The internet is as diverse the standard market. It extends to both extremes- good and false opportunities. Since online based fraudsters and conmen understand the rat race of business very well, they’re fond of preying on desperate individuals seeking to monetize online opportunities. It’s therefore advisable to proceed with caution especially when:
- You are required to pay an upfront fee just to gain access to a business opportunity. Most of the scams even require you to recruit other naïve ‘members’.
- You are required to pay a regular fixed amount of cash on your ‘membership’ regardless of whether you make money or not.
- The opportunities presented to you do not have sufficient background information and backing
- There are guarantees of making a lot of money in a relatively short period of time. For instance, you may be attracted by an ad requiring you to sign up and make USD 10,000 per week possibly just by liking a few pages on social media.
Map It
Many entrepreneurs are fond of seeking opportunities by casting a wide net, possibly trying to capture as many prospective customers as possible. Taking this principle too literally however, could eventually cost you your business.
Although it’s advisable to be aggressive, it’s equally important to be strategic and calculative by starting small. That means mapping your opportunities and business by focusing only on the core elements.
Mapping your resources and dedicating them to a specific target market is a much more effective strategy, especially to small businesses, than splitting the resources between unspecified goals for an indefinitely wide market.
One of the methods of achieving this is focusing on your location first before growing to spread your products and services to the rest of the world. Since mapping strategies depend on the type of business, resources and consumer needs, you should comprehensively assess these three elements as you define your opportunities.
Although it’s advisable to be aggressive, it’s equally important to be strategic and calculative by starting small. That means mapping your opportunities and business by focusing only on the core elements.
Mapping your resources and dedicating them to a specific target market is a much more effective strategy, especially to small businesses, than splitting the resources between unspecified goals for an indefinitely wide market.
One of the methods of achieving this is focusing on your location first before growing to spread your products and services to the rest of the world. Since mapping strategies depend on the type of business, resources and consumer needs, you should comprehensively assess these three elements as you define your opportunities.
Assess Your Resources
Lastly, analyze your resources, both offline and online, to understand your capabilities in terms of the opportunities and business types you may be able to handle.
Although you could eventually begin compiling additional resources after setting up your business, your current resources greatly dictate your ability. Having technical expertise in one type of business for instance, could significantly boost your chances in that specific industry compared to other businesses.
Although you could eventually begin compiling additional resources after setting up your business, your current resources greatly dictate your ability. Having technical expertise in one type of business for instance, could significantly boost your chances in that specific industry compared to other businesses.
As you make up your mind on online businesses to pursue, remember to build sufficient resilience, especially against failure. Although failures may pull you back resource-wise, they are good learning experiences. If you fail therefore, you should have the strength and determination to dust yourself and proceed with other ventures - after all, each business is a risk, with a potential of failing or succeeding. What makes the difference is how you manage your risks.