Advantages & Disadvantages of Making Money Online

You think about quitting your job and making money online?

While many people think it is easy to make money on the internet, it is actually much harder than you think.

Hence, you should have a look at all the pros and cons of making money online before making this career choice since you might regret it otherwise.

Advantages of Making Money Online

1. You are more flexible than someone who works in a classical job
2. Making money online allows you to spend more time with your family
3. Online businesses are cool
4. Online businesses have a bright future
5. You often don’t need any formal education to make money online
6. You don’t have to care about dress codes
7. Gives you the opportunity to quit the job you hate
8. You can work location-independently
9. You can work whenever you want
10. You will be your own boss
11. You can minimize your costs
12. Many free guides on how to start making money online
13. Starting an online business has never been easier
14. You may be able to have lots of leisure
15. You can make decent money from working online
16. You can start an online business as a side hustle
17. You don’t have to invest lots of money upfront

You are more flexible than someone who works in a classical job

One big advantage of making money online is that you will be pretty flexible.

You can do whatever you want for the entire workday and as long results are great, you don’t have to comply with any social norms.

Instead, you can do what feels right to you and also don’t have to care about the opinion of anybody else.

Consequently, you will feel like a free human being and can spend your workday with the things that really matter instead of spending it on minor issues that may not have an impact at all as in many other jobs out there.

Making money online allows you to spend more time with your family

Online businesses also allow you to spend lots of time with your family.

While you will often have to work long hours and will often also have to do business trips if you work in classical office jobs, you can stay at home with your loved ones if you make money online and will therefore be able to get a much deeper relationship with your spouse and your children who will often thank you for that later on since you can give them much more emotional support compared to a parent who will be away all the time.

Online businesses are cool

Another upside to online businesses is that working online has become cool over the past years.

In fact, online entrepreneurs have a similar standing like rockstars right now and many people out there want to be like them.

Consequently, many of your friends may admire what you are doing for a living and may secretly with to be you.

In turn, you may have a pretty high social standing among your circle of friends and can also tell many exciting stories related to your job.

Online businesses have a bright future

You should also not underestimate the power of the internet.

Making money online is not just a trend that may go away in the near future.

It is much more than that.

In fact, the internet has become mature and online businesses will have a bright future since the attention of most people will be online.

In turn, you can make ungodly amounts of money on the internet if you know what you are doing and also provide enough value to your audience.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone can do it. However, succeeding in online businesses is much easier than starting a business offline in our current state of the world since people spend more and more time online and become more technologized with every second.

You often don’t need any formal education to make money online

Another reason why making money online is great is that you often don’t need any formal education to start an online business.

Sure, you still need to provide value to many people.

However, while you will need a fancy college degree to work as an investment banker or consultant, you can start your own online business and work self-employed without having to spend lots of money on college if you are good enough at what you are doing.

You don’t have to care about dress codes

While making money online, you will often not be seen by others.

This means that you don’t have to comply with formal or conservative dress codes.

Instead, you can wear whatever you want and you may even be able to work in your pajamas while you can still make really good money if you know what you are doing.

In turn, you may feel much more comfortable at work compared to someone who has to work in a conservative environment and has to wear a suit or fancy dress every day.

Plus, you will also not have to do your laundry as often as someone who works in a classical job and has to dress up for work on a daily basis.

Gives you the opportunity to quit the job you hate

Trying to make money online can also be great for someone who really hates his or her job and just wants to make a change.

If you are currently not happy with overall working conditions in your job at all, you don’t have much to lose and you may just give it a try. If you fail, you can still go back to a job you hate.

However, if you succeed, you will have a much better time overall and will benefit from it for many years to come.

You can work location-independently

Another benefit of working online is that you will be free to work from wherever you want.

This can be great since you can choose a residency where you like to spend your time most.

In fact, while many other people are not location-independent and have to stay in a place they don’t like at all, you will have freedom of choice in this regard and can enjoy every minute of your life.

You can also travel the world and make many nice experiences while you are still able to make money online as long as you have a decent internet connection.

You can work whenever you want

Not only will you be able to work from wherever you want, but you will also be able to work whenever you want online.

In fact, you can just choose the time of the day when you are most productive and spend the rest of your day on leisure activities.

Not only will this give you high levels of flexibility, but you will also be able to work in a much more productive manner and will be able to spend your time much more efficiently compared to someone who has to be present at work for many hours but just stares at the clock until his or her workday will be over.

You will be your own boss

Having an online business can also be great if you want to be your own boss.

While not everyone is made for that, many people feel like they want to start something for their own and want to make their own decisions instead of having someone who tries to guide them all day long.

If you are this kind of entrepreneurial person, chances are that you will have a great time building an online business since you can make your own decisions and use your own ideas while you don’t necessarily have to comply with social norms as you have to do if you work for someone else.

You can minimize your costs

In big corporations, lots of money will be wasted on administrative and also on unnecessary stuff nobody cares about.

However, if you have your own online business, you can cut costs wherever you want and use your money as efficiently as possible.

Consequently, you can avoid dumb spending as best as possible and will have more money in your own pockets at the end of the year.

Many free guides on how to start making money online

Since online businesses have become such popular, there are many free guides on how to make money online on the internet.

While those guides greatly vary in quality, you will still be able to figure out how it works if you are willing to put in the work and spend enough time on those matters.

In turn, you will not have to rely on expensive courses of gurus who just want to get your money but there is enough free material to make it happen on your own without having to invest a penny on schooling.

Starting an online business has never been easier

It is also pretty easy to start an online business since the internet is mature right now and almost everyone has a working internet connection.

In turn, you can reach almost everyone around the world and will be able to build a huge international audience with millions of followers if you are willing to put in the work and provide enough value to your audience.

You may be able to have lots of leisure

If you do it right and put in the work upfront, you may also have lots of leisure once you have built a successful online business.

Sure, it takes a lot of work to get to this stage.

However, once you reach a certain point, you can automize most things and will no longer have to put in your own work in the long run while you can still benefit from your online business in a financial manner.

You can make decent money from working online

You should also not underestimate the amount of money you can make online.

While most people are not able to even make a basic living from what they are doing online, a small minority of people makes really good money and if you are smart and also willing to put in the work, you may be able to make a fortune from your online business while many people who work for someone else will never get to this stage.

You can start an online business as a side hustle

Online businesses are also great for people who don’t want to quit their jobs yet until they make enough money from a different source.

If you are one of those people, you can just start a side hustle online, work on it after you finish your day job and on weekends and once it makes enough money, you can quit your day job and work full-time on your online business.

You don’t have to invest lots of money upfront

Making money online can also be great since you don’t have to spend as much money upfront as with most other traditional business models.

While you will often have to spend lots of money on machinery or equipment in offline businesses, you will use our modern technologies online which are often free to use and almost everyone can therefore start an online business as long as he or she is willing to put in the work since you will not be financially constrained in this regard most often.

As you can see, making money online has many important advantages.

However, it is still not all upside and we should also talk about all the problems that come along with it to give you a more realistic picture of what having an online business really looks like so that you can better decide whether you still want to go for it or not.

Disadvantages of Making Money Online

1. Making money online is much harder than you think
2. You have to deal with lots of insecurity
3. Many methods don’t work
4. Many fake gurus in this environment
5. Online businesses will not make you rich quickly
6. You need a strong mindset to succeed in the long run
7. Competition is fierce
8. Only a small minority makes a living from online businesses
9. You still have to put in the work
10. Making money online is not for everyone
11. Having your own online business means you have lots of responsibility
12. Online landscape changes quite rapidly
13. You have to adapt to new technologies on a regular basis
14. You can never stop learning
15. Your online business may become redundant in the near future

Making money online is much harder than you think

One problem with making money online is that it is much harder than most people think.

In fact, many people claim that everyone will be able to make a living online with just a few hours of work per week.

However, this is almost never true and you will still have to work hard to achieve your goals.

Moreover, many people fail and you should really stick with it if you want to have the chance of succeeding with your online business in the long run.

You have to deal with lots of insecurity

Having your own online business also comes along with lots of insecurity.

Not only will you be financially liable for mistakes, but you may also have to deal with all sorts of copyright infringements and you may have to spend lots of time on unpleasant issues and may feel overwhelmed with those things quite often.

Many methods don’t work

Many methods that worked for making money online just don’t work anymore.

They are either obsolete or competition has become quite fierce and it is almost impossible to start out as a newcomer.

Hence, you should also have a critical look at what business models still make sense and which may no longer work today and in the near future.

Many fake gurus in this environment

Another downside to working in the online world is that you will also have to deal with many fake gurus who promise you the world but will not deliver at all.

In fact, those gurus just want to sell you expensive courses and while they will get rich, you will often not even get your money back.

Online businesses will not make you rich quickly

You should also not expect to get rich quickly when working on an online business.

It can take many years to build something meaningful online and if you don’t have the stamina and the passion for building your own business, you will be far better off working employed in the corporate world.

You need a strong mindset to succeed in the long run

Having an online business also comes along with lots of pressure since you will have to deal with lots of insecurity and can never be sure whether your decisions will work out in the long run.

Consequently, you need a strong mindset and should be a confident person to not get discouraged by drawbacks.

Competition is fierce

Another disadvantage of making money online is that you will also have to deal with fierce competition.

Since educational barriers to entry are pretty low and everyone can give it a try, there are many people trying to outwork or outsmart you and if you are not really committed to your business, you may fail in the long run.

Only a small minority makes a living from online businesses

Making money online is also not for everyone.

In fact, only a small minority of people are able to make a living online in the long run while most other people who give it a try will fail and you should take this into account before quitting your day job.

You still have to put in the work

Many people think that they don’t have to put in the work when owning an online business.

However, this is just wrong. You will have to invest lots of time upfront to make your business profitable and sustainable and until you get to this point, you will have to work ungodly hours to make it happen.

Making money online is not for everyone

You also need to be a special type of person to stay happy with making money online in the long run since you will have to deal with lots of insecurity and will also not have a pretty stable job.

Instead, you will have to deal with huge income swings and have to stomach those things in an emotionally healthy manner.

Having your own online business means you have lots of responsibility

With an online business, you will often have the same high level of responsibility as with an offline business.

Hence, you will often be liable for financial issues and may have a significant risk of going broke in the long run.

Online landscape changes quite rapidly

Another problem with online businesses is that the online landscape changes quite frequently and if your mind doesn’t change accordingly, you may become obsolete in the long run and your competitors may outplay you.

You have to adapt to new technologies on a regular basis

Since technology progresses at rapid speed, you will also have to adapt to new technologies quite often and this can be really stressful and challenging since you can never be sure how much you have to invest in online education to get better at what you are doing and to stay competitive in the long run.

You can never stop learning

As an online business owner, it will be on you to learn on a daily basis so that you can stay up-to-date with latest developments and stay successful with what you are doing for many years to come.

Your online business may become redundant in the near future

Since our technologies advance with rapid speed, you can never be sure whether your business model will become obsolete and redundant in the near future or if it is sustainable in the long run or not.

Top 10 Making Money Online Pros & Cons – Summary List

Making Money Online Pros	Making Money Online Cons
Online businesses provide you with flexibility	You need to be flexible
Making money online gets you in touch with interesting people	Making money online can be stressful
You can work from wherever you want online	Your business model may become obsolete
You are time-independent	You will have to learn on a regular basis
Many business models to choose from	You have to deal with fierce global competition
You don’t have to invest lots of money	Online businesses are not for everyone
You don’t have to dress up for work	You need a strong mindset to succeed
Easier to manage your private life	Most people fail making money online
You will be your own boss	You have to adapt to new technologies
You can minimize your costs	You have to deal with high levels of insecurity

Should You Start An Online Business?

Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of making money online, it is on you to decide whether you still want to make this step or rather want to stay in your job.

In my opinion, it would be a good idea to continue to work at your day job to make enough money to cover your expenses while you can still start a side hustle online like building a blog or a YouTube channel and quit your day job once you are able to make enough money from your online business.

Sources

https://www.statista.com/topics/2443/us-ecommerce/

https://www.statista.com/forecasts/646030/united-states-top-online-stores-united-states-ecommercedb

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.

As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.

After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.

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