Which business to pursue?

[speckles080]

I have a $1000 budget to start an online business. I got no problem with the technical/computer/web design stuff. My issue is with the business side. I went to Alibaba and found plenty of interesting products but the manufacturers/distributors deals with registered businesses. I want to start small and register a business later. Similar to launching an application. You begin beta testing then when all core issues are ironed out the product is officially released.

Currently I am confused on what's the best business to pursue since I don't have any business experience. Should I go for affiliate marketing? Dropshipping? Actual buying and selling of products? Domain reseller?

I have a full time job (9-5) and want a small business on the side. I have 2 small children so I need to balance work, business and family. A tough job in itself.

I appreciate all your expert advices/suggestions.

 

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[Whole Paradigm]

Have you introduced yourself in the intro section?

 

[speckles080]

Hi AwkwardPUblic. Thanks for your reminder. I quickly posted an introduction. I am from Toronto Canada.

 

[vipervin]

Did you get a chance to finish through the book? Identifying a need and focusing on that would be your best bet.

 

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[PatrickP]

Do you have any interests or hobbies?

For me I used to buy wheat pennies on Ebay 10,000 at a time and then resell them 100 at a time.

Is there something you could buy in a larger quantity and then resell after 'breaking them up'?

I know it may not be fast lane but it gets you going and brings in some money to use for a fast lane business. As well as training you for customer service.

 

[speckles080]

Hi vipervin. Yes i finished the book and already identified a need but there are limitations - time and money. The product is from China so I need to import it in bulk. I cannot afford it. In addition there are custom duties, taxes, restrictions, etc. I want to make things simple.

I work 9 to 5, get home by 6pm. Tend to my 2 kids, etc...well you got the picture. I am 45 by the way so I am a late bloomer.

I need to learn from others who are in a similar situation how they started. It is a different situation when one is young and single. An older family guy cannot make risks that a young bachelor can.

 

[speckles080]

Do you have any interests or hobbies?

For me I used to buy wheat pennies on Ebay 10,000 at a time and then resell them 100 at a time.

Is there something you could buy in a larger quantity and then resell after 'breaking them up'?

I know it may not be fast lane but it gets you going and brings in some money to use for a fast lane business. As well as training you for customer service.

Thank you PatrickP for this information. You mentioned "used to" so what happened? I recall reading once that Ebay isn't what it used to be. Ebay became complicated and plenty of long time e-bay merchants left.

A friend suggested craigslist instead. Have you tried it?

 

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[Ali]

Since you are from Canada, why don't you start a web directory service listing offices providing legal services for those who are planning to immigrate in settle in Canada. You can focus on people of a given nation or speak a particular language. eg. Identify it as "Russian wanting to settle in Canada" or make it bilingual Persian and English.

You can't believe how desperate are people of these countries to get such an opportunity.

Any if you ever become a Billionaire out of this business plz don't forget to send me my 0.25% advisory fee

 

[DustinG]

I have a $1000 budget to start an online business. I got no problem with the technical/computer/web design stuff. My issue is with the business side. I went to Alibaba and found plenty of interesting products but the manufacturers/distributors deals with registered businesses. I want to start small and register a business later. Similar to launching an application. You begin beta testing then when all core issues are ironed out the product is officially released.

Currently I am confused on what's the best business to pursue since I don't have any business experience. Should I go for affiliate marketing? Dropshipping? Actual buying and selling of products? Domain reseller?

I have a full time job (9-5) and want a small business on the side. I have 2 small children so I need to balance work, business and family. A tough job in itself.

I appreciate all your expert advices/suggestions.

You're going about this the wrong way. Start a business to solve a problem or fill a need, not because you want something to do.

 

[PatrickP]

Thank you PatrickP for this information. You mentioned "used to" so what happened? I recall reading once that Ebay isn't what it used to be. Ebay became complicated and plenty of long time e-bay merchants left.

A friend suggested craigslist instead. Have you tried it?

Sorry I didn't answer earlier I didn't see your post until now. I made some money on Ebay and used it to start a business. I am not sure if you could still do what I was doing or not. I would think so. I was just simply buying in large lots then splitting it up and selling in smaller packages.

 

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[MNentre]

Speckles, starting a registered business is not difficult and it will open up a lot of opportunities with these manufacturers.

Start a sole proprietorship (register online for free) and change your name to DBA whatever you want your business to be called. Next apply for a reseller license (also free to do online) and they will give you tax ID number that you can now share with your manufacturers.

Now you have a legit business name and a reseller license so you'll look quite reputable to any manufacturers on alibaba. I dont blame them for wanting this though, as the step of setting up the business (even though its not difficult) will eliminate nearly all of the tire kicking slow laners around the world.

 

[SameerElvis]

If I had $1,000 I'd go to an online website marketplace called Flippa.com, check out the 'Just Sold' and 'Most Active' sections and try and make note of what kind of sites are most commonly sold for good prices, then further sort them out and see which ones will be easy to execute within $1,000.

For example, in 2011 I launched a site selling Facebook fans. I bought a $7 domain, already had hosting - designed and put up the website online in 2 hours. Wrote a great sales copy. Ran an Adwords campaign for $10 that day - and started getting orders around 2 hours after running the campaign. I also used LiveZilla to track visitor activity in real time so I could further optimize the sales copy and other pages, after seeing how they behaved once they came on the site.

The whole process was simple - customers would place an order, my supplier would get an e-mail notification automatically and he'd then fulfill those orders and get paid. My margins were around 50 - 70% on every package. I ran this site for around a month in which it earned $1,500 roughly - around $300 in advertising costs. Sold it for $7,000 in a further 15 days on Flippa.com itself.

That is how far you can take $100 ($100 turned into $7,000) - there's a lot more you can do with $1,000 if you can learn how to study Flippa well.

I also offer a consultancy / partnership service wherein you invest a particular amount with me, and I use that investment to design, develop, launch and market a website and sell it on Flippa in around a month or two while also earning with the site. The profits and the final sale price of the site is then split 50 / 50 with me and my investment partner. The only condition is that if for some reason the site doesn't take off, I'm not liable for returning the original investment. This is a benefit for me in that it makes me work risk-free without locking up my own capital, which is needed elsewhere.