8 Factors to consider Before Starting a Low-Capital Online Business

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they want to decide the online business to engage in is to solely check the profitability of such. While profitability is an important factor, there are other factors that are equally very vital. For instance, you may choose a business that is profitable but which is already crowded. So, you are in a profitable business but you are not earning good profits. This makes it difficult for you to make serious head way.

So, here are the top factors I always advice beginners to check for before stepping into any online business.

1. Ability/Hobby check: This is the first criteria. You need to pick a business option that you have flair for. While there are many of such businesses, selecting the one wherein you have the talent for will make it easy for you to carve a name for yourself irrespective of the competition. Everyone has an ability and hobby that can always be useful when monetized.

2. Profitability check: This factor does not need much explanation as anyone can understand it. You want to pick a type of business that has the ability to yield profit for you with a moderate investment of your efforts. As you know, the major motive of every business is profit making.

3. Crowdedness check: It is important to always check to see how popular such a business opportunity is. The more popular it is, the less likely it is that you will be able to make more profit, except you are extremely gifted at what you do. It is simple business sense. Okay, let’s assume you own a shop and you sell to 1000 customers every month. If three new competitors enter the market, guess where there customers will come from? Most likely from yours. In the end, you may be left with just 400 customers while they split the other customers between themselves. Do you understand now?

4. Time check: Except you have plenty of time on your hands, the type of online business that would suit you must be one that is not time consuming. There are online businesses that require your availability almost all through the day. But there are also businesses that you engage in that requires just two hours from you each day. And the hours you select in the course of your day is entirely up to you. In other words, any time of the day will do.

5. Effort check: You have to ensure that the profit matches the efforts that you invest in the business. If you invest plenty of time only to have meager earnings, then you are simply under a form of slavery. If the business requires you to work more, then it should pay more. Don’t just hop into any business only to see that you do not get value for the time you put into it.

6. Automating Check: Can the business run without your attention for a couple of days? Businesses that always need your attention like a baby may not really be helpful for you, except if you’ve found a way around it. If your absence or failure to attend to it for one day can be very damaging to your business, it means you should RETHINK about it.

7. Longevity Check: This is not a major criterion, but if you can find a business that can fetch you money for a long time even with little effort from you, then you may just have found a gold star. What this means is that, there are a few businesses that can still generate cash for you even if you actively stop making contributions to it. Yes, there are such businesses. This point will only be valuable to you if you desire to have a business that can still thrive in your absence, yet bring in some bucks for you.

8. Knowledge Check: This is the final check you need to make. Do you have enough information about it? Most businesses crash so fast because their owners felt the surface idea they had could make up for detailed information and mentoring. So, before you rush into anything, seek enough knowledge about it.

To wrap this up, you need to take time to consider the business you want to engage in instead of hopping into anything that comes your way. Remember, preparation plus action is what equals success. Napoleon Bonaparte puts it better, “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”                                                                                       -(Credit: Nairaland)