The global pandemic forced businesses to rethink business as a whole. So much that it also made the idea of working from your laptop a reality. Many employees took advantage of this and decided to live abroad since they could now work remotely.
This gave some the entrepreneurial bug (if they didn’t already have it). But working from your laptop doesn’t mean you need to live abroad and become a digital nomad.
Maybe you just want to create a sustainable income while using the internet as leverage. Maybe you enjoy your town or city.
Here are some ideas we think will help you decide whether or not becoming a digital entrepreneur is right for you.
What is a digital entrepreneur?
A digital entrepreneur is someone who runs an internet based business. There are a lot of different internet based business models so the definition is pretty broad in itself.
Basically wherever there is an internet connection, this person is able to operate business. Depending on the type of business, this may require every day time investment or the way the business is setup might require little to no time and work itself so long as the website is up and running.
In short: it’s a revenue generating business that conducts most if not all of its business online. An example of a digital business would be Amazon.
While Amazon does have a physical aspect to it’s business model, it’s not the only type of internet business model which we’ll get in to further down on the post.
1. Digital nomad lifestyle
Becoming a digital nomad is one of the many reasons lots of people want to run an internet business. It allows you the freedom to live wherever you want while still being able to earn a living. You can even take some cool pictures for instagram as well.
You don’t have to become a digital entrepreneur and run your own online business to do this. If you have a great job that allows you to work remotely, you can become a digital nomad that way.
Living this way allows you to connect with other internet entrepreneurs and remote workers. You’re able to attend meetups, live by the beach in foreign countries, travel the world and meet other like minded people who share a similar zest for life.
2. Global customer base
Why go with brick and mortar when you can transition to click and order? For the first time in human history, you have the power to do business all over the world with your laptop and an internet connection.
If you set up an online storefront that processes automatic orders, it’s like having an open storefront 24/7. Your website doesn’t take weekends off, doesn’t take holidays and won’t call in sick.
It’s working around the clock to give you lifestyle leverage. You’re also able to create multilingual sites, so you don’t necessarily only have to serve english speaking markets.
The scalability factor of starting an online business is a huge advantage.
3. International team
The internet makes traditional business models look like the horse and buggy. Before the internet evolved into what it is today, entrepreneurs were fairly limited in terms of a talent pool.
You’d have to hire staffing agencies, get tapped into networks by going to parties and schmoozing, all in hopes of having top talent want to work for your company.
Now with the internet, the talent pool has become an ocean. You can find top tier talent for your company all around the world while still being able to manage your teams with tools like Slack, Trello and Monday.
4. Solopreneur vs entrepreneur
What’s the difference between a solopreneur vs entrepreneur? A solopreneur is someone who sets up and runs a business on their own. An entrepreneur does the same, except it usually involves employees and taking on a lot more financial risk.
Successful solopreneur Lim How Wei says, “I currently run a million dollar one person business. Less stress, more freedom, and no one to answer to. I’d take it over a billion dollar startup.”
Paul Jarvis, author of Company of One: Why Staying Small Is The Next Big Thing In Business, left his corporate job in pursuit of creating a different lifestyle. He wanted to create a company that stayed small.
But bigger is better! Isn’t it? Not necessarily. Small and nimble can be better depending on what your end goals are. If you’re someone who enjoys managing teams and wants to actively work, entrepreneurship is right up your alley.
But if you’re someone who wants to make money online, have time freedom, and overall just wants to create a life you don’t need to escape from, then becoming a solopreneur might be a better option for you.
You can also contract out work using sites like UpWork and Fiverr to leverage your time on tasks you’d rather not do.
5. Pay little to no taxes
Yes, you heard that correctly. Say goodbye to income taxes once and for all. If you live in the United States, can move to states like Texas, Florida, Washington, Delaware or one of the other few states that don’t have personal income tax laws.
The downside is that you’re still susceptible to federal taxes. Which depending on how much you make, can reach as high as 37% depending on how much you earn. This still doesn’t include cost of living, lifestyle, property taxes and so on.
Or what if you run your own online marketing agency or business? Is there a way to reduce your taxes to 0%? Check out this short video from Umar of DigitasFinance:
Wouldn’t it be nice to pay 0% personal income taxes and avoid federal income taxes as well? If you’re an aspiring digital entrepreneur and want to keep the money you earn, you’re cut from a different cloth. In some cases, you can not only avoid personal income taxes but avoid paying taxes all together.
For more digltal nomad finance information, we recommend checking out NomadCapitalist’ awesome post on 15 countries with no income tax.
6. Flip Your Website (35x-45x)
According to thewebsiteflip.com, the value of your website can sell between 35x to 45x its monthly average profit (based on last 6 months of profit). That means if you have a website making $500 per month in average profit, you can sell it for $17,500 to $22,500.
There are things that can make a website more valuable like social media followings, email subscriber list, advertising pixel data, digital property age, branded name, etc.
The point is this: you can have a MASSIVE exit. If you have a website making $10,000 per month, you can sell it for $350k to $450k. Want to have a $1Million flip? Build your site to $28,000 per month in revenue and you can cash out.
Where to buy and sell websites:
- TheWebsiteFlip
- Flippa
- EmpireFlippers
- Sedo
- BuySellWebsite
- Vineclick
- Dealasite
- WarriorForum
- Ebay
This is what digital entrepreneurs call digital real estate. You have the power and resources online to create something from scratch, scale it and then sell. What starts out as desert property can turn into digital beach front real estate.
And the best part is? It takes little to no money to get started. With some imagination and sticktuitiveness, you can create and sell digital assets that can set you up well.
7. Creative outlet
Being stuck in a routine at a job you hate is like being Agent Smith in the movie the Matrix. You wear a black or grey suit everyday and conform. While there’s nothing wrong with that, you more than likely offer a lot more than what meets the eye.
This is where digital entrepreneurship offers a creative outlet. You can express yourself through written, audio and video format. If you learn a new skills, you can share it online and maybe help or inspire others.
Lots of entrepreneurs who end up making it online somehow stumbled into creating a lifestyle business out of a hobby. You can do the same if you put a little intention behind it.
This can come in the form of starting a blog, creating a YouTube channel or even a podcast. If creativity is in your bones, it might be worth exploring through content creation.
8. Various business models
Before the internet, if you wanted to start a business you’d have to go through the traditional ringer. This means getting a small business loan, renting a space, invest in product up front, hiring employees and hopefully making it.
This would not only put you in the hole financially but in some cases could ruin you for years to come. Fortunately with the birth of the internet, startup costs are much less than a traditional brick and mortar business. Affordable web hosting and a domain name is really all you need these days to start.
Everything is online and you’re no longer limited to your surrounding area. We now live in a global commerce economy where people can be reached across the world.
You can sell your own products both physical or digital, become an affiliate marketer and sell other merchants products for a commission, upload display ads and earn money per impression or click, become a CPA affiliate, etc.
There’s a monetization strategy for virtually every business model.
Now that you know about the benefits of becoming a digital entrepreneur, what are you waiting for? Build your work around your lifestyle and not your lifestyle around your work.
