How to Start an e-Business

This is it--your chance to strike it very rich because suddenly, the internet has changed all the rules. For a half-century, the big players in business, from IBM to Exxon, dominated the game, leaving little room for newcomers to move to the top of the heap. Then in 1994 a little startup named Netscape introduced a web browser, and the race for cash was on. Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, 1-800-Flowers, drugstore.com, Priceline.com, WebMd.com--today, they are million-, and in some cases billion-dollar businesses, but where were they ten years ago? Out of nowhere these companies and hundreds more, have emerged to challenge the gods of commerce. They're succeeding because the new rules favor small companies that are flexible, smart, tough and ultra-quick to react to changing market conditions.

Chew on these numbers: E-business research firm IDC expects the total worldwide value of goods and services purchased by businesses through e-commerce solutions will increase to $4.3 trillion by 2005 from $282 billion in 2000. By 2007, total online retail spending will reach $105.2 billion, up from the $51.7 billion consumers were expected to spend by the end of 2003. And in the 2002 Christmas shopping season, consumers spent $7.92 billion online, a 23 percent increase over the 2001 holiday season, according to e-commerce research firm BizRate.com.