The Future of Small Business is Online
As a sole proprietor for four years now and running, I have to say that everything I see indicates that the future of small business is online.
There are more small businesses and self-employed people than ever now, mostly thanks to the Internet. The ‘Net makes possible many small business opportunities that would not exist otherwise — or at least not be as lucrative.
For example, consider what I do as a freelance writer. My career used to be considered next to impossible for most writers to achieve, mainly because clients and assignments were so hard to find. Everything was conducted via snail mail, and you could wait weeks and sometimes months after sending away a query to find out whether you’d been accepted for the job. Even worse, you might write a piece on spec and wait months just to find out your work had been rejected.
Now, on the other hand, I can get dozens of jobs just by searching on the Internet. Ninety percent of my clients are in a different state than I am, and the other ten percent are in a completely different country. Email makes this all possible, and the Internet makes it possible for me to quickly research online, complete the assignment, and get paid immediately via PayPal.
Likewise, ecommerce has revolutionized the retail industry. Having an online store means selling to a wider market, yet having a lower overhead — only larger online stores require warehouse space, while a sole proprietor can often get away with using their basement or garage to store merchandise. There’s also an ability to specialize online: For instance, instead of opening a hobby store with a variety of different things, you can start a website selling just airsoft guns, or even just KWA guns if you so desire.
As a result of all these changes, we are seeing a huge increase in the number of small businesses. Of course, many don’t make it, because the other problems that make it difficult for small businesses to compete with large corporations still exist. But we are making progress I believe, all because of one small invention called the Internet.
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