Thinking of launching an online business? Here is the REAL financial cost

Having an online business has never been easier. Whether you want to focus on your local audience or wish to have an international audience, there are so many tools available that make it all possible.

However, before actually owning a business, apart from the temptation and the excitement, there are many questions. One that I get very often is “what will it cost me to launch an online business?”. And this is a legitimate question, one that I had myself before launching my first business, 13 years ago.

In this article I decided to share with you the real financial cost of launching an online business. This is based on my experience, several successful projects and businesses launched along the years, and on the work I’ve done as a business coach and mentor with aspiring entrepreneurs, coaches, course creators, bloggers, freelancers, and consultants from across the globe.

Types of online businesses that you can launch

One thing that I need to clear first is that there are various types of businesses you can launch online.

You can teach something. Launching one (or more) online courses is definitely a good idea if you have expertise in an area and can share it in an accessible manner. There are many people who have successful businesses based solely on online courses.

You can coach people. There are many coaches — life coaches, marketing coaches, success coaches, business coaches (like myself), communication coaches, etc. — who help people from various countries and who do that online.

Other types: While some people may not think of this as a business per se, blogging can definitely be considered an online business. If you put 100% in it, if you have a long term strategy, if you are committed to achieving your goals, then you can consider your blog as an online business. And you can actually launch, later on, other types of products around it.

Affiliate marketing is another type of online business — though it can be a part of another business (for instance, you can be a blogger and have affiliate links as well).

Freelancing or having a virtual assistant business are also two options. Yes, freelancing means no business on its own, but, if that is your ONLY source of income, it can be seen as a business. Some refer to them as businesses.

Becoming a full time writer — and self-publishing -, having a consulting business based on your area of expertise are two more options for you. And the list can go on actually, but these are the most important types of online businesses you can launch.

The REAL financial cost of launching an online business

Now that you know that there is a world of opportunities out there, let’s get back to the cost question.

I know that the question regarding the initial investment keeps appearing because there are so many answers. I am here to tell you this: you can launch on a budget (meaning less than $100) or you can invest more, if you have the money. Both ways work and both can lead to awesome results. Let me present each one in detail.

Launching your online business on a budget

First of all, I need to add a disclaimer. I used this method. All the businesses that I launched started like this. With less than $100. In fact, I created a free, no-pitch video on How to launch your 100k business with $100.

I launched my public relations and communication agency like that, my blogs, and I launched my coaching business the same way. And they were successful.

I only invested in buying the domain name and hosting. That was it. I did everything on my own until I had the budget to delegate.

As a consequence, I am certain that it can be done and that you can have a profitable business launched with a small budget. You can transform your business idea into a thriving business!

And you can actually go for an even lower investment — even as low as $0 — if you want to create online courses using free tools (so many available!), host them on a platform and get paid. And this is just an example — there are plenty more out there. I know that there are people who launched their business on Facebook — they started to create jewellery or clothing and presenting it on Facebook, then created a page and much later created a dedicated website.

Launching your online business with a bigger investment

I mentioned that you can launch your business with a small investment. However, if you have money to invest, you can consider launching your business with a bigger budget.

This will give you more freedom to concentrate on the core of your business, while allowing you to delegate all the segments that you don’t want to cover. You can choose to delegate tasks such as designing your website, creating your marketing campaigns, creating your Facebook ads, creating your email sequences, and more.

You can also decide to invest in paid software and tools — a professional theme for your website, a software that will manage your contacts, offers and more, creating professional videos for your promotional campaigns, etc.

How to decide how much to invest when launching your business

I want to emphasize once again that both methods work perfectly. You can definitely have a successful business launched with a small budget, as well as with a bigger one. In the end, what matters is what resources do you have at your disposal and how you want to use them. For instance, when I launch a business, I see that investment as something that I am prepared to lose. In other words, I am not risking anything if said business is not successful. Obviously, I want all my projects to be successful, but I don’t take huge risks when launching one.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how much you want to invest when launching your online business. If you already have some entrepreneurial experience or even other digital businesses, then you know what to expect and you know how much money you can invest in a new business. If you don’t have entrepreneurial experience and you just want to test things, especially if you like financial resources, then you may go with a low budget launch and invest more along the way as your business grows.

I wish you the best of luck no matter which option you choose, and if you want to get clarity in regards to what online business could you launch or how to grow your existing business, then I’m inviting you to Business Success — a free coaching session with me.