Angie McKaig - E-Business Consultant and Entrepreneur
a few thoughts on web business2010.02.22
If you cannot tell me why someone would want to use YOUR web site/web service/online shop instead of your competitors, then you might as well close up shop now*.
If your only answer to this question is We'll Have Better Customer Service but that customer service plan doesn't include two real and value-add features that your competition doesn't have, you might as well close up shop now*.
If your only reason for having a web business is because there are other people out there with the same kind of site and, presumably, "they're making money", close up shop now*.
Real success needs real passion, real dedication and a unique value proposition. Find something you're passionate about and dedicated to.
Learn the mantra from Robots: See a need, fill a need. Your web business needs to bring something new, something useful, something no one else has to the mix.
Finally, and I cannot say this often enough to people who ask me for web business advice: the Internet is not a large and complex piggy bank. You cannot just keep shaking it hoping to get money out of it. It is not a gold mine just waiting for you to find that buried streak of 24K. It is a channel, a means to accomplish a business model. It is a ROCKIN' channel and a really exciting means to accomplish a business model, absolutely - I wouldn't have made it my life's work otherwise. And done well, it can be an incredibly rewarding "place" to work.
Just felt that needed to be said.
* or hire me to help you answer these questions. I'm good at it.
