by Bobbi Hunter

Created on: May 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

A Testimony of Starting an Internet Business At Home

Starting an internet business at home has been such an incredible adventure. The learning experience and process has been far greater than I could have ever imagined.

I began doing work at home' searches online. I the list of choices was over whelming. What I found thrilled me. I thought, "Surely I will find a great job in no time flat." I was, to say the least, completely nave to what I was about to encounter.

I signed up for this and that. I gave my name, phone, and email so that they could contact me, and they did. None stop. I had email and phone call overload. I could not believe it.

After a few months, it forced me to take a step back and analyze what I really wanted to do. I decided what I did not want to do first. Then I began to sort through the list of what really interested me.

Selling items won out. I had no idea how I was to accomplish this, but I was pleased with the prospect. I was going to auction my items and sell through a website. As far as auctioning my items, I planned to sell them through eBay.

At the time leather jackets, boots, and bags were selling well, yet they had not bombarded the market. Before I could buy from real wholesaler's I had to have a tax ID number. I applied for one and received it on-line. I did a search for wholesalers and drop-shippers. I contracted with three different drop-shippers.

This left me with figuring out how to get a website. I did not have the money to hire anyone to build a website for me. I resolved I would do it myself. What a daunting task that was. Looking back, I am so glad that I went through it, but at the time, I was truly working through the midnight hours just to learn what HTML was and how to apply it. Now I am grateful I have such a valuable skill.

My husband so kindly bought me the FrontPage program, which I continue to use to this day. It has saved me from many painful mistakes. Now that I had my website, I needed a shopping cart and a way to receive payments.

I chose a shopping cart that integrated into my website. It is no longer around, which is too bad. I really loved how easy it was to manage.

I then discovered numerous merchant companies. I went with Landmark Merchants also known as Ladco. I do not recommend this company in any way. I regretted my decision as soon as I signed the contract. I was out of a lot of money for terminal.

I later found that I could have purchased it elsewhere for hundreds of dollars less. I learned a wonderful and valuable lesson by my mistake. Always take your time to make business decisions. I now will never rush into a decision without researching it fully.
I then found PayPal. I really love PayPal and continue to use them as my favored merchant account.

It was not long before my business took off. I ran Gift & Leather for four years. My husband, my children, and I each have a keepsake leather jacket from the business.

When it was time to close, I felt such an accomplishment. I did not shut it down because the business failed, but because it was no longer for me. The accomplishment for me was that I did it.

I started out with nothing. I did not have the knowhow in starting or running a business, I did not even know what a merchant account was. The great thing is I will keep the skills and abilities I gained from starting my own online business at home with me forever.

I am again venturing into an area I am quite new at with great anticipation. Writing is opening up a new world for me. I look forward, in years to come, gazing back at what I learned, and the new accomplishments I made.

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