The Internet has magnified niche trend. Suddenly cost of reaching special-interest community has been drastically reduced. Instead of creating a storefront or direct mail catalogs, specialized retailers can launch Web stores. There is more competition in an Internet niche than their was in catalog niche, but cost of competing effectively on Web is considerably lower than competing with catalogs and pricey mailing lists.

Plus, you can do it from home. Plus, you can test business before you commit full-time to idea.

eBay has provided a wonderfully convenient testing ground for specialized retail businesses. Thousands of small entrepreneurs are using eBay to find customers and build communities of niche consumers, all without buying mailing lists that are 98 percent useless at best. I saw this firsthand over summer as my thirteen-year-old son used his babysitting money to buy and sell video games.

Many of game retails were entrepreneurs who had Web sites displaying full lines of goods. They would buy games in quantity, sell them in eBay auctions, then invite their customers to their Web sites for additional sales. The cost of obtaining a potential customer was virtually nil. All they needed were a few products to sell on eBay and a few more products at their Web sores.

The beauty of testing a business idea on eBay is you don't even need ability to take credit cards. You can ask your customers to use PayPal (www.paypal.com) to transfer dollars (without transaction fees) from their checking account to yours. You can trade in collectible-like used products, buy cut-out products or purchase new goods in large quantities to sell below retail price. You can do it from home part-time. If it works, you're in business. And your odds for succeeding now are better than even.

Why? To become an entrepreneur requires a different plan or map, because you are taking a different road, to a different destination.

You will have to be a self-starter and not rely on others. For example, when you work a 'regular job' your boss feeds you work and you have to do whatever job you are given even if you hate doing it. Your reward... a salary or wage.

Being an entrepreneur means finding WHAT to do, HOW to do it and WHERE to market your ideas. It requires a different mindset of focusing on opportunity rather than security.

To survive as an entrepreneur you soon learn:

· You won't know everything, no one does. You never stop learning.

· Motivation alone will not make you successful.

· Knowing everything about your specialty or manufacturing process will not overcome a lack of business and marketing skills.

· People will not automatically rush to buy what you have to offer.

· Without sales you are out of business.

It's not enough to just know what you know. You also need to know what you don't know... and what you need to know.

These can be hard lessons to learn and unfortunately, many entrepreneurs find out too late.

© Market Leaders Limited.

NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this article:

******************************************** Get Your 100% FREE mini-course "17 Powerful Secrets That Have Made Business Owners Into Millionaires." 100% FREE! Simply send a blank email to: instantsellbusiness@ReportsNetwork.com

********************************************