The opportunity of selling products online is a realistic business opportunity IF it is done correctly.  There is a lot of skills and experience that can be attained by launching a successful online business that distributes products.  There are dozens of online platforms to sell on, or products can be sold on a personal website.

Who will I serve in the marketplace? The group of customers (age, gender, and interest) really depends on the niche of products the business sells.  For my own business, I have not yet determined my product niche.  These customers can be next-door neighbors, or people in other countries.  The customers could be a consumer business, for instance, I could sell business equipment.  However, to start, I will be targeting consumer individuals, or small business owners.

 How will I help them?  I will help my customer by providing quality products and a unique customer experience.  I will ensure that the customer gets their return on their investment, and that they can genuinely enjoy doing business with me.

What are the barriers to entry for this service? One of the main barriers to entry for this business opportunity is the stiff competition.  There are a lot of aspiring businesses who are attempting to sell their products online, some of them succeed at this.  To overcome this barrier, an individual must research and learn how to market the product.  Lack of persistence is another barrier to entry, the business owner must relentlessly find new ways to create a better product and experience for their customer, otherwise they will get lost in the shuffle.

How will I make money doing this service?  The way to make money selling products, is to simply sell products.  There are not many other ways to make money in this field of business, however, business owners can later branch off and create demonstration videos of how the product can be used, Go-pro for example.

Why is this a long-term opportunity for me?  If I start a business distributing products online and can achieve success in doing so, this is a long term business opportunity.  People will always need solutions to their problems, so if an individual can solve, or help to solve problems a consumer may face, with an innovative product, there will always be a demand.  This is a business that I could use to support myself through college.