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Starting an Online Business

Richard Grady

September 07, 2006

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Before the Internet came along, if you wanted to set up your own business it took a lot of money and an unbelievable amount of hard work. You would have to give up nearly everything and live hand-to-mouth for months and work every single waking hour. You would never get a day off and eventually if luck was on your side, you would end up with a thriving business which generated a nice healthy income for you and your family. You would still have to work most days (if not all) and when your normal working day was complete, there would always be paperwork to do in the evening.

If you were fortunate enough to be able to go on holiday you would still have to 'check in with the office' - however good your staff were, you couldn't possibly leave them on their own for more than a day or two without making sure everything was ok. Of course, you could close the business down while you were away but this would mean that you would be losing money everyday that you were lying by the pool (which might take the edge off the enjoyment slightly). (I could go on but I won't because the struggles involved in building an offline business aren't the point of this article.....)

So then the Internet arrived. Suddenly you could set up your own business for next to nothing. All you needed to do was throw up a few web pages and a six figure income would flow from your computer directly to your bank account. It was quick, easy and anyone could do it with little training and little effort. Right? Er, no actually - in fact, absolutely and completely WRONG! I have said it countless times before, if you want to build a successful online business, it takes time and a lot of effort. You can do it on a budget but you still need to work very hard and really put the hours in.

I won't bore you with the details of how many hours a week I have worked in the past but believe me, it is more than I knew existed when I had a job! Unfortunately these facts seem to have been missed by a large percentage of the online population. Over the past few months I have received more and more emails from people who clearly don't want to do any work whatsoever but seem to expect money to just pump out of their computer as soon as they turn it on each morning. Not only that but they have this expectation that I and others owe it to them to help/guide/support them for free! Some lazy so and so's have actually suggested that I do all the work in building their website business and then take a cut of future profits!! Why on earth would I want to do that? Why don't I just build the business on my own and cut them out of the deal?

I received an email from someone this week complaining that after buying one of my wholesale guides, he had been unable to find what he was looking for at a decent wholesale price. The product he was trying to buy was incredibly competitive and has a very small profit margin anyway so the chances are that he was simply expecting to be able to buy it for an unrealistic price. Either that or he had only looked at wholesalers on the Internet because he couldn't be bothered to move from his chair and actually visit the huge number of excellent suppliers who don't advertise online (I am beginning to suspect that this is primarily because they don't want to deal with characters like this!).

Anyway, you know the funny part of this story? The guy bought my wholesale guide in 2004 - it had taken him two and a half years to write to me to complain! Does this sound like the kind of 'go-getter' who is going to put the required effort in and succeed in any kind of business? No one is going to do the work for you and you really only have yourself to blame if your business is not working out the way you want it to. If something is wrong, change it. If something isn't working, try doing it a different way. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, find something else that you do enjoy.

Internet marketing isn't for everyone and it isn't a quick and easy route to easy money. I haven't had a proper day off work for over five years (even when I am on holiday I usually spend an hour or so a day dealing with emails). Yes the money is good but if it is only the money that attracts you, believe me, you will soon get bored. Internet marketing is a lifestyle - it can be a very good lifestyle but like any business, you need to be passionate about what you do if you really want to make a success of it. If you don't fall into this category then you could well find that your Internet business dream becomes just another JOB.....

Copyright 2006 Richard Grady

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