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Internet Entrepreneurs Can Travel!

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: When I entered my most-recent career transition, I knew I wanted something entrepreneurial. I'd been feeling the itch to create a business, something that would contribute some kind of good to the world, for some time. Problem: my wife and I like to travel! In fact, we divide our time between three homes in two U.S. states, and love to travel for fun as well. We're both on the road right now (but, sadly, not together at the moment). So, as much as I could see myself making a killing as owner of the local laundromat or pie diner, I needed to figure out how to scratch my entrepreneurial itch without being tied down to something "geographically specific."

Internet Entrepreneurs Can Travel!

Don't Want To Be Tied Down? Consider An Online Business

When I entered my most-recent career transition, I knew I wanted something entrepreneurial. I'd been feeling the itch to create a business, something that would contribute some kind of good to the world, for some time. Problem: my wife and I like to travel! In fact, we divide our time between three homes in two U.S. states, and love to travel for fun as well. We're both on the road right now (but, sadly, not together at the moment). So, as much as I could see myself making a killing as owner of the local laundromat or pie diner, I needed to figure out how to scratch my entrepreneurial itch without being tied down to something "geographically specific."

After much research, mostly looking around my office and studio, I discovered this: it turns out I own a laptop computer.

Internet entrepreneurs can travel!

The idea that works anywhere.

I started with a couple of great ideas that could work anywhere, that made sense as "online stores" as opposed to "brick-and-mortar" stores. These ideas will come to you following the words "Hey, there oughtta be a web site that...". Or maybe you listen to the radio, hear all those government-sponsored public service announcements, and wish someone would start some kind of business so they could buy time on that station and fill it with, at least, a more entertaining ad! Like a traditional business, an online business starts with some kind of Big Idea.

How hard is the technology part?

Personally, I am not a techno-geek, though I have been working indoors for over three decades and therefore know my way around a computer, like anyone else. So I needed some education. The technical part of the deal terrified me. Luckily, I did run into a platform that I could use to "get smart" about internet business, and that could teach anyone to market anything online. It takes a while to get a handle on it, and your head swims, but it is possible to learn the business without transforming yourself into an IT genius.

More good news: low entry barriers.

Besides the technology, I was sweating the investment. This was the most pleasant surprise: I found you can get a profitable online business off the ground with a much lower investment than you'd have to cough up for, say, that pie diner. Beware, though, about vendors who promise you a free business. There's no such thing, and if you're a serious entrepreneur, you know it. Which brings me to my next point....

See through the hype.

There are a ton of vendors out there exploiting the online business space. For instance, one of the big claims is that "anyone can make money doing this!" That is actually true: but not everyone will make money in an internet business - far from it. I think many people are fooled into believing that the low financial investment means an internet business requires little of the other kinds of investments entrepreneurs have always had to make: time, hard work, energy, and (of course) the Big Ideas. Nothing could be further from the truth; those things are at least as important in an online business as they are with any other. Here's a tip: remember your Big Idea. You will run into lots of vendors who'll promise you riches and glory selling THEIR Big Idea; you want to stick to promoting your own.

There are problems to solve and barriers to overcome in an online business, like there are with any other legitimate business opportunity. But these are problems you can solve. If you have an internal conflict between an entrepreneurial itch and a healthy wanderlust, think about an online business.

You could go far.

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Article Tags: flexible business, internet entrepreneurs, online entrepreneur, travel business



Related Forum Posts
Re: Looking for business partners in travel and telecom areas - Michael, In order to help I would need more detail. Travel and Telecom are pretty broad categories. I develop and design websites and I could help but not without a lot more information on what niche's your targeting. For example are you trying to just target people in and around Chicago or the whole United States.
CEOs and Email - Slaves? - I wonder if the emails they are responding to are filtered thru their assistants first 'cos they seem to spend a lot of their off hours responding to them. True they are successful but I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay that price. I'd be interested to know what's the in the typical day planner of Entrepreneurs on the Forum. Entrepreneurs are a different breed than Paid Employees- so it would be interesting to view the contrast.
Fundraising for 3rd world Entrepreneurs - How great to learn that Evan is doing something for Entrepreneurs in Africa! It just makes me even more thankful to be part of this forum! After helping create a new charity for animals in my local community last year, I created a vision for a charity empowering Women Entrepreneurs. It won't happen for a while yet, but I know it is something I will do within the next few years. As we allow ourselves to think bigger, the opportunity to impact people becomes much bigger as well. Does anyone else have a desire to really make a difference in the world through this means?
Re: 4 Home Based Opportunities For 2011 - Hi, Thanks, for sharing these value information with us. Internet make easy us to earn money even at home. Internet offers a lot of opportunities to earn money. Internet Marketing is the biggest example of money making.
Re: Who inspired you to start? - Hi Evan, I was inspired by Mr. Bill Gates ever since I was a student learning Computers. But I was motivated for Internet as my Business, when I read his book "The Road Ahead" in 1995. It was in this book that Gates laid out his vision of an interconnected world built around the Internet. Based on the premise that life will be transformed by the convergence of inexpensive computing and inexpensive communications, Gates drew from his experience at the center of the personal computer revolution to give insights on the growth, evolution and impact of technology. I had always looked up to Bill Gates as my idol. When I read this book, it made me more focussed on Microsoft and Internet, The Internet was one of the upcoming things in this time. So I took over to the Internet as my primary business. Regards,


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