I’ve come across many people who think online business is a hoax — all because they’ve tried out one or more online money-making ventures, but didn’t make any money.
But on probing further into their experiences, I discovered that they didn’t venture into online business in the first place.
Most decriers of online business don’t understand what an online business really means.
They think everything that fetches money over the Internet passes for a real online business. So, they plunge into any online activity that promise to fetch them money. But in the end, they failed because they missed it right from the start.
Get this clearly:
A real online business is one that you have absolute control over, and that has the potential to fetch you a full-time income for as long as you wish. Blogging, affiliate marketing, information marketing, and freelancing are all in line with this definition.
But then, there are some other online activities that fetch people money, but are usually timewasters and risky ventures. And you must avoid them at all cost because, in reality, they are not businesses — in that you have little or control over them and income they bring, if any.
Here are seven such businesses:
1. Forex trading
This was seen as the hottest business opportunity in Nigeria a couple of years back. Many people, including myself, quickly jumped on the bandwagon of Forex trading with the aim of making quick bucks from the foreign exchange market. But we soon got burnt due to the high-risk nature of forex trading.
While I admit that some people are making good money from forex trading, I still cannot stomach the fact that losing money as a forex trader is inevitable, no matter how experienced you are. That, to me, makes it more of a gamble thing.
In addition, most forex trading experts will tell you to separate emotion from your buying and selling decisions. But that’s almost impossible. We’re humans, and we can’t totally suppress our emotions.
So, I think forex trading is only requesting the impossible.
Although forex trading is done over the Internet, and it involves investing and fetching profits, just as with any other business, it still doesn’t pass for a real business. And I’d advise you to stay clear of it because you’ll lose nit just your money, but also lose your sanity.
Imagine losing a whopping $500 within 10 minutes due to a miscalculated buying or selling decision. Some people won’t survive it, you know?
2. Online surveys
Online survey websites offer to reward you in cash or coupons for completing surveys online. While most of these websites are legitimate, they usually aren’t targeted at Nigerians, since most of the companies sponsoring the surveys aren’t serving a Nigerian audience. So you won’t find enough surveys to complete because Nigerians aren’t eligible for most surveys.
