A New Series on Business Startups — Part 9

Many people dream of quitting their day job and starting their own business on the internet. It seems simple enough, doesn’t it : working from home, low costs and boss of your own time?

But what about the technical side, the long lead-in to a decent income, and the flakiness of many internet projects?

John Evans, boss of Syntagma Media, has given an interview about the trials of creating an online content business to Gerry Reynolds, business consultant and retail analyst.

Here’s a preview :

Gerry : What are the economics of an online income stream? [...]

John : If you set no upper limits, you’re really at the mercy of events. It’s no good having a $10m business if your costs are $11m. Mr Micawber defined that problem 150 years ago.

The trick is to set an upper boundary that gives you the best split between receipts and obligations, building in the vagaries of the tax system, of course, and depending on the amount of effort you can comfortably provide. Everyone will reach a different conclusion, but it has to be within your comfort zone. You are, after all, in this for the long haul.

Gerry : So you’ll not be selling the business?

John : I’ve personalized the business so much, it’s hard to see who would buy it now. But the idea of creating an empty shell of a company, with no branding, so that anyone can buy it, just isn’t how I do things. I’ve always preferred chocolates to boxes.

Read both posts here : #