The 9 Things You Absolutely Must Have To Start Your Own Online Business

One of the perks to starting an online business is the low start up costs.  You can literally get started on a shoe string budget of around a hundred bucks or so.  That’s pretty enticing to entrepreneurs who want to work from home or start a small business but don’t have much capital to back them up. 

When I set out to build my first website I barely had 2 nickels to rub together.  I needed to start making money quickly just to pay the bills and keep food on the table.  I had already tried to make money online with paid surveys and other crap that didn’t work, so I couldn’t afford to fail as an internet marketer. 

Since I had very little money to start with, I was very frugal with purchases.  I did everything manually…outsourced nothing…kept everything basic and simple.  I thought I was being smart by keeping my expenses to a bare minimum. 

Turns out I was being penny-wise but pound-foolish.  Sure I saved myself a few bucks here and there but I probably lost out on thousands of dollars in missed opportunities. 

If I was starting over again from scratch I would have invested a little more into my business and sooner.  But hey…my mistake can be your lesson.  Here are 9 things you must have to start your own online business…and most of them are free! 

1. A computer (duh).
2. A high speed internet connection.  You’re going to be spending a good deal of time online…if you’re still on dial-up its time to upgrade.
3. Decent writing skills.  You don’t need to be another Hemmingway but you do need to be able to get your point across clearly.  Don’t worry, writing skills can be learned and improved on.
4. A plan.  I wasted a lot of time trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do.  Do yourself a favor and pick a course of action early.
5. Focus.  The world is full of distractions both online and off.  You’ll need to stay focused if you want to stay on track.
6. Your own domain.  It costs about $9 at Namecheap and there’s no reason you shouldn’t have one. 
7. Your own hosting.  If you use a free host you own nothing and you have no real control.  You can get shared hosting for $6.95 at Bluehost (I use Bluehost and I recommend them).  For the price of a fast food meal you can host dozens of money-making sites.  It’s a no brainer. 
8. A way to capture email addresses and follow up with prospects.  This was my biggest mistake…I waited way too long to start this.  I should have been collecting email addresses from the start.  If I had my lists would be ten times what they are now.  There are several different services you can use to capture emails and build a mailing list.  I recommend Aweber because that’s what I use. 
9. A desire to learn.  Things happen fast online…new software, new methods, new authority sites pop up, old ones fall by the wayside.  You’ve got to be able to keep up with the times or you’ll fall behind fast.