It constantly amazes me that so many people think they can start or run
a business online with no costs whatsoever, but I appreciate that this
is usually from a lack of knowledge or experience of how business works
in general.
The whole idea of business is to turn a profit, in the fastest time
possible. This always requires some investment and this basic principle
does not change online.
From my experience as an accountant, I can assure you that All
businesses, whether online or off, cost something to set up and, all of
them will also require ongoing expenditure.
The *trick* is, simply, to earn more than you spend!
OK, simplistic logic does suggest that reducing costs to zero makes this
goal easier to achieve. But it's wrong.
There are things you MUST do to achieve it, so if you choose to save the
money and spend the time instead, you could wait a very LONG time indeed
before you actually make anything!
Yes, if you have all the time in the world and absolutely no money
whatsoever, you can do your own research and you will, eventually, find
most (not all) of the answers you need.
But what it will *cost* you, could be very high indeed.
How much you already know about running a business, may determine areas
in which you can make savings. For instance, I wouldn't need to buy
"Bookkeeping 101", you, on the other hand, might need to pay for
guidance on these basics or risk heavy expenditure (including fines) of
you get it wrong.
Perhaps the greatest advantage to setting up a business purely online --
the seriously reduced start-up costs -- is also it's greatest enemy.
Because it is so easy, people do not invest either time or money
researching viability.
Is there a chance that the business will succeed to begin with? And I
don't mean, will one website, one product and one ad earn you a million
dollars by next week. You may need to spent $10 to earn $11 ... and keep
doing it over time.
Initial costs need to be factored in and recouped gradually, but you are
bound to require various items that you will need to finance up-front.
It's just a fact of life.
It makes sense to automate processes or hire services to assist you,
rather than to spend countless hours doing menial tasks that do nothing
to earn you a profit.
So often you are, correctly, advised that using free resources is
unwise. Inferior quality or reliability, or distracting ads will cost
you reputation and lost sales. Regaining those will take a heap of time
and, will probably cost you more doing "clean up" work.
Another example is that if you don't know how to put up a website,
you'll have to pay for something or someone to help you, or you'll have
to spend time learning how to do it.
But for every moment your site is not yet online nor ready for
customers, there's potential profit you couldn't earn -- that may soon
have repaid your initial outlay.
In practice, most of us have both time and money in rationed supply, so
balances must be found. Choices must be made.
Your time is often more valuable than cash, because paying for products,
services or information will enable you to do something you couldn't do
before, that, in turn, allows you to get on with what you do best ...
and EARN money faster.
It is up to you to decide if something is relevant to your current
needs, is within your present budget and will help you achieve your
goals. But make the WISE investment.
The choice is still between your money and time and it can be a very
unwise and false economy to resist the costs.
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