When you search online, there many possibilities you can consider to create your own online business. Grouping them together, you will see that there two main categories of online business you can get involved: 1) online sales and 2) online services.
Online Sales
Businesses that sell an actual product to its customers
Online Services
Offering some sort of consultation or information to their customers
Scouring the internet on the different opportunities available, I made the following list of methods in each category that you can consider:
| Online Sales | Online Services |
| Affiliate Marketing | Advertising |
| Branded Online Shop | Analyst |
| Dropshipping | Blogging |
| E-commerce sites | Business Coaching |
| Graphic Designer | Eduacation / Courses |
| Photographer | Esports and Gaming |
| Print-on-demand | Key opinion Leader |
| Voice-over Services | Online Radio |
| Web Designer | SEO Consultant |
| Social Media Manager | |
| Virtual Assistant | |
| Writer / Ebooks | |
There are sufficient resources online to give you information guidelines on how to start those but before you start, make sure you:
- Do your research – Obviously, before you start, you need to know the environment well enough: the market, the competition, the pitfalls.
- Create a plan – create a guideline for yourself so you won’t lose your direction
- Plan your finances – This isn’t just making sure you have money to fund your operation, but also consider aspects such as a cut-off point so you don’t keep pumping money into a black hole;
- Know where to get help – This may sound weird, but you may want to know where there are resources that can offer assistance if you venture into unknown territoy, or should things go south.
- Know your Time Commitment – Starting a business will require your focus and commitment especially in the early stages, so know how much time you can put in and then plan accordingly to maximize efficient use of your time.
You may think these are simple no-brainers, but many mess up because they couldn’t follow through. Anyhow, next time, I will look more into the sales side of online business.