Home-based e-business - an option for the self-employed?
For the purpose of this study, the time to profit is regarded as the time taken to reach a decent profit, it is not the same as time to profitability. Publishers may start to earn a little income from affiliate programs straightaway but it will probably take months or years before a decent profit can be returned as a long time is needed for a large volume of traffic to build up on their site(s). Businesses that sell physical products on auction sites can turn in a good profit straightway provided that the right products are available. Web sites that sell physical products, soft products and services will take a few months for medium volume traffic to build up if their site is listed on search engines and directories.
Setting up as a publisher and joining affiliate programs carry minimal risk except in terms of the time and money spent in setting up and maintaining and promoting the web site(s). There is very little risk with selling physical products through auction sites unless one takes in a lot of stock that could be left unsold. The risks are higher for an online shop because of the extra money involved in setting up the site and also the possibility of taking in stock that could not be sold. Similarly, selling soft products may involve the purchase of expensive reseller's licenses or development costs for a particular soft product. The situation is similar with services where one may have to pay expensive reseller fees.
It is very difficult to turn in a high profit earning exclusively from affiliate programs because it is extremely difficult to produce and maintain high volume traffic web sites. In the case of selling physical products through auction, the margins are generally much lower than those of an online shop, and the profit realized is somewhat unpredictable. The profits that can be obtained are higher for sites that sell physical products, soft products, and services as are the risks involved. The highest profits of all can be derived from adult sites but the competition is also the highest.