Table of Contents
The Surefire Series
55 Surefire Food Businesses You Can Start for Under $5000
55 Surefire Internet Businesses You Can Start for Under $5000
55 Surefire Homebased Businesses You Can Start for Under $5000
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book could not have been written without Jere Calmes of Entrepreneur Press, who not only served as my supervisor, but also encouraged and challenged me throughout the process of writing of this book. Tricia Miller of MillerWorks was also indispensable. Together, these folks patiently guided me through this project and never accepted less than my best efforts. I thank them all.
Finally, I thank my husband, Rob Williams, who has provided support, encouragement, and laughter throughout this project, and to whom I owe so much. This book is dedicated to my children, Caroline and Christopher.
INTRODUCTION
If you have picked up this book, you probably already know the internet offers a virtual universe of business opportunities.
There are many reasons to start an online business. First, online shopping is growing. For the fourth quarter of 2007, revenues generated by online-based businesses (and the online aspects of traditional retail businesses) were $86.2 billion, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (census.gov). That tally is up 4.6 percent from results for the third quarter of 2007.
Operating an online business also offers a wide range of benefits, including a worldwide customer base; the ability to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; the ability to have a flexible work schedule for you and your employees; and smaller inventory requirements.
In addition, the business can be operated from almost anywhere: your home, a small office, or a warehouse location; One person can create a website that is as professional looking as that of a large, well established, multi-million dollar company. This makes the playing field much more level. An e-commerce website can be created and open for business in hours or daysnot months or yearsand there is very low financial risk (in the hundreds or thousands of dollars).
However, key reasons to start up an online business are the low startup and overhead costs. Startup costs can be as low as $5,000, and the business can be set up in a home office and attended to at night and on weekends, which allows new entrepreneurs to keep their day jobs. In addition, many budding netrepreneurs can set up their online businesses in less than one week.
TEN REASONS YOU SHOULD BE ONLINE
Need convincing that the web is the place for your business to be? It would be no sweat to list 25 reasonseven 50 to 100but to get you started, here are 10 reasons why you have to be online.
1. It is cost-effective. The least expensive way to open a business is to launch a website. While you could spend many millions of dollars getting a business started, low-budget websites (started with as little as $100) remain viable business options.
2. You cut your order fulfillment costs. Handling orders by phone or mail is expensive. The most efficientcheap, fast, accurateway to process orders is through a website.
3. Your catalog is always current. A print catalog can cost big bucks, and nobody wants to order a reprint just to change one price or to correct a few typos. A website can be updated in minutes.
4. High printing and mailing costs are history. Your customers can download any information you want them to have from your website. Sure, you may still want to print some materials, but a lot can be distributed through the web.
5. You cut staffing costs. A website can be a low-labor operation.
6. You can stay open 24 hours a day. Youll be able to get your sleep because your site will be open even when your eyes are closed.
7. You are in front of a global audience. Ever think that what you sell might be a big hit in Scotland or China, but feel clueless about how to penetrate foreign markets? The web is your answer, because it is truly a borderless marketplace. Watch your site log, and you may see visitors streaming in from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Malaysiawherever there are computers and phone lines.
8. You can save money. A website can save you lots of money in many ways. For one, when you sell through a website, in many cases, you dont have to maintain a stock or inventory. All you need to do is maintain an online inventory that people can browse through and order from. Then, once they have placed an orderif you have set up your business this wayyou can order the product and then get it shipped from the original supplier or manufacturer. In addition, if you transfer all of your business operations to your website, you dont even have to commute daily to your workplace; you can manage everything from where you live.
9. There are no angry customers in your face. You cannot ignore unhappy customers in any business; in fact, how well you deliver customer service will go far toward determining how successful you are. But at least with a web business, you will never have to stand eyeball to eyeball with a screamer.
10. It is easy to manage your marketing. Between your website and your smart use of e-mail, you would have complete control over when and how your message goes out. You cannot beat a website for immediacy, and when a site is done well, it is hard to top its ability to grab and hold the attention of potential customers.
You have other reasons to want a web business? Fair enough. The keys are knowing your reasons, knowing the benefits of doing business online, and being persistent through the launch. This road is not always easy to travel, but it is definitely a road that has transported many to riches, with much less upfront cash, hassle and time required than for similar offline businesses. And that is a tough proposition to top.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book is divided into two parts. The first part explains the basics you need to get your online business up and running for less than $5,000. The second part provides an overview of the 55 businesses that are surefire winners.
However, keep in mind: Although this book does go into some detail about setting up an online business, its objective is not just to show the world how to start an online business. The data and information featured in each startup category are meant to give you, the reader, a snapshot or short overview of each opportunity. The book covers online retail sites that sell products, as well as sites that sell services and sites that offer directory listings and content.
Each listing includes four web resources. These resources are there simply to give you a research tool and help you find out more about a type of online business. You can use them to research a particular type of online business, get information about how to obtain merchandise to sell online in a particular category, or just view what the home page of a successful online business in a category looks like. Basically, they are included to give you the ability to quickly locate and compile further information about a particular online business opportunity of interest to you. And remember: Even though there are other online businesses in the category that you are interested in, there is always room for more.
