Starting up your own online business may seem scary, and the big part of being your own boss is that you have to make it up as you go. However, there are various advantages to doing this, and in the end, working it out yourself is part of the challenge. There are many ways that you can start a business this way, and there are many people who enjoy this kind of lifestyle. Here are 8 reasons that could make you consider this a great idea.
1. Work on what you’re passionate about
When you are working for someone else, you are essentially completing tasks for them and not yourself, and working on their assets. While this works for some people, a lot of them aren’t aware of what they’re missing when they put all their creative thinking and hard work into a job that doesn’t serve them in terms of ownership and capital. And they trade the passion of working on projects that are meaningful and valuable to them for the safety of a daily job for someone else’s business. If you aren’t satisfied with your current job, maybe running your own online career is the path for you.
2. Low startup costs
Barriers to entry are a serious problem to many industries. A physical business, such as a factory, requires high startup costs, in terms of capital investment, purchase of the machines and vehicles, staff hiring, insurance, etc. On the other hand, online businesses have somewhat low barriers to entry. Your real expenses basically sum up to a domain name and a hosting account. Investing money to hire coders, writers, marketers, etc. is your own choice. Even if you decide to do this as soon as possible, your overall investment will be much smaller than the one required by a physical presence offline.
3. Create ultimate job security yourself
A lot of people think that running an Internet business is risky. This isn’t really true, because when you learn how to manage your online career, you are in fact training yourself to establish ultimate job security. If you learn the tricks of selling online, it is quite probable that you will be able to repeat what you’ve learned, even if you don’t succeed at first. This can further be applied to practices like:
- Finding freelance service clients
- Successfully re-launching another business model
- Forwarding traffic to ad-based sites
Compare the ability to generate your own income online with a job working for a single employer, and you will see that, with many companies going under quite often, starting an online career yourself could actually be less risky.
4. Improve your earning potential
At a full-time day job, the power of your earnings is limited by your field and experience. For example, if you are a teacher, even with all the experience and certifications that you can gather, it cannot compare to the salary of an investment banker. With online business, there are no limits. If you sell one product, you can train yourself to sell ten more. If you want to expand your services, you can hire new employees and allocate the workload. Instead of negotiating a raise, you are creating this increase by yourself.
5. Explore your interests
A great advantage to running your online business is the flexibility it offers. You can arrange your work according to your particular needs. Instead of being tied to a set schedule, you are free to work during the hours when you’re most productive. You can travel more, as you can run your business from anywhere in the world, so you can combine your other interests and hobbies with managing your online career.
6. Gain access to a wider network of clients
If you are already running an offline business of either selling a specific product or taking on freelance clients (a freelance writer, PHP developer, web designer, etc.), moving your business to an online venue will give you access to a much greater network of clients. You will no longer compete against other local agencies for the same small pool of customers. It will enable you to think as big as you want to, be it a few towns away or even globally, to expand your business.
7. The Gold Rush of the Internet
It’s pretty obvious that an Internet career is a good idea because the Internet is booming, and has been doing so for awhile now. The number of mobile phone users has grown drastically, and is still on the rise. The Internet is growing on all the platforms, and the demand is high, so it is a good idea to jump on that bandwagon. While it isn’t necessarily easy, it’s a path that can really pay off in the end. You can focus your attention on various aspects, such as:
- Apps
- Shops
- Forums
- Blogs
- Software
It is predicted that about 40% of retail sales will be attributed to Internet spending in the near future, and about 85% of internet users shop online.
8. Build your own brand
By starting your own Internet business, you will learn how gratifying it is to build your own brand, and attract a loyal customer base. It is a great feeling to become known as an expert in your niche. If you keep a quality and positive relationship with your customers, more people will buy your products, ask for advice, or offer new opportunities.
Final words
Running your personal online career is an empowering prospect. It offers a cost-effective start, a great earning potential and a lot of flexibility. Your business can run 24/7, and you can earn money even while you sleep. There is a whole network of businesses at your doorstep allowing you to expand.
Meet the Author: Sam Cyrus
Sam Cyrus is CEO and co-founder of Green Web Marketing, an innovative online marketing agency based in Sydney which is focused on Digital Marketing. Sam is also a creative writer, and his interests are entrepreneurship, business, online marketing, SEO, and social media.
