Archive for the ‘small business’ category

The Internet Makes Small Business Dreams Come True

August 30th, 2008

The ultimate small business is a website run out of your home. Think about it. No brick and mortar (aka additional rent for an office). You can teach yourself how to build a website or hire someone to build one for you relatively cheaply.

Websites are the ultimate small business. You have minimal overhead other than computer and web hosting costs, advertising, education expenses, and whatever you put into your product or content.

Another amazing thing about running an online business is you can run it from your apartment, your cubicle, or a beach in Jamaica (as long as there’s wifi).

The sheer scalability of a website is an exciting thing too. Anyone anywhere (well, perhaps not those in China) can visit your online storefront and make a purchase or learn more about your service or whatever it is you have to offer.

If you are interested in starting a small business in whatever field and you haven’t started a website yet, I would recommend that you look into it.  Your competitors are.

The Beach is My Office: Working From Anywhere

August 29th, 2008

One of the reasons online business appeals to me and thousands of other people across the world is that it gives you the opportunity to earn income from anywhere in the world.

I have this image in my head of a guy sitting on a beach in Jamaica (I don’t know why it’s Jamaica, but for some reason it always is) on a chaise lounge with a Corona and a wifi-connected laptop.

He’s just taken a dip in the cool crystal blue sea and is now sunning himself as he checks his ample Google Adsense earnings or affiliate commissions for the day.

Cap Blanc Nez
Creative Commons License photo credit: ** Maurice **

It’s a dream of many people to become a part of this burgeoning “mobile workforce.”  Whether you start an ecommerce site, a blog, a forum or community, it is fairly easy to do so.

You don’t need to know how to code.  You don’t need to know much about SEO (although it helps).  You don’t even need to know how to write well.  Every day it seems like a company starts up based on helping people create small businesses, manage inventory, or market products or services online.

Most people probably won’t end up conducting the bulk of their business from a beach in Negril, Jamaica, like my example above, but what’s stopping you from trying.  In the process you may find yourself getting an extra check or two each month.

That’s called disposable income.  And last time I checked, that’s a really nice thing to have.