
You don’t need any MBA or even a real experience in the business world to succeed online.
In this article I will answer all the questions you may have about getting started online.
READ MORE: Free 10-Part Video Series Reveals The #1 Business Model To Launch
Starting an online business for beginners
Starting an online business does not come with the challenges and overheads faced by traditional brick and mortar businesses.
Some of the advantages of starting an online venture include high margins, great flexibility and global access to new markets and potential customers.
Bottom Line:
You can live your dream life thanks to the Internet.
The opportunity is there for everyone.
It works for ALL ages.
Anything is possible.
The Internet is POWER.
The Internet is FREEDOM.
The Internet is TRAVEL.
The Internet is your FAMILY's SAFETY NET.
The Internet is a Golden Goose that keeps on giving.
The Internet is YOURS.
I know for most people it’s daunting becoming an online entrepreneur when you have no marketing skills and no experience working on the web!
Guess what? Making a living online is TRULY POSSIBLE and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist or a marketing guru.
It turns out that this type of businesses is more common than you think. And it’s becoming much more common too.
Likely, these online business models are a glimpse into the future. One day, we may find that very few of us end up working in stuffy, corporate environments.
To demonstrate just how possible this is today, read on to see some rather impressive statistics regarding online business…
Ecommerce sales which are forecasted to reach $6.5 trillion by 2023, according to Statista. As you can see there is enough opportunities to go around should you choose to get into this game.
Let’s expand on the benefits of starting your online business journey:
Benefits of online business
The day that turns your life around is the day when you get interested in earning extra income online. No matter what your motivations are, it’s a decision that can change your entire life for the better.
Benefit #1: Lifestyle, freedom to do what you want and when you want
Earning money online is appealing because of the lifestyle it can creates and the freedom that comes with it.
With an online business you get to travel the world on your own schedule, going wherever you want, and working whenever you want.
If you don't care for travel, that's fine.
You can never leave your zip code if you don't want to...instead choosing to spend your time with your kids, never missing one of their ball games or recitals again because of work.
That's another way to enjoy the Internet Lifestyle.
You can send your kids to the best schools. You can pay for their college, so they don't start off real life in debt.
You can retire early. Play golf. Read more books. Enjoy more "afternoon delights" and spend time with your significant other.
Benefit #2: Very minimal startup costs
We live in a world powered by the internet and as such there are plenty of online business opportunities with low to minimal startup costs.
Yes, you will need some digital assets like a website, a social media platform which are relatively cheap to implement.
As an indication hereunder, some estimate costs involved in starting a basic online business for beginners:
- Buying a domain name: $10 per year
- Website hosting: $5 per month
- Email marketing software: $47 per month
Benefit #3: High return on investment (ROI)
One other big benefit of starting an online business is the earning potential which in some cases is almost unlimited.
Indeed, in most cases your income is determined by your productivity and not necessary by the hours you put in.
In other world you need to work smart with some well-defined systems and processes to increase your productivity. This would eventually lead to passive income.
As opposed to a brick and mortar business, your online venture can be marketed to anybody, anywhere at any given time through various digital channels.
As you’ll see there are countless different methods you can use to earn money online and many of them are incredibly simple and don’t require any huge upfront investments.
And that’s another exciting thing to consider. Earning money online is something that you can do on top of your current job. This doesn’t have to mean taking the frightening step of giving up your current job and putting all your eggs in one basket.
You can start earning money online today and only ever have to leave your job once you’re making a stable income and you decide it is safe and sensible to do so.
Or you can carry on running a ‘side business’ on top of your current career indefinitely and potentially double, triple or quadruple your income!
The 4 Core Internet Business Models
There are 4 core online business models you need to be aware of. All other models derived from these main ones:
1. Selling Physical Products
Example: selling Android TV Boxes through amazon and/or your own web store.
You can also sell Physical products on eBay, Shopify just to name a few.
Pros
The biggest advantage of selling physical products is that the value is in the product. Customer already know and want the product and are just shopping around for the cheapest price.
Cons
Some of the main cons of selling physical products are the low profit margin, the inventory investment and shipping costs involved.
READ MORE: How To Build a Shopify Store The Right Way
2. Selling Services
Examples: graphic design, SEO, social media marketing, writing, coaching, consulting.
Pros
Selling your personal services is my second favorite business model. It’s scalable and you can set some recurring billing.
Cons
One of the main cons for this business model is that it requires a lot of work in the beginning. Indeed this field is expert driven so you have to master your craft. There are also lots of competitions.
3. Selling Software
Examples: a traffic generating tool, a keyword research tool or a web page building one.
Pros:
Selling software or Software as a Service (SaaS) is scalable, it offers a competitive advantage, especially if it offers more value than the competition. You can also easily set some recurring billing.
Cons
For this business model the main cons are the skills required to develop the software and the costs involved as well. Although you can hire a coder for this task you end up most of the time overspending to deliver your product to market. Budget control is a key success factor in this business model.
4. Selling information products
Example: a course on how to make money online
Pros:
This final model is my favorite one as it has a high margin (no inventory, no overhead, self-replicating). You can also setup recurring billing and the product delivery is automated (thus cutting down the costs even more).
Cons:
The main con for this model that I can see if the challenge to communicate the value of the product to customers. With physical products it’s easy as the product is tangible and you can see and feel it. With information product on the other hand it’s difficult for a customer to perceive the value you are delivering unless you managed with some good copywriting skills to explain or “sell” the idea.
Here are other benefits of selling information products:
- It’s a Business you can build with or without employees
- You can build the business around your passion
- It’s a true Lifestyle business
There are 3 widely known formats for distributing information products:
- Written (ebooks)
- Audio (audiobooks, audio courses, interviews)
- Video (videos, video courses)
Now Is The Time To Start An Online Business
You are probably still on the fence as you feel safe in your corporate routine job and that's totally understandable.
But if you get pass your fear and start your online business the right way, the benefits will outweigh the costs by a large margin.
As the digital technology keeps evolving in the main stream, there will be more and more opportunities for people ready to grasp them.
Make sure that you are one of those people.
If this article inspires you to start your own business online, then my goal would have been accomplished.