7 Ways to Choose a Successful Online Business

By: Casey Dunham

Are you searching for a really good, safe and proven online business to join? Do you think choosing the right one is an important decision to make? Well you are right, choosing an online business is the first big decision you will make. I recommend researching your possibilities and making a careful educated decision. In this article I'm going to discuss 7 key factors you should consider before joining any online business.

Company
The company is important because of course you want the business to be around for a while and you want to feel safe that you will get paid what you have earned. When researching different businesses, here are a few things to consider:

•How long has the business been established?
•Does it look like there is still plenty of room for strong growth?
•Is the business debt free? This isn't a requirement, but it is nice to know.
•Who owns/started the business? What kind of background and experience do they have?
•Does the business have many complaints? Look them up on www.bbb.org. If they do have complaints, is the amount reasonable?

Product
The product is the core of your new online business. Surprisingly, many people start an online business without even giving the product consideration. I think this is a big mistake. If you join a business with a good product and good business plan, you have 2 ways to increase your paycheck. You can offer the business plan to those interested in a home based business and the product to those who aren't interested in starting an online business, but really like the product you are offering.

Be careful of products that could be labeled as "fads". You should ask yourself – was the product or something similar available 2 or 3 years ago? If not, are you taking a risk that it may not be around for much longer? You have to remember, even if you are focused on the income opportunity and aren't particularly interested in the product, others looking for an income opportunity may choose highly based on the product.

Initial Investment
Obviously how much money you have to spend to get your new business started can be a big factor. But don't only consider the investment you have to spend to get started; also consider the investment that everyone you recruit has to make to get started.

Some online businesses charge cheap startup costs and cheap monthly fees. Generally these companies will rely on members recruiting lots of members before they start making the big bucks. With lower startup costs ($50 a month or so), it is generally easier to get people to join but you also generally get paid less per person that you recruit.

Some companies have a higher startup cost and higher monthly fees. Generally these companies will offer a higher commission for recruiting a new member and you may not have to recruit as many in order to start making commissions. However sometimes it's harder to get new members to make the larger investment to join.

Promotion Strategy
Will your strategy be to promote the product and while doing so people will also join the business? Or would it be better to promote this as a business opportunity with a good product backing it up? Or you could even do both. I typically look for businesses where either strategy could work depending on who my audience is. Either way can be just as good as the other, but it's good to think about your preference and if the particular business or product you are considering will work for it. Some people are more comfortable talking about a product that they know will benefit people then they are talking about the business opportunity and visa versa.

Market
It's very important to know who your market would be for this product/opportunity. You obviously don't want to start investing your time or money in a market that wont be around for long. Will there still be a market for this product 10 years from now? Is it a large market? Is it a growing market? For example, I currently invest in a couple of businesses that have products appealing to baby boomers. Many baby boomers are getting a little older and their health is very important to them. If I was looking for a way to market to this group, I might look for a business that sold nutritional products.

Think about if about 10 years ago, you found a business opportunity that allowed you to create a "long term" residual income with a business whose product revolved around Beenie Babies. That opportunity would have sounded great at the time, but would your market opportunities have looked like? What do you think the investigation would have shown?

Compensation Plan
The first time you look at a compensation plan it can be quite confusing. I glance at the compensation plan when I am just first starting to investigate a business and just make sure it appears reasonable for the business and product I will be promoting. Then if I think it looks promising, I carefully investigate the business to make sure it looks good in all other factors (like the ones mentioned above).

After I've decided that this is a good business I really analyze to compensation plan. Use very low estimates when estimating. Don't just assume you will recruit 5 members who will recruit 5 members who will recruit 5 members. I usually "test" the compensation plan with numbers such as what, if I recruit 2 members who recruit 2 members who recruit 2 members. Then instead of assuming that I get 10 levels deep in 30 to 60 days, I assume I get about 6 or 7 levels deep in about a year or so. The idea is to be conservative with your estimates so you don't expect too much from the beginning and then get disappointed.

You
The last thing I would like to point out is that there are tons of great online business opportunities available that many people enjoy and succeed with, but that doesn't mean they would be a good fit for you personally. With all the different business opportunities available, it can be difficult to find one that is perfect for you. You're the only one that can really decide what works for you when considering your likes, dislikes, time availability, budget restrictions, strengths and weaknesses.