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What's the best way for a South African to have a website business?
I have been involved with my own websites since January 2006. Before then I was mostly just a web surfer and new nothing of how websites worked.
In my opinion it is one of the best and most exciting ways to start your own business. Even in South Africa where we are a bit internet backwards I can't think of a better way to start. But I also found thes best company to work with to start your website business is not a South African company. More about them just now.
My journey so far taught me a couple of things about starting a business on the internet - for one, it is no different from any other business.
What else happens when you start a business?
- It is more work than you planned or have time for, and you can't employ anybody yet because you're not making any money. Which brings us to number two...
- It takes longer than you think to make money. Most businesses can take up to five years to show a positive cash flow.
- You will make mistakes and these can be very costly.
Now I have made some mistakes in developing my internet business. I am still improving my business on a daily basis. Luckily I run my website through a company called SBI (Site Build It!) that has a proven success system.
For more info read the SBI! Blog
But I did not follow the system very well. In fact I started my first site, scrapped the idea and started again twice. I was at the point to give up when Ken Evoy - the managing director of Sitesell responded and gave me a free suscription to start over. This gave me the motivation to get properly into website building and learn the ropes.
And as luck would have it my new subscription ran from 1 April 2006. So in April I started again and got my site up and running since June. And boy am I not sorry I did. No, not at all. In September I actually went ahead and subscribed for a second site, and with a small additional payment got a third site thrown in as a bonus.
The second site is going much better than the first. I have decided not to update my first site anymore and is slowly closing it down. Doing this part time I could not continue with a split focus. Luckily I can rewrtite the content of my first site for my blog. The third site I gave to my wife and she started her own site in November. I started doing all the work for her but she recently started updating her own pages. Soon she will be running her site completely by herself.
In effect I have worked through five domain registrations and seven site concepts. I finally got stuck on Zaties with a focus on South African artists. And at the moment it still takes more out than it brings in.
So why do I keep at it?
- Because it has been fun (and it still is).
- Because I have learned so much. With SBI materials and contact (through the SBI Forum) I reckon that I have covered enough ground to earn a degree in internet business (without the exams).
- Because I can see the results and I know that it works. My site has been increasing in traffic from month to month - and this will continue untill I run out of strategies (which SBI won't let me).
- Because I am building my own business that is independent of local economic turmoil, will pay in foreign currencies and has an unlimited growth potential.
- And, despite the fact that I am working on my own - I am not alone. I am working with the best business community that offers the most helpful support and most supportive help.
But just to show you how this works. South African SBI owners are working together to prove to you that this is a viable business. Each one that participates will log their progress at various intervals.
Gerhi Janse van Vuuren
Zaties editor (and independent website business owner)
And here are links to some wonderful South African SBI sites and their success stories:
