Turnkey Business - Pro and Con

A turnkey internet business is a logical option for those who have the acumen and desire to make money on the internet. Especially those who want to start internet business but are "techie challenged."

Enlarge Image To start an Internet business you can go the turnkey route - buy a ready-made business and be up and running overnight - or knock yourself out doing it all yourself.

Seems to me there is an immense market for the turnkey option, given that tens of thousands, maybe even millions of people would like to make money off the Internet.

But - like me - in the beginning they don’t know how.

That fact has not escaped the eagle-eye of numerous entrepreneurs who have seen the potential in turnkey operations for those who want to start an internet business, but do not have the technical expertise required to build their own web site.

The upside of buying into such a deal is that it can be almost instantaneous, as for example with some of the eBay-oriented business packages which can get you online with a generic web site within minutes of dropping your dime.

Presumably the next thing is to listen to the money rolling in - ka-ching ka-ching.

Training Materials

There are many extremely good sites of this kind around. They often include a raft of training materials such as e-books, members-only areas where you can learn all you need to know about marketing - and pretty soon, they say, you can expect to hear that very nice ka-ching ka-ching sound as the money starts rolling in.

But here’s the downside.

It still requires work.

Real work.

Or at least, real mental work.

Because perhaps one of the major reasons why Internet wannabes fail to get established, even when all the tools are provided, is that they expect to be spoon-fed.

If you find that insulting - well, the comment probably hit a nerve and you need to take a close look at why.

Why does such a wannabe fall on his or her face, and wonder why?

I know why. Because I have been one. I have a very flat face.

And the answer to all of it comes down to one word.

Focus.

Or lack of same.

Don’t Be Overwhelmed

It is incredibly easy when starting an internet business to become overwhelmed with the absolutely staggering range of information, marketing courses, newsletters, free downloads, ebooks, and so-called "insider secrets" that are available.

And then you suddenly find your inbox is loaded - actually, overloaded - with info products and newsletters that you have signed up for but really have no idea how to use.

In other words, even the process of doing your due diligence can become a concrete block attached to your left ankle, or a handcuff holding you at your computer, with not a ka-ching in sight.

So you sit there, trying to point fingers at all those successful gurus who are telling you they are making tens of thousands every day…"and you can too"….and there comes a point where you get so frustrated you just want to kick your computer through the wall.

You might even wish you had never signed up for a credit or debit card, because the one you have does nothing but go "ching-ka ching-ka" - which is "ka-ching" in reverse as your money disappears into cyberspace to pay for the next silver bullet that is supposed to turn your last few coppers into gold.

This happens most often, I suspect, to those who find the challenge of HTML and even WYSIWYG almost overwhelming.

In case you don’t even know what those acronyms stand for, HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language - the underlying code which is the foundation of all web pages.
It looks a bit like this: or br or bold and there are people who can read and type that stuff faster than a politician can make a promise.

Why You Say Itt What Is Gott?

WYSIWIG means What You See Is What You Get - and it is supposed to help the HTML-challenged by doing a lot of the code work behind the scenes.

Truthfully, these things are tremendous - if you know how to use them.

It seems that these web page creation tools are an absolute breeze to some people. And a complete nightmare to others. Like me (I can say that in all honesty, having lost many many hours of time and web site work in the past couple of years).

So there comes a time when one must re-evaluate one’s skills, goals, and aspirations.

Which is why a turnkey business becomes such an attractive proposition to those of us to whom Geek is Double Dutch.

Now let’s look at the main reasons why a turnkey business is a brilliant option if you have neither the time nor the inclination to do everything from scratch…or find yourself utterly frustrated by your own technical ineptitude.

Turnkey Pros and Cons

Here are the first three "pros" that come to mind.

1: You can be on the web almost immediately.

2: The best such businesses offer full training and marketing forums and resources.

3. You have a ready-made product (or products) to sell.

Now for the "cons".

1. Most turnkey businesses lock you in to the role of being the advertiser/seller of someone else’s product/s.

2. You have no idea how many other people are advertising the same product from the "same" website - using the "same" keywords and selling techniques.

3. You are not unique in any way - which means you are selling hamburgers and hotdogs alongside who knows how many other hamburger and hotdog stands.

In those two lists there is one major business misfit - and I’ll bet you missed it completely, even though it was hiding in plain sight.

Do you honestly think that Number One in the first list ("You can be on the Web almost immediately") really belongs in any sensible business plan? I mean, really, what’s so good about being "on the web almost immediately?"

Let me tell you a story about a friend I once had who wanted to be in business "immediately" - selling plastic-wrapped pizzas to supermarkets was his planned gig.

I did a feasibility study for him (also known as due diligence) and was able to tell him in a couple of days that he did not have enough start-up capital to last the three months that were needed before he’d get any income or cash flow.

He ignored that, and went into business immediately. Hired staff, bought ovens on credit, leased a delivery van and a business car, got his supplies on credit, then began selling to supermarkets.

His sales were so good that he bought a yacht (on credit) in week 10.

In week 16 he filed for bankruptcy.

Why? Because his supermarket customers waited three months to pay their bills (I’d already told him that was standard practice) - and his suppliers wanted their money for flour and such in no more than 30 days.

Which is all relevant to starting an internet business in the following way: No-one can expect to succeed on the Internet just by getting on the Internet "immediately."

True, that is an excellent first step. But you must also be prepared to learn what your new business is about. Which means you have to have capital (be that time or money or both) to keep you going until ika-ching/i starts happening.

Bricks and Mortar

There are some things about traditional business strategy that should not be thrown out with the bricks and the mortar.

Things like - conserving your capital but getting maximum value for each dollar by actually paying for a turnkey Internet business license. Which means basically that you become a franchised retailer EXCEPT THAT in the best of all worlds, you get to sell your own products as well as those which are provided with the business.

You should also get technical things like unlimited band width (to handle high traffic flow), a pre-built site, the option to use a domain name of your own choosing, access to page source code to make various changes to customize your pages, lead capture forms, a built-in merchant account, and, on top of all that, a real live person - or persons - to give you all the training and Internet education you’ll ever need to be successful. Plus, they will handle the techie stuff for you for a nominal fee.

The best of the best will actually give you new and exclusive products every month, plus access to a managers area where you can watch or download videos on everything from how to conduct an Adwords campaign, to basic information on registering an eye-catching and memorable domain name (like my www.cuddlysoftware.com for example) and they’ll teach you how to point visitors to specific pages on your site.

This is important if you have a "shop" where you can sell certain supplied software or ebooks, and keep all the profits for yourself! (Rare - but I happen to know where…).

It’s even better when your "landlord" provides you with exclusive rights to sell a revolutionary new product, such as DeadEasy Ebook Maker - a tool that anyone who can type and click a mouse can use to create their own E-books…which are a tremendous profit-center in themselves.

The best licensing arrangement I have found cost under $250 up front (at time of purchase) plus a monthly fee of less than $40.

That compares very well with so-called "mentoring" programs offered by some marketers who will happily flatline your credit card while upselling and cross-selling more and more of their own archived or digital products to you. Like CDs that cost about 10c to produce but which include information that you might be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for.

That’s business, and we can’t fault them for doing the best they can. Nor should you think that they do not give value for money. Most do.

Of course, some are just a bit of a rip-off. But you don’t know that until after the ching-ka sound has faded.

The next question you should consider seriously is this: do you have the money to buy into a quality turnkey business - or are you hoping you can do it all for free?

Free has its downside too. You get to carry advertisements for the provider of the "free" service. Good for them. But distracting to your customers. And let’s face it, it’s rather a parasitic relationship in the first place because you’re just sucking off each other. Which leads to anemia and eventually death.

Spend Money - Make Money

If you budget wisely you will be well prepared to keep yourself going through the start-up process until cash starts coming in. (This might mean continuing to work a J.O.B. to keep your cashflow going). And you will also be prepared to reinvest what does come in - by advertising - so you can attract more visitors and make your business even stronger.

With this prudent approach, your internet business will eventually become your cash cow. But no cow ever kept on producing milk without being fed.

For those of us who find HTM(hel)L daunting, but are nevertheless inspired to make money on the Internet to ensure that our retirement years are well funded by our own endeavors (and who would want to rely on a government handout that never matches the cost of living?) a low-cost turnkey business is clearly the way to go.

But remember - it does take time to learn the Internet two-step. Which, need I say it, starts with the first step.

That step is due diligence…(hence the options in the following links where you can evaluate several types of turnkey business and see if any might meet your particular needs. Or you can investigate what’s available to help a newbie actually do the HTML start-up thing).

Words of Wisdom

But having done all that myself, let me offer a word of wisdom - not advice, but wisdom gained from sometimes expensive experience: None of this will do you any good at all if you are hoping someone else will spoon feed you all the way to the bank.

And none of it will translate into real money unless you make a decision to focus on actually learning, in great detail, what you need to know to make your own goals a reality. (Which is why I evaluated many options before settling on those which meet my requirements in almost every detail).

Further, there is no one turnkey business that is suitable for every single person wanting to start an internet business. Some prefer eBay, others have their minds set on residual income, many like the idea of affiliate programs, a few actually run more than one business at a time (I do) because they like their eggs in several baskets.

But if I were starting over, knowing what I know now, I would look for a turnkey (not turkey - turnkey) business with everything supplied so I could focus on something I am passionate about, without having to go through any of the techie agony.

Finally - despite all the frustrations (for some of us) the door to the internet is not locked

You just have to find the right key.

….
Michael Knight has been a writer and businessman for 45 years. He is CEO of Cuddlysoftware.com - and as a writer and Internet businessman, he is passionate about the revolutionary DeadEasy Talking Ebook Maker.

Affiliate Program - Ebay Dropshipping
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By Michael Knight Published: 9/30/2005

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