What does it take to build a business that is portable, but also financially and psychologically rewarding?
Some 12% of sole proprietors are engaging in ecommerce, up from 9.4% in 2005, says a survey of 1,235 businesses this year by IDC, a Framingham, MA market-research concern. For many, says IDC analyst Ray Boggs, the Internet "is what's making it possible for them to do business."
These virtual business entrepreneurs must have all the usual assets and capabilities for starting a business; a profitable niche, risk tolerance, marketing and financial skills, and an advisory support system in place. Beyond that, they also need to be nimble and persistent in marketing, savvy with technology and skillful at building relationships online.
After moving to Argentina, back to the U.S. and then to St. Petersburg, Russia, for her husband's career as a foreign-service officer, Margarita Gokun Silver, a former international development consultant, started a life and executive coaching business for expatriates. "As long as you have the Internet, you can have clients anywhere," she says. While she does her coaching by phone, she also runs live workshops that arise from word-of-mouth referrals where she's living.
Source: Work & Family, The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2007
