The Pros And Cons Of Running Your Own Online Business
Add to : Del.Icio.Us / Reddit / Digg / Stumble Upon
It has been said a thousand times (more than that actually) that you can make money online, and you can make a lot of it! It is true. It’s one of the most popular terms in the blogosphere. But as with any business or business model there are pros and cons. Even if there was more cons, i still think that the pros of running an online business or internet marketing business outweighs the cons.
Those are my own observations and experiences, and are not meant to be taken as if i was the most successful online entrepreneur. Even tips and tricks from the most successful online entrepreneurs may or may not help you be more successful and get better results. It’s a matter of finding what works for you and always keep learning and doing your homeworks.
So here’s my personal list of the pros and cons of running an online business:
Pros:
Cons:
Ok, i’m trying real hard here to find more cons, but honestly… I can’t! I strongly believe that with the right business plan you can go a long way. Getting to know some key people can also help a lot in growing your business. Sure, operating an online business or internet marketing business or having your own blog, has it’s flaws and may not be suitable for everybody, but isn’t it just that much more exciting?
Add to : Del.Icio.Us / Reddit / Digg / Stumble Upon
If you enjoyed this post you might want to consider subscribing to my RSS Feed, and you can also receive updates in your e-mail, so you'll always be up to date. Thanks! ;)
27 Responses to “The Pros And Cons Of Running Your Own Online Business”
Discussion Area - Share Your Thoughts
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hahaa… look like there are more pros than cons of running online business.
What’s that mean to me? I’m making the right decision to start one myself! But honestly, the only cons I can think of are these.
- you no longer tied up to a job that you hate
- no one will boss around doing something for them.
- you no longer work with people you dislike
- waking up in the morning and still say ” honey, I’m off to work”
Nice post Jon, you’re getting better and better. Proud of you.
Hey Calvin, glad you liked my little “pros & cons” list :)
I’ll definitely have to add your last one, the “honey i’m off to work”, good one!
Hi Jon,
I will like to focus on the ‘cons’ part.
I think there is a lot of misconceptions out there that it is easy to make money on the Net. Yes it can be easy, but that will happen only after a substantial foundation is formed, such as building up a substantial list, making the site run on autopilot and so on.
I’ll list down the top 2 difficulties for myself
1. Focus
Staying focus is really important, and I’m trying real hard every day to maintain it.
2. Having to juggle many aspects, be it in areas such as content generation, researching, technical and backend, and marketing. That is quite a load. Often there are too much things to do with too little time.
Having said this, I believe very much in the merits of an online business. As long as we do our homework and take enough action, success will come!
Cheers,
Jag
Hi Jag, thanx for sharing your thoughts and views. I appreciate it a lot!
To stay focused can be pretty hard sometimes, one thing i tell myself almost every day is “ok Jon, you have a goal, now let’s do this step by step, start by doing some research” There’s this quote that says: the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Gotta break it down to manageable pieces.
I agree with you on point #2. When starting an online business, there is definitely a lot of thing we don’t have a lot of knowledge about. You can always try to delegate tasks (and then share some of the profits with your partner). I learned something working in network marketing, when building a team, you have to focus on your strenghts, and find people to work with that complements you. If you know a lot about one aspect of the business, but lack knowledge of something else, try to find people that are experts in that particular field.
By the way, i read your ebook, great stuff! ;)
Hey Jon,
What you say is very true - taking it one step at a time. As long as we take the step, and follow it through all the way, things will get done.
Your point of leveraging on others is something I echo as well. This is what I’m currently trying to work out on. To get people on the team and engage in a win-win partnership.
I missed out 1 point I wanted to say about doing an online biz, which is, information overload! I have to constantly say no to new information because I haven’t digested the previous ones.
Thanks for your compliment for my ebook!
Appreciate it loads!
Have a good day buddy!
Cheers,
Jag
Information overload, that is a really good point i think. I face the same problem too often, there’s a lot to learn, so i have to take a step back sometimes, digest the information and then, when i’m fine and understand it, and feel i have learned something new, i try to apply what i’ve learned.
Take care Jag! ;)
The pros outweigh the cons big time mate. The cons have an element of risk attached, which I am willing to overlook, you never achieve anything till you take some risk (I think you made a post on that risk thing sometime back).
Its called the Ben Franklin way of taking a decision while making a sale, take a paper and write the pros on one side and the cons on the other side, the pros always outnumber the cons and then then comes the killer question, “can you point out one reason why you shouldn’t sign on the dotted line today”. I have used this many times and it works a lot of times…lol. Cons are generally excuses and pros are the real benefits.
Another good post mate.
Take care and Cheers.
No risks, no rewards. Low risks, low reward. ;)
Hey i think you’re right when you say “cons are generally excuses”, it’s easier to think of excuses than actually do it, and benefit from doing “it” (whatever “it” may be, in this case, starting an online business)
I used some of the techniques your mentionned when i used to work in sales and marketing, and it’s true that when you point the pros and the cons, it makes it easier to make a good decision (as the owner of a business, or as a customer)
Great points Robin, thanx a bunch for sharing your thoughts mate!
A big con is the fact that you are competing with so much other people with the same intentions. Internet has no boundaries. There are no real estate advantages online
Hi Brett! Thanx for commenting!
You’re right, there is no real estate advantages online. My question is: is there enough room for everyone? i mean, a lot of people are making money online, running their online business (or an extension of their offline business), so is there enough space to fit everyone? we already have problogger, johnchow, copyblogger, performancing, and with 71 million blogs out there… but still is there enough room for everyone? Good thing is, like you said, the internet has no boundaries, which is a good thing, creativity, innovation and ideas have their place, and will help “make it, or break it”.
Add to the cons getting up at 4 AM to check on your site, or the ominous server crash phone call . . .
A lot of it has got to do with which site someone comes across first. If the reader is satisfied with the first website that they come across most likely they wont leave it. They wont even bother to keep searching for another.
So necessarily there could be tons of better sites out there. The main reason why other sites work because the readers haven’t been exposed to the other ones.
Also you have to keep your readers keen to keep coming back so they wont have the desire to search for that better site.
Hey Joshua, thanx for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Honestly, i’ve never woke up at 4am, to check on my site(s), hope it won’t happen, but between waking up at 4am or recieving a “server crash” phone call and waking up every single morning going to work for a boss, which probably makes 20 times more money than me.. no thanx ;)
Brett, i agree, once you find a useful and unique site, no reason to search for another one. Or if you search for another one, it usually is because the one you previously found doesn’t cover this and that. I, myself, like to find out about new sites, sure not everybody thinks the same way, but i like to read about others’ opinions and views, so sticking with the same site, i’d probably get bored, i need to diversify my daily “reading” i think. Why not exchange links with sites that covers similar topics? (win-win)
Running your own business in general is exciting. You wont be dreading the work load like you would if you were working for someone else. When you work for yourself you will have motivation to succeed and do whatever it takes. I know when I get my business up and running, I will be working more than I ever did in my life. But, I wont really care because it is something that I love doing. And when you do something that you love doing, you’re not actually working.
Hey Glenn! I totally agree with you bro! My girlfriend often asks me “babe, what are you doing?” and then i say “oh i’m working on this thing”, then she usually says something like “ahh you’re not working, you’re online, writing stuff” well yeah! And god do i enjoy it! ;)
“ahh you’re not working, you’re online, writing stuff” well yeah! And god do i enjoy it!”
I get that a lot!
One Con comes to mind, and it’s a question that you have to ask yourself.
Can you handle being in a solitary environment?
Some individuals can’t handle this type of lifestyle, so it’s always best truly be honest with yourself as to what you are most comfortable and happy with.
You have to realize, that the pros and cons go out the door, if you don’t have the passion for what you do.
Anthony: I guess we all get that! hehe
Nicholas: You bring a really good point! One of the aspects of working online, i think, is that you get to talk and chat with nice and knowledgeable people, so it makes things a little easier. Some people tend to like the “social” side of working in a office for example, some don’t like it for the same reasons, when i used to work in an office, i was getting distracted by soo many things during the day. I can get way more work done working from home. I guess i’m just comfortable that way ;)
I think there is a tendency for people to get too caught up in complicated methods to make money online. Right now there are many. I think you can make money easily. It may be a bit more difficult to make a lot of money.
I does take work, I think that is where many are wrong.
Exactly, many are not willing to put in the efforts needed to make it. It is pretty simple, why fix it if it ain’t broken? (just some creativity might do the trick)
20 Pros & Cons given.
More pros than cons. 14 pros and 6 cons.
So I would say out of 20 people running their own online business, 14 succeed and 6 failed.
It’s so easy to decide after this article. Thanks to Jonathan.
Keep up the good work dude!
Erwin
Voila ;)
I’m sure there’s more pros and cons (umm.. maybe we should do a “master list”) it depens on the business, and everyones’ personality.
Thanx for replying Erwin, make yourself at home!
Nice list!
I would love to reach the point where a lot of things on my blog are automated. So far, since “almost” everything is under my control, I customize things a lot, and sometimes things become more manual than automatic during different situations, resulting in more time consumed. :)
Also, you bring up three really strange but true points:
1 : Many people will have a hard time setting up their own goals compared to having their goals setup by someone else
2 : Most people will never make money online, at least not in the near future.
3 : I have a major toothache right now, so having a dental plan or a dentist within the vicinity is a must! =P
Like any business, if one jumps into it, they can setup their own rules of the game as they keep learning different things about the way they can handle the business. Good list Jonathan. :)
Hey Bes, thanx a lot! ;)
I sure was happy to have a dental plan when i had to have my wisdom teeth removed. (but now it’s done, so i can focus on my businesses hehe)
Talking from experience, I must add that one cannot only rely on a web site to make a good business growth. On our case, my wife and I have to walk the path with people even before they are “capable” to make an order on-line. Nobody starts as an Amazon-like on-line business.However, if what you offer is good (service, goods, information…) our experience is that your customers stick to your side and even bring new customers. The web nevertheless is good as a support to your business, but it is not the business. You always have to complement it with “ground -based-work”. Having said that I agree with most of the pros you listed. To me the cons are too subjective. Cheers!
Hi Javier, thanx a lot for taking the time to reply, please make yourself at home!
It’s true that a lot of traditional businesses are using the web as a way to get a little more exposure. It sure is possible to make a full time income working online, so i’d consider this a business allby itself. But it depends in what field you’re working. Starting off like amazon or ebay is something, i think, that is difficult if not impossible. But there are many online companies/websites that are extremely successful, and that had startup costs of less than $1000 (digg.com cost $200US to build, and it now receives an insane amount of traffic, and probably makes tons of money) I think it depends on what is your field of expertise, for example Darren Rowse from problogger.net is earning way more with his blog than a lot of traditional business owners. It depends what goals you set and what kind of business you run i think.
:)