Planning Your Internet Business: Startup Costs and Sources of Funding

Starting a business on the web is affordable ... but like any business, you should be prepared to make some smart investments. If you have no money to spend at all, then you're probably better off looking for a job, rather than starting a business.

That's the hard truth. If you're serious about making money online, you need to treat your business as a business - not a hobby! That doesn't mean you have to go wild and throw thousands of dollars at anything that "might" help you make money ... but be willing make wise investments.

Unlike brick-and-mortar businesses, starting an online business is very affordable. Your goal is to keep your expenses as low as possible while getting the highest possible return. Weigh convenience, time-savings, and the value of the information against the cost. The key is to work within your budget.

One other point that should be emphasized is that cheap is not necessarily better (it's not necessarily worse, either). Note that some services start off as free... but the company later removes the free service and tells you that if you want to continue to use the service, you're going to have to pay. Or they may completely discontinue the service. You could have already invested a lot of time and effort to set up this service the way you want. So find a service that meets your needs, with price being only one of the factors you use when making your choice.

How much something costs isn't as important as how much return you'll get from it.

On the following pages you'll find a series of lists you can use to help estimate the costs of starting and building your Internet business. These lists are guidelines only, since every business is different. Not every item in the list will apply to your business, and you may need to add extra items to the list as well (for example, if you decide to outsource some of your work, you'll need to factor in those costs too).

NEXT: One-Time Costs / Setup Costs

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