"I have clearly understood the power of the Internet and I am sure that I can make a decent living if I start an Internet based business," Vasant said. "Tens of thousands of people are making money online. You too can do it. What is your business idea?" I asked him.
"I would like to start a website like Amazon.com and sell books online," he said. "Has any venture capital company offered to invest two hundred million dollars in your company?" I was disappointed with his idea.
After a brief silence he said, "I think you don't like the idea. Perhaps I can think of projects on real estate, cars, marriage, stock market, auction " At this point I interrupted him and said, "Almost all Express readers that send emails to me write about ideas similar to yours. Millions of entrepreneurs had tried their hands on these projects and most of them did not make even a penny. Small entrepreneurs and startup business persons can make money online only through innovative uncommon ideas and niche markets. You are wasting your time and resources if you are concentrating on what everyone else is doing."
"Now I am totally confused," Vasant mumbled. I said, "I will give a few examples from real life that prove how hard working people make money through ideas that others once considered as stupid, silly and crazy. They will help you break your conditioned thinking process. Byron Reese of SantaMail.org pretends that he is Santa Claus and sends personalized Christmas letters to your kids for $10 per mail. In the past 5 years, he sent more than 2,00,000 letters! Doggles.com creates goggles for dogs, dress for cats and other pet jewelry and sells them online successfully."
"Really? Such things will work in the United States. I am not sure whether there will be takers in India," said Vasant. I disagreed with him, "When you go for online business, the world becomes your market. The only restricting factor is your attitude. If you are really worried about local market, I will give you an example. Paul Graves of PositivesDating.com created a website for HIV positive patients and has already made US$100,000 in a dating market that has thousands of players. Niche dating websites may not be successful at present in India. But, niche marriage website will work here. What do you think about SecondShaadi.com that help Indians find people for second marriage?"
"I understand that if I modify a concept that is successful in the United States and implement it for the Indian market, it will work," said Vasant.
"Yes. In most cases it will work. Alex Tew, a college student created a website, milliondollarhomepage.com, divided it into one million pixels and sold each pixel for $1 to advertisers. Though it was considered to be the stupidest idea at the time of launching the website, this young man actually became a millionaire in a year. Do you ever find yourself desperately looking for a clean toilet in an American city? MizPee.com finds the closest, cleanest toilet and gives the information through your mobile phone when you really need it." I said. "Though the MizPee.com business idea seems to be silly, it's one of the most useful services," said Vasant.
"Peasy.com is the online marketplace for car parking spaces. It helps you find parking near railway stations, town centers and sporting events and best of all, book before you leave your place. LegalMatch.com makes money by bringing lawyers and clients together," I said.
"Just now I got an idea. Small companies in Industrial Estates are not able to find suitable semi-skilled and unskilled labor. Every Indian housewife is unhappy with her domestic maid. I can create databases of eligible workers and maids. Will LaborMatch.in and MaidMatch.in work in India?" Vasant asked me. "They sound great and if you work hard, they will surely become cash cows. Be prepared to do offline work also. Invite a few like-minded persons to become partners in your business as these projects require many hands," I told him.
"I will meet you again when I launch my websites," said Vasant with a big smile.
Don't aspire to become the next Amazon, eBay or Dell. Think differently and come up with crazy ideas. If you look at your ideas with a critical approach, you will hit on a lot of excellent income opportunities. Many a time the ideas you come up with may be wrong, but if you keep asking questions, do a thorough research on them, create a viable business plan and work hard, you will make money online.