10 Hottest Homebased Businesses For 2000

It's official: E-commerce is here to stay. Slowly but surely, consumers are accepting the idea of point-and-click shopping and ordering everything from umbrellas to underwear online. In 1999, business-to-consumer e-commerce drew in $33.1 billion in sales. That number is estimated to reach $61 billion this year-an 85 percent jump, according to Shop.org.

And though media outlets love throwing the names eToys and Amazon around, small players are still entering the industry. How are they competing with those multibillion dollar sites? Niche offerings and beyond-excellent customer service.

"Our philosophy is different from the larger, more established e-commerce players in that our goal is not to offer as many brands as possible, but to only offer high-quality lines and back it with extensive product knowledge," says Carolanne DiSalvo-Ghee, who, with partner Darryl O'Donnell, runs 3Graces.com, a retail beauty site, from their separate homes in Fairfield, Connecticut. "We credit our high volume of repeat customers to our personalized customer service. Although we're an e-commerce business, we've come to know many of our customers personally."

If you want to start an e-commerce business, focus on the business side as well as the technical aspects, advises Greg Holden, author of Starting an Online Business for Dummies (IDG Books Worldwide, $24.99). "A course on business management or marketing would be useful," says Holden. "So many people simply plan to jump online with a Web site, and they don't have any background in traditional customer service or promotion. If they would take such a course, they'd have an enormous advantage over the competition."

Holden also advises e-commerce entrepreneurs to advertise in newsgroups and mailing lists. "Generally speaking, this is more effective than banner advertising. Be a presence: Answer lots of questions; write articles for free and submit them to online magazines."

3Graces.com has had luck using search engines and press releases. "We were surprised to see how quickly the orders started coming in," says DiSalvo-Ghee, whose sales figures reached $24,000 last quarter. The partners began the company with just $2,500 in 1998, having already owned their computers. Holden suggests starting with a well-equipped office (including accounting software), a dedicated Internet connection, lots of memory and storage space on your PC, and a logo created by a professional graphic designer.

Holden warns that not all e-commerce companies will be successful so soon. "If you're trying to go it on your own with a quirky niche product," he says, "be prepared to try for many months or even more than a year before you see success."-Laura Tiffany

For More Information

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