How to be an Entrepreneur in the Digital Age

I know a few people who have started successful businesses over the years.  Large overhead and nerve racking debt have been the name of the game throughout history. I knew one gym owner who had close to a million dollars in equipment alone.  But that kind of initial investment need not be the case these days to start a lucrative small business. Today an aspiring entrepreneur can create many types of businesses with little overhead and little risk, and sometimes massive reward.

Affiliate marketing, sales, advertising, these days are all at a person’s fingertips.  Creating a simple online storefront is as easy as a hosting account and a domain name. Or go even less expensive and sell products on websites like Etsy.

How about the products you might want to sell. Well again these days’ small investments in reach of the ordinary person can go a long way.  For example I sold cards online and in storefront (with commission) for $10 a card. They were constructed of craft paper, cardstock, and 4×6 photos and with tools like punches and stamps.  The craft paper and cardstock ended up costing pennies per card; the photos were likewise at a low cost of $0.39 cents each. The equipment had a small upfront cost of around $100 but could be reused and did not need to be bought again once owned.  While something like this might not make you rich overnight, it is a nice profit margin.

Try to think of something you can make or sell, or blog or talk about that is from a unique perspective. There is no short supply of crafters, or photographers, or bloggers and writers. So think about what you can do that still highlights your talent, but gives you something distinct that people will catch on. This can be a little daunting looking through high end websites but there is more than enough room for everyone to profit.  On that note I can’t stress enough not to just copy someone else idea or success. Push to think about the difference you can bring to the product or idea that is your own.

The great thing about this is that you can try again and again, if you fail, you haven’t lost, just learned a lesson. Gone is the crippling debt that looms over a failed business, now you simply need to figure out where you went wrong and try again, becoming better than ever.  So grab a now antiquated pen and paper and come up with some ideas, google some of the things that come to your mind. You might find you are more of an entrepreneur than you ever thought.