Do you want to start an online business? Building an online business does not need to be hard. In fact, it can be relatively easy. But, do not confuse easy as meaning no work. It is easy to do, but it takes a lot of work. So, in this article I want to layout the three things you absolutely need if you want to start making money online. Without these three things, in my opinion it is virtually impossible to start an actual online business. No, I did not say that it is impossible to make money, but rather it is impossible to build an online business without these three things. So, let’s jump right into it.

Domain Name

A domain name is your presence on the Internet. It is like your business in the off-line world. If you do not have a building or a place to do business, you are not in business. The same holds true on the Internet. You need a presence. You need your own place to conduct business. So, a domain name is absolutely essential.

Hosting

Once you have your very own domain, you will need a place to host that domain. A hosting account is simply where you put your domain and all of the files so your website can be viewed online. Now, you can host your website from your own servers, but that will be very expensive and very difficult if you do not know what you are doing. So, I would suggest that you go out and find a good reliable hosting company. You can find great hosting companies for under 20 bucks a month. That will get you started. If you look at the cost involved in starting an online business compared to off-line business, you will see that this is a very minimal cost.

Payment Processor

Okay, now that you have your domain name and hosting, you will need to have a payment processor that will take payments for you. This is very easy to set up for most people. For some people it will be difficult, but for most it is fairly easy. For example, you can easily get a PayPal account. PayPal is one of the most known and respected payment processors online. Plus, it is free to set up an account. You are charged fees for your transactions, but it is free to set up.

As you can see, there are very few things you need to actually get up and going. There are some technical aspects of getting this all set up, but it is very easily overcame. For example you can outsource the entire setup of your websites. But, in all reality setting up an online business is much easier than setting up a traditional off-line business. So, if you have the right mindset there is no excuse for why you cannot start your own business online.