There is way more than 5 things to consider when starting your own online business, but i believe those 5 are the most important (from my experience, and the results i got so far!). In no particular order.

Doesn’t make it true, doesn’t make it false…Makes it my experience. (quote: T. Harv Eker)

1- Is there a ton and a half of other websites that offers the exact same thing as yours? Some basic research on google might help you decide if you really want to start that particular business, or try something else.

2- Educate yourself and learn from others! You know someone who tried it and failed? You know someone who tried it and it worked? Learn from those people! Blogging is one way!

3- Have your website designed by a profesional, unless you can do it yourself! But even though, have someone take a look at it, and if necessary have this person make some changes and tweaks here and there or give you pointers.

4- Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket! I know entrepreneurs say that a lot, but it’s so true, especially in the online world! What if your only website was down for a couple of days or you had to switch hosting company? That would mean no money, no sales… Make sure you have more than one source of income!

5- Reply to each and every e-mail, comments, inquiries, questions, concerns you recieve from your customers/visitors/readers! I know this might be a little time-consuming, and it’s normal to forget one or two… but if you cannot keep up, or don’t want to build a relationship with your visitors/reader/customers, don’t quit your day job! (sorry about that, but it is the most important part!)

Dave wrote an interesting and worth-reading post on how easy it can be to build relationships in the blogosphere compared to the offfline world.

Any more tips are really welcome! We can all use tips and tricks when starting an online business (even an offline business)!