Low Risk, Quick Setup Home Based Business
This post is about how to get a low risk, quick setup home based business.
One of the most common methods of starting an online business is to build something up from scratch.
You find a niche, do some research then build a site, add affiliate links and that’s the easy stuff.
Now comes the hard part. Hours and hours of SEO, tweaking your pages, finding suitable link partners, testing different advertising options etc etc.
When you start you generally spend most of your spare time doing it all yourself – to keep costs down.
Pay per click can bring good results but it takes quite a bit of work to build a series of campaigns which make good money. Lots of trial and error and usually a few dollars invested to learn how to make it all work well for your market.
Usually there is a good period of time – often a year, before a reasonable revenue stream is achieved.
Don’t get me wrong, my first site (this one) was built this way. It is very satisfying once the results start to kick in but in reality its not a model that gets you there quickly.
And guess what if you pick a niche that isn’t profitable you will do all that work for nothing.
So there is another way of building a decent income stream online which brings much more reliable results and get’s them almost instantly.
What I’m referring to is buying an existing site. Yes it would appear to be “expensive” as most premium sites sell for 3 -4 times net profit.
However the upside is that you are buying something with a track record for success. All the development work has been done.
You know what your profits will be, because the seller will disclose their profitabiltiy as part of the sale
You know where to market the site again because it will be disclosed.
What most people don’t realize is that these expensive sites are actually quite cheap once you take into account the value of your time which would go into developing a site from scratch and the time which goes into all the sites you might develop which turn out not to be profitable.
The websites I’m referring to in this article aren’t those for sale in forums. Those listed in forums are at the lower end of the scale. You certainly can pick up bargains there but you generally will get what you pay for.
The sorts of sites to look for are like those listed at Website Properties. You will see sites there which are listed from $50,000 to $1.5M and while the price is high so too is the quality of earnings.
If you do decide to look at this seriously, its also worth checking out The resource Center for Buying an Online Business which along with their book which is available for purchase also has some useful articles on the subject of buying an online business.
Tagged with: home business • low risk
Filed under: Resources
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You know the worst thing about online business, whichever way you do it? You end up getting fat sitting at your computer doing all that work and moving nothing but your fingers. If you’re going to have a go at it make sure you’ve got a good exercise bike to hand :-)
Yes, I agree, buying an exising site with a proven track record is a very good way to get your online business up and going quickly. Just make sure you do your research on the site and the owner before you buy. You don’t want to end up getting scammed out of thousands of dollars!
Thanks for the inspiration! I hadn’t considered the value of purchasing a high-end site before, but your post gave me some food for thought. Like Trent just said, a person wants to research the site well before making a buying decision, but it can be a very good investment if the site is legitimate.
GT Bulmer
StarrBizz.com
I’ve started many online projects from scratch, and I completely agree that almost nobody realizes how much time, money and effort are needed for a site to succeed.
I’ve looked into buying sites, however in a much lower price range ($1K – $5K). Unfortunately most of the sites offered in this range are crappy sites. I guess you get what you pay for :(.
It’s ok if you have spare capital.. but listen to someone like Derek Gehl from IMC and it’s actually easier to create a money making business from scratch, following your passion. I watched his video and prefer the creative path. GD.
Very valuable and practical suggestions. Though I did not buy a site, I did the other things and now I am fairly settled with a decent income every month. But the efforts ….
Tracy
Does a high end site mean more sales, sometimes…but it is down to the prodcuts your selling and the niche you are in.
Some people have set up an ebay store, selling other epoples goods on Ebay, due tot he original seller not justifying setting up an account. This doesn’t need to be flashy. However on the other hand if you’re selling Aston Martin Cars at £120,000, you don’t want a basic website…this would negative feeling to your company.
Tony Bradley
A few years back, I bought a site without doing any due diligence. As it turns out, the site was blacklisted on Google and I was never able to get my money back or convince Google to give the site another chance. This was one newbie mistake I only made once. Since then, I’ve purchased many more websites and it’s the first thing I check before going ahead.
Overall, I would say that it is much more difficult to create a site from scratch. By purchasing an established piece of web real estate, you are saving months of hard work and time.
Steve
It comes down to an issue between cost/time. If you don’t have the money, you’ll have to spend the time. If you have the money, you can skip the time it would take to develop a site/business and just buy one.
I would recommend having an industry mogul take a look at the site before purchase though. Just because the owner’s charging £100k doesnt mean that it is worth it. Thinking long term and future proofing a pre existing site can be a time consuming process in itself and you’ve got to ask yourself – why are the owners selling in the first place – do they know something you don’t? It’s always good advice to get a second opinion from a professional.
But making your own site is just so much more fun. Pagerank is like playing an RPG- every day is quest for link juice. Finding the right partners, etc.
It’s fun? But yeah, if you’re depending on the web for income.. its likely not recommended.
I guess in the end it comes down to research.