Thanks to Chris Mercer's post on Serial Reinvention, I was directed to an excellent article by Yuki Noguchi on washingtonpost.com called Mom-and-Pops, All Grown Up, about the stresses of running an Internet based business, whether it be on eBay or your own website.
As Internet shopping matures and enters its 12th holiday season, veteran eBay sellers are discovering what it takes to make a long-term career out of selling online. Internet sales have become as competitive as traditional retail but compounded by the furious pace of change on the Web.
It's interesting that in the minds of some people, an Internet business is somehow different from a "traditional" business. But in my experience, that is not the case. Business is business, whether you use the Internet or not. Granted, marketing on the Internet does require some different skills and technology is evolving so quickly, it may seem difficult to keep up.
You still need to have a plan, need to market, provide customer service, provide a product or service that people want, make sales, make a profit, and stay on top of changes in your field. The Internet is a business tool, and a powerful one at that.
EBay makes it vastly easier to set up your business, but beyond that, normal business rules apply...
