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When the Virtual Storefront Is the Home Front

By Stanley P. Jaskiewicz
October 27, 2010

One of the virtues of e-commerce has always been its low barrier to entry. For little investment of time or money, anyone can set up shop online, whether selling advice or widgets.

But can something so easily accomplished really be a business? In other words, when someone says that she started a business, does she really mean it? Will an entrepreneur run something out of her spare bedroom the same way as if she had venture capitalists peering over her shoulders, demanding a business plan, financial statements, budgets, marketing plans and everything that a bricks-and-mortar retailer has (except the expense of leasing space)? If not, she may treat it as just another hobby, something to handle in her free time.

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