For those of you buyers who are looking for a business to own, I would suggest that you consider an online or Internet or eCommerce business. These all essentially mean the same thing, but there are some differences that I would like to illustrate.
All these businesses use the Internet to generate revenue for their owners. An online business can be product oriented or service oriented. It can have a distribution component or a fulfillment component. It can sell tangibles or intangibles. Some examples of intangibles would be life insurance, car insurance or home insurance. Some examples of tangibles would be retail products of various shapes and sizes.
The term eCommerce is normally associated with the sale of products. Many retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears, Target and others have eCommerce websites. The term online is commonly associated with services. Services can include online websites to match singles, companies that provide software, companies that match Fortune 500 companies with training facilities, etc.
Some of the advantages of owning an online/Internet/eCommerce business are as follows:
1. It can be home based which means you will not have to lease space and incur extra overhead. Additionally, you can take a tax deduction for the portion of your home that is used for business purposes. Or you can have an arm’s length lease with yourself and have your business pay you rent. Regardless of what you decide to do, this is a distinct advantage.
2. When you are ready to sell, the business can be sold to a person located in another state or another country. This means that when you are ready to sell, the universe of prospective buyers will be much greater.
3. The business operates 24/7/365. So whether you are asleep or awake, sick or well, living or dead (just kidding), the business continues to generate revenue as long as the website is up and running.
4. There is very little maintenance involved as compared to a manufacturing facility.
5. You can expand the business quite easily and rapidly without hiring additional employees or renting more space.
6. You can work in your pajamas (if you would like), since you will not have to interact with the public. This makes this type business ideal for a shy person.
7. If you decide to go out of business instead of selling it, you can simply remove the business from the hosting service.
8. You can add links to other services for marketing exposure.
9. You can update product offerings quickly without having to change printed materials.
10. You can offer exposure on your website to aspiring writers like me who can provide articles of substance and interest to customers and readers.
