(Note: this was originally posted years ago – just trying to put some of the old content back up here)
In order to get started with your online business you need to know how much it is going to cost, how long you may have to wait to recoup that cost, and the cost of staying in business until that might/should happen.
So many times you see these ads for ‘own your own business for $10’ or ‘start your own business for under $100.’
On the surface, this might look like a great deal, a bargain, a steal even, or more likely a ripoff 🙂
What do you need to consider before you make that jump?
You of course have to consider the initial cost.
Buying the program, or buying into the program has it’s fee.
If you’re setting up a website for this business, there are added fees you need to be thinking about and planning ahead for:
Domain registration: 8-10 dollars at most places. (Hint, if you’re paying more, you’re losing money for nothing)
Hosting: You can find a good host for around $10. (Hint, if you want a really good host, you’ll have to pay more, and yes, you get what you pay for.
Advertising/PPC: You may need to pay to drive traffic to your site. (Highly recommended to at least get the ball rolling.
Also, there’s a time factor.
If you have a new site and you are expecting to get free, organic traffic from the major search engines, you might be in for a long wait. Waiting for spidering, waiting for indexing, then waiting for traffic to actually find you via the SE’s. If it’s a site promoting an affiliate product, you could wait up to 90 days to get paid for your first sale. There are ways to speed up parts of this process, but that’s another article 🙂
So, when you are considering a new online business, be sure to think about and take into consideration all of the other added expenses and time.
It’s really not that much different from buying a car. You have the price, the bottom line of what you have to pay to call that car yours.
Then there’s insurance, gas, sometimes parking fees, any additional items you might want or need added such as a CD player, or airbags or whatever.
And maintanance: tires, balancing, muffler repairs, windshield wiper blades, windshield wiper fluid even. Hey, water works sometimes and it’s fairly affordable, but it’s not always the best tool for the job, and just like in your internet business, you can find ‘free’ but it’s not likely to work as well, as fast, or bring you the outcome you’re after as quickly or as often as those things that you do pay for.
So, before you jump onto that ‘greatest business to hit the web this decade’, think about what it might cost you in upkeep in money and in your time.