Self Employment Ideas - The Benefits and Drawbacks of Building a Business Online

If you've been looking for self employment ideas, I'm sure that one idea you'll have considered is creating an online business. To help you in deciding if this is right for you, here are some of the key benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits

* Convenience - No more commuter traffic to put up with and you can save on petrol too. Flexible working hours to fit around your family and other responsibilities.
* Low Start Up Costs - Assuming you already have a computer, other costs such as setting up a website and finding traffic are low, sometimes even free. There are many sites offering free websites and buying a domain and hosting can easily be done for under £100 for the year. There are lots of free traffic strategies but be warned they do require time instead.
* Easy to Reach Customers - Roughly 83% of people are said to have shopped on-line once in their life time - according to The Independent. Many of us shop online and so the internet makes it easy to reach your potential customers. Also you can reach customers throughout the world not just in your neighbourhood.
* Low Overheads - No need to buy premises and all the associated bills that come with them. You just need a little corner of your home and you can even claim £3 per week towards your household bills to offset your tax bill.
* Digital Products - You can create and sell digital products such as downloadable ebooks and videos which are cheap to produce. This also means you don't need to hold stock so there's no wastage or storage issues. Additionally you can deliver your products super fast without any postal charges too.

Drawbacks

* Distractions - Working from home, it is all too easy to get distracted by non-business phone calls or interruptions by children, for example. It can also be tempting to get on with household chores or have extended breaks while you just watch something on TV. You need self discipline.
* Isolation - You will generally be working on your own and it can get lonely, especially if you've previously been used to working as part of a team. So make sure you plan in some phone calls to friends and meet up with them for a natter at least once a week.
* Motivation - Without a boss or manager to answer to and deadlines to meet it can be easy to put things off until tomorrow. On your own it's hard to get yourself moving. You need to find a way to get accountability and support, for example joining business groups or getting a mentor.