Obstacles to Internet Home Business

[SuzyQue]

Hello All,

I am about to start a home business selling items on the internet. I am curious to know what are some obstacles to expect. Thanks.

[Steve]

Biggest obstacles are picking something you want to sell and sticking to it. It's easy to jump ship and move on to something else when you get bored or see another awesome opportunity come along in an email.

Next one is creating quality content on a regular basis that helps your customers. I think starting the internet business with your first goal to sell products, is backwards. You need to start your site and help people first, and then you can sell products.

So the steps are.

1. Create quality useful content
2. Get Traffic
3. Build relationships
4. Monetize

Steve

[deniseoberry]

I would say the biggest obstacle is you. It takes action to make a small, home business work. One action step a day will get you to your goal. Pick up a copy of my free goal setting guide (http://www.deniseoberry.com/index.php/free-goal-setting-guide-a-simple-system-to-achieve-your-goals/) to help you get started.

[angienewton]

I would say patience! It takes time to build a business online but it's worth it.

Denise, thanks for the link to your goal setting guide. I signed up for it! You should post that in the elite forum to because if I didn't know about it I bet there are others that don't know it's available.

[Baggs]

Like others have said, you need a thought through plan. Much you can outsource (technical stuff for example), but without a detailed business plan covering what, why, when, how and a desire to implement the stages, you will probably struggle to succeed.

Good luck with your new venture

[GoshM]

I agree with Steve, but first you need to be sure that the market is profitable. You dont want to waste your time on creating a product that people dont have a need for. Head on to Google's adwords tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none) and check the searches based on the keywords for your product or service you'll be offering.

If there numbers are small you wont get much money in return for the time you'll spend on all the hard work creating the product.

Also it is very important to make a plan. Use a note and a pen, dont use the pc you can receive an email or get disturbed by something else.
When you're finally done with the plan, dont try to do everything on that list in a week. You'll burn your energy and give up eventually. Dont rush, take it slow and create goals for each day. Ex. the first day i'll be doing keyword research, 2nd i'll be looking for hosting plans, 3d writing material for my blog etc

Cheers and i wish you lots of success!

[lertno]

The hardest part for me would be

1- Traffic
2- Patience, Sticking with it when you aren't making anything.
3- Creating content

[Debra Conrad]

"what it takes"

Be someone who takes Massive Action
If the words "give up" are in your brain... you are not an IMer
Commit to doing one thing every day that is related to generating income.
Commit to hours and hours and hours of time devoted to building a business.
Find a mentor - once I had my very own mentor my business went from hobby to income.

[jwginn]

"Priority confusion"

too many times we get focused on all the extras. When starting out it's cool to have twitter, fb pages, and all the other fun stuff. However, they become quickly pointless if you do not have a) unique content and b) a page for people to see and c)a list.

Imho, those are the two things to begin working toward immediately.

[xuanxanh99]

Thanks for all these ideas it inspired me to go after many of them and use a lot of you suggestions like a blog i created about making money (just like you did) :) thanks so much a best of luck in all your businesses.

[nickitta]

My biggest obstacle is time. Although I have taken the easy option and chosen a program where everything is already setup (all I need to do is generate traffic), I am still working on time management.

I try to do the bulk of the work at weekends and so far it is working.:)

[jermeybrown]

Selling items on internet has many difficulties, first how to get visitors and targeted visitors, second , how to convince them , content plays important role.

[Steve]

This quote says it all.. I don't know who said it but, I keep it posted on my monitor.

"while agonizing over potential success, you are inviting procrastination."

[KathleenGageSpeaker]

In the nearly 17 years I have had a home based business the challenges have shifted. Initially it was developing a routine that worked for me. Then it was conditioning the neighbors that I actually did work and didn't want to take a hour here and an hour there to have coffee or go hang out.

Next was dealing with the distractions of dishes, laundry, cleaning the house, etc.

Next came the willingness to shift as the market shifted.

Then came knowing when and what to invest in regarding equipment I would need to efficiently run my business.

Then came keeping very accurate records of income and expenses in order to get the proper tax breaks.

There is more but these are some that stand out. The most important thing I did was to run my business as a business.

What I have listed didn't necessarily happen in the order I have it was just a quick brain unload.

[silverwaterfall]

Time management is my biggest obstacle. Besides that, the sheer volume of information out there to be overwhelmed by...that's tough to process. One thing at a time as others have said. Good luck!