Easy access to real-time information has made the internet the go-to source for most of us. In addition, the internet has revolutionized the way of doing business influencing and changing the habits of various shoppers.
Over 800 million have shopped online worldwide and the number of internet shoppers has grown by almost 20% every year. The internet is becoming the virtual mall for the consumer and a gold mine for an internet marketer or online business owners.
The online world has offered various business models and opportunities as well. You can make money even if you are not selling a physical product. If you have a blog or website, you can make money by selling advertising spaces, selling digital/downloadable products or from joining affiliate marketing programs. Others may be interested in selling tangible products, which requires shipping and handling. These are normally sold via online stores such as their own websites or the use of forums such as eBay, Amazon.com, Yahoo stores, sulit.com, craigslist,  etc. A lot of people can save money  in paying hefty office space rents since most of these online business can actually be conducted at home. You can also save a lot of taxes by taking advantage of the tax deductions that are usually only available to business owners.
Anyways, below are the top 4 reasons why people start an online business:
1. It is very easy to start
It is very easy to start since most online businesses require only a website to start with. Even if you do not know how to build a website or any coding/programming knowledge, there are a lot of website builders or templates that are available out there that you can use. It has gotten much easier for people nowadays because of the easy access to these business tools and software. In fact, there are a lot of online business owner who are not programming experts yet they make more money than those who are. Moreover, even if you do not own a website, you can still set-up your online stores through virtual mall or online forums like eBay, Yahoo! Stores, Amazon.com, etc.
2. It is very Inexpensive to start
For some online business, the expense would be just the cost of designing and hosting a website. But for the most part, you may need to incur start-up expenses such as licenses, permits, office supplies, advertising, etc. Others may involve carrying an inventory if you are selling a product. Some businesses can be started for as little as $100 while others may spend around $1,000 or more. However, the overall start-up expenses are chump change compared to starting a brick-and-mortar business.
3. Can reach worldwide customers
One thing I like about the online business is that your customers may come from various part of the world. You are not limited locally and you don’t even need to spend a lot of money for tapping a huge market base. Talk about a global business without even setting foot in your customer’s country! You can sell products like e-books, online training videos, informational membership for a fee sites, other digital/downloadable products, or you can even create a blog that generates worldwide readers and earn money through advertising. Tangible items that require shipping are usually feasible domestically due to logistics reasons but others have thrive selling and shipping to worldwide customers. Again, it all depends on your business model.
4. Flexibility on the Location
Yes, it is more likely a home-based business, and as you know, operating a home-based business comes with a lot of advantages. It works for a lot of people so they can stay at home and spend time with the kids or just have flexibility as opposed to being an employee and getting stuck in a cubicle. In addition, you are not limited to just one place. Some online venture, such as blogging or informational websites, can be done every where you go. You can be in a vacation in Bahamas and still be able to update your website or blog as long as you have your laptop and internet connection.
My reason was it was easy and inexpensive to start. Therefore, you could be profitable very quickly.
Easy, inexpensive and location independence were my reason, however the main driving force was to be my own boss.
I started because it is so flexible. I like how I can do it from anywhere. This keeps a lot of doors open.
@MissT is right, the time is very flexible, as a person with a disability, this online businesses opens a door for to for opportunity to be able to work at home.
Great reasons. I started because I want to explore the possibilities.
How do you start a blog that will generate income? I understand how you make money once the blog is started but I am assuming you would have to start a blog that is isn’t a free one.
Location is the biggest issue for me. As it is my “day job” is a telecommute position so once we get out of debt we’ve figured out that we could live in most of the countries we would want to move to on my income alone.
For extra income. Furthermore, it merely requires skills, a little or even zero capital investment in the case of intellectual products such as computer apps, business-related computer programs, or e-books.
These are all my reasons exactly for starting my online business. I’ve been pretty successful in making connections with people in the blogging world and am very happy doing what I do! Thanks for your article – it rang true!