I had the chance last weekend to chat informally with a group of young people in their 20s and 30s about whether they would ever consider launching their own internet business. Majority of them like the online business ideas, but own up to being scared to do so, to the point most would by no means consider it. Below are the ten reasons they gave for this.



I had the chance last weekend to chat informally with a group of young people in their 20s and 30s about whether they would ever consider launching their own internet business. Majority of them like the online business ideas, but own up to being scared to do so, to the point most would by no means consider it. Below are the ten reasons they gave for this.


1. Lack of Skills: "I wouldn't know where to begin one of them said. I took entrepreneurship in college but it was all about knowing financial statements and sorts of loans. I've never even spoken to a well doing home business entrepreneur." Their are eight capacities that at least one individual on the team launching a new business needs to possess, and sixteen learning’s most of which are best acquired by visiting and chatting with entrepreneurs who are putting these abilities into practice. Certainly this is not rocket science and it's a tragedy we are not teaching it.

2. Self-Confidence: "I would get discouraged too early in the beginning. It all sounds so scary. You have to have nerves of steel and strong guts to take this on. I know some successful home business entrepreneurs and I don't in anyway envy them." It doesn’t have to be intimidating. This is typically fear of the unknown and the lasting mythology of entrepreneurship that is perpetuated, unfortunately, because so a lot of entrepreneurs keep making the same preventable mistakes over and over again.

3. Lack of Online Business Ideas: "I'm not creative enough to come up with something unique and incredible. Entrepreneurs have these great business ideas, and even then it's not often sufficient to take a new business off the ground." Perception and not conception is the secret to entrepreneurial success: Paying attention is far more essential than creativity. It's all about finding a need and coming out with a solution and not about coming up with an idea and then trying to find someone who might purchase it.

4. Lack of Startup Capital: "If I had another five grand, it would go to paying my debts or meeting other basic necessities and not investing in a risky new business. And I'm not stupid enough to think anyone else would offer me the cash, moreover." If you can fill an unmet need there are numerous means to finance the business organically, drawing on the interest as well as investment capital of suppliers, potential clients as well as business partners, and individuals you are familiar with who are always seeking for a way of getting a better return than they currently can get in the bank.

5. The Deck's Stacked Against Home Entrepreneurs: "Large companies have all the finance, subsidies from government, tax breaks as well as the money to intimidate, sue or purchase out any entrepreneur who challenges their supremacy". There is some element of fact to this, which is why the secret to successful entrepreneurship is to find a need that is not obviously big enough or lucrative enough to attract the interest of the dominant players in your industry. This is what Clay Christensen refers to as Disruptive Innovation, and home business entrepreneurs have the advantage of agility and not having shareholders demanding seven digit revenues from any new offering that makes them more highly proficient at doing this than big corporations. This is an enormous equalizer.

6. Don’t Know How to Handle Failure: "If I tried and failed as an internet business entrepreneur, I think I would be crushed. I would feel like a total failure in life, it would most likely affect my marriage, my friendships as well as my reputation and if I came to dislike my day job I wouldn't even be able to daydream about running my own online business, for the reason that I have already tried that and failed." Inc. Magazine carried out a survey about two years ago and found that only one factor correlated strongly with entrepreneurial success: A preceding entrepreneurial failure. Certainly this is how you learn. If you stay away from over-committing and learn how to "fail quick and early", you can have the resilience to be a 'serial home business entrepreneur', and be confident with the reality that no entrepreneur succeeds in all undertaking.

7. Don't Understand the Process: "I took some MBA courses and they didn't coach me anything about online business ideas. Where do you acquire this knowledge?" This is the principal function that The Plug-In Profit Site will serve. But while the company will lay out the entire process, implementing it depends on the nature of the internet business opportunity you are undertaking. Learning how to implement it comes from spending time with other entrepreneurs at the forums, and drawing on the skills and knowledge of experienced people. Most individuals love to see new enterprises do well, and those who can assist are usually very liberal with their time as well as counsel.

8. Lack of Time: "I'm currently running two jobs to make ends meet. If there were more time I'd take a third one. How could I ever find the time to launch my own online business?" The biggest time-consumer in launching a successful Plug-In Profit Site is the up-front research. But that study can be performed while you are doing other things you are already devoted to such as social occasions, courses, shopping, sales calls, dinners and even watching your kids’ after-hours activities are all opportunities to observe. Explore and find the untapped needs that could be the basis for a successful entrepreneurial business enterprise. Take your time and carry out your research properly and you will then be so sure of success that you'll be able to confidently make the time to bring your online business ideas to fruition.

9. Stress: "The home business entrepreneurs I know are in hock to the bank or to demanding investors, their personal possessions are at stake, their family depends on them for a stable source of income, and a single bad debt could sink them. Life is too short for that much troubles and stress." In my experience, entrepreneurs who live with that much every day stress are mostly running ill-conceived business. I know a lot of entrepreneurs who totally love their job, are beholden to no one, and are successful they can afford to turn away numerous businesses especially from aggravating clients because they would rather pursue leisure activities than work for long hours. If your internet business sincerely taps an unmet need, you will have good clients and minimal business stress.

10. Loneliness: "The entrepreneurs are one of the loneliest people in the world. They work unbelievable hours and barely have time for anything. They have are forced to learn how to carry out everything themselves, because they can't afford professionals/consultant." The biggest mistake many individuals make when starting their own online business is trying to execute it all themselves. Report have it that one-man enterprises have the highest rate of failure, because no one person can know everything you need to know, or have all the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in business. One of the most important decisions in creating a business enterprise is finding business partners who have great skills and knowledge that complement your own, who have the same commitment to the business idea that you do and who you enjoy working with. Get that right and you can never be lonely.

I'm now more than convinced that this article meets a serious need. My challenge will be to get young prospective readers to even look at it -- their skepticism about the prospects for personal entrepreneurship run that deep I presume!



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Best Wishes,

John Benjamin
Online Business Ideas