“I want to work for myself. It’s time to start my own business!”
After such a thought, excuses are quickly found so as not to take action: you are frightened by the difficulties that beginner entrepreneurs face every time – there is no start-up capital, not enough knowledge on how to make a social media app or something else, time, etc.
You need to decide what is more profitable for you at this stage of life – to give up everything and start working for yourself or not take risks yet and try to look for ways to realize yourself in a hired job.
But for those who really want, but do not yet have a lot of capital and outside support, it is worth paying attention to the opportunities that online business provides us.
The first and the most important step is to understand all the pros and cons of doing online business considering the business model you are going to use.
As you can guess, today we will discuss all advantages and disadvantages of online business, and this will help you to understand if this type of getting money is yours.
First, we would like to talk about the benefits of such a business:
1. Does not require big financial investments in the first stages
There are a lot of software development services that provide an opportunity to create a website for free. The quality is certainly not top-notch and the tools are quite limited, but if you are serious then this should not stop you.
Of course, it is still better to enter at least with minimal investment, contact designers, and business consulting services.
2. Reaching clients all over the world
The Internet covers the whole world, so you can look for clients and provide services in almost every corner of the world. If your future product has good quality and does not have a huge number of competitors, then the demand will be even higher.
3. Freedom to manage your time
If you have an online business, you can choose the number of hours you will devote it. It can be 4 hours a day, or maybe 20 if you suddenly want to earn more and move faster. But we don’t recommend to use the second option – it is very harmful to health.
4. Wide range of partners
As with clients, it is much easier in online businesses to find partners and close deals because physical presence is not required.
5. Big field for the realization
People often think about their own business when they feel they cannot fulfill their potential in a hired job.
The dream to be a business coach, a psychologist, or to embody cool ideas for creating websites becomes real with the advent of the Internet in our lives. Here everyone can find their niche and their audience.
And each consumer has his own content.
Well, do you want to open your own online business right now?
Let’s take our time and look at the other side – the flaws:
1. Separation from society
If you decide to make the online business your main activity, you should be prepared for the fact that at first, you may miss your team a lot.
2. Inaccuracies in communication
By hiring remote employees or working with performers on a fee basis, you can have great communication difficulties. More risks of misunderstanding, missed deadlines, or short-term cooperation.
With full-time employees, it’s easier to network and make plans.
3. Competition
A large audience and constant activity is undoubtedly a plus. But at the same time, there is a constant race and competition for the audience in the Internet business, because as there are many potential customers, there are also many competitors.
Nevertheless, having your own coffee shop in a good location will help your business to be “done” by itself.
4. Irregular schedule and volatile income
It is fair to say that this point applies to any type of entrepreneurship, whether it is a physical business or an online one.
But the fact remains – it is difficult to predict when your involvement in the process will be needed, and when there will be few clients, and this time you have to work at a loss.
5. A large number of fraudsters in the Internet environment
As you do business online, you will need to partner with other people who provide their services to support your business.
It’s easy to stumble upon scammers here. Therefore, it is very important to be vigilant.
Now is the time to think about all the facts that we have listed above.
You cannot always be better than the competition or be sure that you will not fall prey to cheaters, but you should always consider how to deal with these situations.
Don’t forget to checkout our articles in business and startups to get better understanding of conducting a business in 2020.
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Photo 2 by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels