Running A Business From Home – Or From Anywhere?

Starting and running a business from home is an income option that’s appealing to a lot of people in today’s shaky economy. Recent UK government stats reveal that some 15% of the population are now self-employed. That’s a sure sign that the entrepreneurial spirit is thriving – we are creating our own economies. But what are the options for running a business from home?

Truth be told there are more options to do this now than ever before. Ironically one of things that’s led to so many people wanting or needing to look at self employment has provided those options . That thing is the rapid march of technology, at the forefront of which is the internet.

The internet has changed a lot of the way business is done. Inevitably that leads to less need for human interaction – at least in the physical sense. We don’t really need sales people for many of the goods and services we consume. We don’t need to visit shops as much and the digital revolution has decimated lots of traditional industries. That’s progress – it always wins.

Of course there are still lots of traditional businesses that can be run from home but in this article I want to stress the huge advantages of running a business from home on the Internet.

Whatever business you are involved with today, the Internet simply has to be a part of it. That’s where most of us go as our first port of call for information about products and services we are looking for. As Microsoft owner Bill Gates has said “If your business isn’t online you won’t have a business”.

Harsh but true. Yes there are still a few very local little businesses that have no online presence but they are dwindling fast.

So even running a business from home that has offers a traditional, hands on service needs to be found online. It’s really just a short leap of logic to see that running a business from home that is entirely internet based (virtual) is a very good idea. Here are some of the advantages.

The Advantages Of Running A Business From Home Online

Low start up cost.

If you have a computer and a broadband connection you are pretty much in business. You will want to add a few accessories – printers, some shelves (sadly the paperless office isn’t quite here yet) maybe a desk, but an online business can actually be run from anywhere with just a laptop and an internet connection.

No Need for Premises or Physical Stock.

This is one of the big joys of running a business from home online. Even if you are selling actual products (as oppose to information products) You don’t need to actually keep them anywhere. Many people are starting Amazon or Ebay home businesses these days. In both cases the parent company can handle all that for you.

If you operate as an affiliate marketer it’s the same deal. You are simply the middle man who earns commissions from whatever your business sells – and that can be anything.

Advertising

Online advertising is one of the most powerful things on our planet for anyone running a business from home. It allows us to choose exactly who and when we promote our goods and services to. It allows for instant sales to made 24/7/365 on a global bais.

Scaleability

No traditional business can compete with the speed at which an online business can be stated and grown.

Time and Lifestyle Freedom

Because of the way marketing, advertising and selling is done on the Internet it simply takes far less time to run an online business. You as the business owner does not have to be physically present or even awake to make sales. If you sell digital products – training courses, software and information you can largely automate the entire process.

The one thing every kind of business has in common is the need for customers. This is the biggest challenge for anyone running a business from home. Once more though the Internet offers access to billions of consumers. You really just need to know how to reach them. You do that with digital marketing.

What else do you need?

Whilst running a business from home on the Internet doesn’t need much in the way of physical things you do need a few things. For starters you need Websites, online marketing materials and systems to help automate some of the process.

You also need to learn how to do digital marketing – to bring traffic to your virtual business and get those sales. Then of course you do realistically need some advertising budget. But given that there are few other ongoing expenses and that done correctly internet advertising can offer massive returns – it’s a no brainer compared to a traditional business.

If you are considering running a business from home and can see the advantages of making it an online business there is someone you should meet. The link below will take you to a page where you can sign up for a free webcast.

This introduces Stuart Ross co-founder of SFM and DEA – an internet business training platform that provides everything needed to start a profitable online business from scratch (including an actual business) They’ll give you a detailed explanation of what’s involved, what the potential is and much more.