I know a professional poker player -- several, in fact, but this guy is a real gem.
He has amazing insights into the game.
But he once offered me some advice for playing roulette. It was this:
As you approach the roulette wheel, walk right up next to it...and then just keep on walking.
In other words, to quote the '80s movie War Games:
The only winning move is not to play.
Roulette is rigged against you, and there is no skill you can acquire that will make you better at it. The entire game is a matter of crossing your fingers.
Now here's the connection:
Some people can thrive with a retail store, obviously. But in some ways it's like roulette.
Here are the steps:
(1) You borrow $1 million to build your store.
(2) You open the store.
(3) You stock your shelves with things you hope people will buy, but you have to cross your fingers.
(4) You hope people who will like your merchandise will visit. But again, fingers crossed.
Rather roulettey for my taste.
Now let's try a less roulettey option:
(1) You open an _online_ store.
(2) You borrow $0 to build, because there's nothing to build.
(3) You stock your shelves with nothing, because you have no shelves.
Instead, you run little tests of products you think will sell, and keep pushing the ones that do.
Meanwhile, you don't have to send back any physical inventory that doesn't sell, because you never have any physical inventory in the first place and you don't have to buy anything. Everything you sell is shipped directly to the consumer, and you don't even have to touch it.
(4) You don't have to hope that people who like your merchandise will happen to visit, because you have a built-in traffic source.
It's like a science.
The old-fashioned way, on the other hand, is more like roulette, and with big chunks of dough on the table.
That's why lots of people have turned to eCommerce as their way of earning an online income. It's more straightforward and easy to understand than any other model: you have a store, and you sell things!
Who are the masters? Aidan Booth and Steve Clayton, the guys I've had on my podcast six times.
My listeners have done very well by learning from them and following their example; I've devoted a whole episode of my podcast (#1018) to their stories.
I'm hosting a live presentation where they'll lay out for newbies what running an online store looks like, and how you can do it.
If you're not spellbound, I owe you a Coke.