Anyone Here Start on Online Business?

[SoReadyToRetire]

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger, and part of the reason I want to do it is so I can focus more on possibly starting my own online business.

Back in 2005, I had a thriving jewelry-making business going. Someone asked me to make matching "chokers" for themselves and their dog--and an idea was born. So I had a business named "Bark & Sparkle" for a couple of years, making Swarovski crystal dog collars.

It was a blast and such a great learning experience! I had customers in 16 countries, got lots of publicity for my unique product, and was even invited to NYC to take part in a rescue event at Beverly Feldman's boutique on 5th Avenue. Barbra Streisand, Oprah, and others have my collars.

Anyway, that was not a practical product, so I got many first orders but not a lot of repeats, and decided to close it down. But it whetted my appetite for doing something else online someday. I have many varied interests and talents, so the tough thing is deciding what I want to do.

Just wondered if anyone here has started an online business, either before or after RE.

One of the causes close to my heart these days is helping widows. Two of my three sisters lost their husbands unexpectedly at young ages, leaving them needing help with a lot of things their husbands used to do. I've thought of setting up something where people could volunteer to help widows with things like home repairs, lawn mowing, moving things, etc.--but the security issues give me pause (ie, identifying someone as a widow who lives alone, AND giving strangers access to their homes, among other things).

Not sure--still pondering all the thousands of possibilities. But I'd love to hear others' experiences with this.

 

[38Chevy454]

I have a small home based business for 11 years now. Mainly for tax benefits, but I do make a little money for helping the budget. Have a website and sell mostly USA, but also many customers all over the world. It's related to my old car hobby so it doesn't seem like work, as compared to a traditional job. Plan to keep doing it for many years forward.

 

[Moemg]

I had an ebay business that I started shortly after retirement . I sold cocktail dresses to women mostly in their 40 or 50's . I was lucky and got a source for expensive dresses at a reasonable price . I did very well . I ended up being an ebay top seller .It was fun but after eight years I had had enough and closed the store .

 

[bizlady]

I started an online business after being downsized, and did that until retirement. The business grew to the point that my daughter and her husband bought it from me and now live a very comfortable life with that business.

There is lots to learn, but it is very doable if you can find a good niche. I would recommend that you not be dependent on that income however for the first few years, as it takes time to build the business. For me, it fulfilled a dream of owning my own business and was something I enjoyed a great deal.

 

[mountainsoft]

I started an online software business about 27 years ago when our daughter was born. Back then there was no such thing as "online", most of my sales were from mailing floppy discs to various computer clubs. I had a niche product, on obscure computers, with limited exposure. It was really just a hobby the first 8-9 years or so, something I could do part time while raising our daughter.

I essentially had to start over from scratch several times as I migrated from one computer system to another. I finally started earning a decent (not great) income around 2001. Business peaked between 2002 and 2013 (with a couple of random bad years), then started declining back to minimum wage levels the last few years. Despite a general decline in the market my income has stayed fairly steady at that low level, mostly due to existing customers upgrading.

I never got rich, but I've really enjoyed the work and plan to continue into retirement as long as the income holds out. These days the business mostly runs on auto-pilot other than answering emails and shipping orders.