Start a Business Without Breaking the Bank

And since the items remain with them, they will pack and ship them to your customers. Or simply start a business that is inventory-less: Teschendorf's eBabyConsignment.com connects parents eager to sell their used baby items with parents on the hunt for bargains.

Talk Yourself Up

Perhaps the biggest expense of starting any business is marketing. Just because you have a killer Web site does not mean people will click on it. To quickly drive traffic to your e-retailing business, you can pay for ads, called Pay Per Click, on Google(GOOG), Yahoo! or MSN. It may be the fastest way to launch your e-retailing business, but it can get expensive.

Voxel.net's Zachary Smith recommends spending just $20 to $30 a month until you learn which keywords attract customers. Meanwhile, get listed on shopping comparison sites like BizRate, Shopzilla and Google. Smith likes Merchantadvantage.com because it hooks you up to more than 100 marketing and shopping channels for $145 to $345 a month.

For those who want to go the search engine optimization route, be aware that it can be time consuming and costly. "As Google and Yahoo! change the rules, you may have to update your methods and Web site almost continually," warns Elad. "You cannot do this once and then stop and rest. It's a constant battle, as competitors work to surpass your results."

Do It Because You Love It

Hoping to work from home may have spurred Teschendorf to start eBabyConsignment.com, but she also wanted to do something with children. So enjoy what you're selling or you won't do an effective job growing your business. After all, points out Elad, while the Internet makes it easy for customers to find you, "it also makes it easy to find a competitor one click away."

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