Did you know that you could start your own business today? It’s true. A few decades ago this would have been impossible. There’s no way anyone could have woken up, decided to start a business, and then completed all the necessary preparation to sell a new product or service. How would they create the inventory or streamlined process of what they were selling? How would they line up a storefront? And of course, where would the funding come from?
The internet has completely changed the world of business, making it easier to reach hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button. The products and services that continue to make our lives easier and more interesting keep becoming more accessible, and it’s because of ambitious entrepreneurs with an internet connection.
But the real question is why so many people are setting off on their own to earn an income. After all, isn’t there a lot of risk involved? While plenty of people prefer to stick with a job that gives a guaranteed paycheck, there are also plenty of reasons why someone would want to start a business of their own online.
Lower Startup Costs
Even ten years ago, starting a business required a lot of prep work—especially in the finance department. If an entrepreneur didn’t have access to money of his or her own, it required a significant amount of time spent meeting with investors. It meant creating a backlog of the product or creating an outline of how the service would work. In many cases, it also meant hiring employees, from lawyers to accountants to sales personnel. Every cost added up!
If you’d like to start your own online business, however, you don’t have to even spend a penny. Some affiliate marketers make money from social media or email newsletter promotion alone.
That’s not to say you should try to start your own business without any investment whatsoever merely because you can. After all, you’re investing your time, so why not maximize your potential? Purchasing a domain or hiring someone to design a custom website theme are still considerably low costs compared to traditional business start-up costs, and they can mean the difference between your endeavours not really taking off or succeeding over time.
Some startup costs that can help new online business owners include:
- A domain name
- Custom logos or website themes
- An email marketing account (such as Mailchimp)
- Advertisements
- Conference admission
- Business coaching
- Memberships to online communities
When put into action with the right idea, these types of expenses will be covered by the income you make from your new business.
More Freedom
With an online business, choose your office—sitting in bed at home, relaxing at a neighborhood coffee shop, or even halfway across the world. Not only that, but work whenever you want to, like when the kids are at school or as you sit on an airplane. It’s up to you.
This freedom is incredibly attractive as more people start to question the typical office setting. It used to be that earning a paycheck was just that: money in the bank. But people who start an online business believe that a job can be enjoyable and not completely drain you of your happiness the way that fluorescent lighting in a cramped office building can.
Also, at the heart of it, you get to decide what it is you want to sell. At traditional jobs, you’re sort of at the whim of whatever company you’re working for, so while you might not agree with or like the products or services they provide, you do it anyway to pay the rent. With an online business, you get full control over what to say yes or not to, which can feel incredibly rewarding.
Time For Friends And Family
We all enjoy spending time with family and loved ones, but work can often get in the way of spending time with those we truly care about. Not only does that mean 40 hours of the week are spent somewhere else, but it means commute times and exhaustion that can interfere from having the time. And if you can find the time, stress from work can sometimes distract you from being 100% there.
For decades, people—especially women—have felt that they need to choose between a career or kids. An online business of your own means you actually can have it all. You can be there for the big sales just as much as you can be there for the dance recitals and t-ball games. As we mentioned before, you have the freedom to choose when and where to work, and this in turn allows you to spend more time with people you love.
Long-Term Financial Security
People tend to think that salaried jobs are the most secure types of jobs out there, but that’s actually not true. If you were to lose your job tomorrow—your sole source of income—what would you do?
A strong online business has multiple income streams, so when one fails or doesn’t perform as well, it’s not actually a big deal. For affiliate marketers, for example, this might mean that one of the affiliate programs doesn’t send as much in commissions as it usually does. But since there will still be a few other sources of income, it doesn’t mean ramen noodles for dinner the next two weeks.
Additionally, once a good income stream is set up, it can kind of operate on autopilot. This doesn’t mean it requires no work whatsoever, but it does mean that the efforts you put into it all in the beginning will pay off—in many cases, for years to come. As the younger generation is facing little to no social security payments, starting an online business has never been more appealing.
