6 Factors That Make Online Home Business A Perfect Business Today

“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”
Napoleon Hill
I grew up in a family of small scale entrepreneurs in the 70s. Back then, there was nothing like online home business or doing business over the internet. My dad co-owned and operated 2 small sized retail shops in small towns. My mom, on the other hand, owned and operated a small-scale whole sale foodstuff wholesale business.
Thanks to the income generated from these entrepreneurial activities, my brothers, sisters and I possessed a few things that most other kids in the neighborhood we lived in could not have.
To date, I can remember how some of our classmates envied us because to them we came from a “privileged” home. If only they knew what mom and dad â€"particularly my dad went through to turn a small profit on the small ticket items he had on his store shelves.
During the week-ends and holidays, my elder brother and I had to go help in the shop. The profit margins on the small item goods dad sold were so low that there was no way he could employ more than one full time help at a time. We restocked the shelves, took note of and placed new orders, and we made sure the shop was always clean and neat.
Because of my direct involvement in the operation of both my mom’s and dad’s businesses, I knew how difficult it was for them to turn enough profit from these operations to feed us, clothe us, and send us to the best schools. Mom did a little better than dad by way of profit margin just because of the nature of her business and the business model she perfected.
But no matter how hard they worked, mom and dad never had a chance to become wealthy. And I told myself that these were not the types of businesses I looked forward to building when I grew up. My goal then as it remains today is to find and build a perfect business that will make me wealthy, healthy and happy.
Back then, I couldn’t spell out clearly what specific requirements my perfect business must meet. But there were 3 elements I wanted my future business to have:
1) It should be based on something that makes me happy knowing that I am making a difference in other people’s lives. In other words, my ideal business should make me feel that I am helping others realize their dream.
2) It should be so flexible and easy I can operate it from virtually anywhere I choose.
3) It should have unlimited growth and profit generation potential.
“… But Ben, how can you convince me that your business success coaching and consulting practice meets all these 3 criteria when all you’re doing is more or less billing by the hour or by the project?” â€"A colleague asked me at a business forum recently.
As I explained to him later, I am first and foremost an information publisher and marketer. The coaching and consulting are added services I provide to my most loyal and dedicated customers. We’ll talk more about information publishing and marketing in a subsequent article.
By early 2000, I knew my perfect business will have to be internet based, perhaps an online home business.
Ever since outlining the 3 main elements of my perfect business a few years back, I’ve done a lot more thinking. I’ve also studied and/or spoken with or read the writings of some of the most successful business entrepreneurs including my business mentors Michael Masterson, Jay Abraham, Shel Horowitz, Bob Bly, Rich Schefren, MaryEllen Tribby, and a host of others. As a result, I now have a clear set of the requirements a business must meet to qualify as my ideal business.
Let’s look at 3 additional requirements my perfect business must meet.
4) It should be a real business. Perhaps you’ve spent some time online in search of ideas, guides, or resources for your dream online home business. And perhaps, you are quite familiar with some of the trash that’s being offered out there. This should not be the case. My ideal business should be a real business with ease of entry and yet one which I can build into a multi-million dollar operation in just a few years and can easily sell out, if I so choose to for millions more. Quite obviously, neither my dad’s retail stores, nor my mom’s wholesale foodstuff business meet this particular criterion fully. Sure they were real businesses but without the potential to make you wealthy.
5) To generate the kind of income that will make me wealthy, it would have to have the entire world as its marketplace - not just a local community or even an entire country.
6) Next, my perfect business should sell products that benefit from what some call “inelastic” demand. By inelastic, I mean you the owner and not the market should determine the price you charge for a particular product. Even under the conditions of severe global economic recession, there are inelastic products you can sell for huge profits.
There are a few other factors I look at in determining my perfect business but these 6 are the major ones. Are you currently building a perfect business? What factors do you consider in making that determination? We’ll like to know your views. Join the discussion below.