Ready to work for yourself? Starting a small business is no walk in the park, but finding your niche and what type of business works for you can help you avoid the pitfalls many small business owners find themselves in. Knowing in advance the pros and cons of service businesses, franchises, and ecommerce will ensure you have an informed idea of which is the best option for you!
Services Based
Have you always loved working for and with other people? A services-based business is all about helping customers, whether that’s through grooming their pet or helping other businesses with specialized software. The biggest benefit to choosing this type of start-up is the low cost it takes to begin—especially when you’re not having to develop a high-quality product, but provide high quality service. It’s much easier to tailor your services to each customer’s needs as well, adapting to feedback in real time. You can also be more flexible with when you work and where you do. On the other hand, pricing can get complicated, competition is steep, and you do have to be okay with selling yourself as the product!
Franchises
If high risk is not your idea of a good time, your small business dreams may fit better into the franchise model. Owning a franchise allows you to get guidance from the franchisors while still being your own boss, requiring less personal experience, and getting a loyal customer base built into the business from the get-go. Of course, when looking for a franchise, make sure you consider how successful the different options have been. The initial investment of the business can be pretty big, and you have a lot less chance to unleash your own creativity.
Ecommerce
You may ask, what if I can’t afford a high startup cost, but still want a good amount of flexibility? Starting an ecommerce business is a great option for people with creative ideas but low budgets. You can buy a domain and get a website running for less than $100 these days, and really in no time at all. Plus, you can make sales at all times, any time—even while you’re sleeping. The problems with ecommerce are diverse, of course, like the crazy amount of competition on the worldwide web or the number of technical issues to overcome, so e-commerce certainly requires a lot of work even if it is the best of both worlds.
Sometimes the answer is, there is no right answer. With different businesses, you may worry about making a wrong decision, but in reality all three of these types can result in profit and success. You just need to figure out what works best for you. Look further into the pros and cons of each before you make your decision!
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