But today, just about anyone can decide they want a work at home internet business for between $0 - $100 per month. The barrier to entry is so low that we are seeing internet businesses open at record rates. This has brought with it an entirely new industry of companies who have products to help these work at home folks along.
There are many online services that provide a complete web presence for the work at home internet business owner. The more expensive versions allow you pick the template and control many of the features of your online marketplace. These include the way the products are presented and the payment options.
A major question that the work at home internet business owner needs to ask themselves is: Will I stock actual products or drop ship to my customers?
There are pros and cons to both approaches. Stocking products means you will know exactly what's in stock when you sell it. However, you will incur an additional shipping cost over drop shipping as the products actually travel an extra leg. Additionally, you need a place to store all this inventory. Finally, this is capital-intensive. Inventory costs money up front.
Drop shipping seems like the perfect approach due to the low risks. With drop shipping you carry no risk because you don't actually buy any inventory until the customer has purchased it from you. You start by securing suppliers who specialize in drop shipping. They produce a product listing including pictures, details and prices. You present this information to your customer and make the sale. After the sale, you contact the supplier and ask them to drop ship the product directly to your end customer. You never actually see the product.
The very advantage of drop shipping is also the danger. If you do not have a solid strategy for knowing the exact number of each product your suppliers have in-stock, you can inadvertently sell something you can't produce. This will create serious frustrations for customers.
There is an on-line store software package for every work at home internet business owner. If you have inventory and can maintain it in Excel, www.monstercommerce.com is a great choice ($100 per month for pro). For those looking to avoid even these modest monthly fees, there are free options. www.doba.com will give you a free store to use with their inventory. www.miserlymonkey.com is a near-free option ($5 / month) for use with their 15,000 electronics products. However, when you go with the low-end you should expect less features.
Finally, work at home internet business owners should be prepared for the important task of promotion. It is easy to be swept up in the excitement of having your own estore, but the reality is that without promotion nobody will come. There are many, many articles and forums devoted to this topic that will prove invaluable once you are past the initial set-up stages with your store.
About the Author
Al blogs on Internet business strategies and the psychology of being an Internet business person at www.bigblogmonkey.com/blog
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