Challenges to Becoming an Online Entrepreneur

One of the huge benefits of the internet is that it has opened up a global market to entrepreneurs all over the world.  People who have previously been isolated from opportunities through location, finance and even education have now a much better chance of creating a viable online business.

For those of us from the Western world who have switched to an online model for our business, one of the rewards is definitely the chance to interact on a global scale.  I frequently employ other businesses online that I know are run from maybe a bedroom in India or even a Cyber Cafe in the Philippines.  In  the end it doesn’t matter, the costs are likely to be smaller but as long as a quality is not affected then everyone is a winner.   I’d rather employ a talented graphics designer from Africa than an overpriced agency in London and I know many others do too.

However there are extra challenges to launching an online business in many countries.  For instance many Governments are increasingly seeking to control access to specific websites. Many internet marketers focus their whole business on Facebook yet it is frequently banned or blocked in some regions.  Facebook has been banned in places like Turkey, Thailand as well as the more obvious Middle Eastern or African countries with very strict censorship policies.

If you live in an area that frequently filters internet access and social networking sites particularly  then it is essential you have some way of bypassing these blocks.  It’s not hard to do this nowadays though as there are many companies who offer internet anonymity services.  These ensure your privacy is protected online and equally can bypass the majority of firewalls and filters used to restrict access to the internet.

The other advantage of these services to the online entrepreneur is that you can both access and research opportunities in other countries.   For example using a US proxy you can place advertisements on Gumtree a popular US advertising site.  Many Japanese web sites will block access from outside Japan unless you are using a proxy server based in that country.

It also helps in one of the other big problems that some internet marketers face in some countries – accessing internet payment systems.  If you’ve tried using an Indian Paypal account you’ll know exactly what I mean.