When there is such a huge variety of ways to make money online, it seems strange that so many people fail when they try to start their own Internet based home business. Do they all make a bad choice or is there something inherently faulty with the idea that you can make money online? The statistics produced in regard to home businesses say that 50% of all home businesses will fail within the first year and 90% will come to an end within the first five years.

According to these statistics, the failure rate is at the same high level for any home business and is not just confined to Internet based businesses. There are many reasons for the high failure rate of Internet based home business ventures, here are a few of the main ones.

Picking The Wrong Business

Even experienced business people can make mistakes. As the majority of people joining internet home based business opportunities have never owned a business or worked online before, it is hardly surprising that bad choices are made. The Internet is full of lurid advertisements urging people to sign up to have their own lucrative home based business. Fortunately, most legitimate home business programs offer a free trial period or money back guarantee so a mistake need not be costly if it is recognised early.

Unrealistic Expectations

Many people who start an Internet based home business are first time business owners who are drawn to the idea that you can make money online but don't stop to think about what might really be involved. These people pick the home business opportunity that offers the highest income for the least effort, sign up, sit back and wait for the truck loads of money to start arriving. Some people just don't seem to understand that if you want to make money online, you have to work for it. Working online is not hard compared to things like coal mining or fire fighting; you don't exactly risk life and limb sitting in front of a computer. Even so, it is still harder work than a lot of people expect.

The Hobby Mentality

A good way to make money online doing something you enjoy is to turn your hobby into a business. If you are passionate about cooking, you could write a cookery book or start a catering business from home. Unfortunately, it does not work the other way around. You can't take a home business opportunity and treat it like a hobby. An online home business is the most flexible way to make money imaginable. The flexibility of an Internet business enables you to pick your own hours to do the work but it doesn't mean you are free to forget all about working. Any home business must, if it is to be a success, be worked at in a consistent and businesslike manner.

Loss Of Focus

The distractions waiting for anyone trying to make money online are a day to day problem. It takes real effort to maintain strict focus on your essential tasks. Even experienced Internet based business owners can find themselves sidetracked occasionally. For the inexperienced first time home business owner the distractions can prove completely overwhelming and their businesses fail even though they might spend long hours online.

Giving Up Too Easily

Persistence and patience are two of the main keys to Internet based home business success. Success in a home based business rarely happens overnight. Anyone who claims to achieve overnight success is probably omitting to mention the preceding months or years of work put into planning, preparation and testing. You need patience to await results and persistence to keep trying. If a thing does not work the first time, it might work if you try it another way and then another and another…

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Alva Edison