What income can I expect when starting an online business/store?

I am interested in starting an online business (specializing in dogs/breeders and w/ an store). I am wondering if anyone has successfully started an home based internet business. I know that the income is based on many factors but I was wondering what others have made as far as profits and also how much did you invest?


Also what are your average monthly profits and expenses and what industry is your business? Thank You.
What income can I expect when starting an online business/store?
I'm not sure what your on-line business is? food, animals, breedings, specialty services?





pet Supplies plus and some of the other "big box" stores tried selling all of their stuff online, I remember buying 50 pound bags of dogfood from them with no shipping charges, I never figured out how they could make money doing it (they don't sell that anymore).





That being said, if you're selling a specialty breed of dog, you'd better have a darned good reputation or an unusual breed like sarplaniniac if you think someone's going to plunk down hundreds / thousands on an unknown animal.





If you're trying to sell specialty items like dog combs et al, know that you'll need to buy in sufficient quantity to be priced comparable to the big retailers, and factor in shipping costs. A more likely scenario is something that the big guys don't do - maybe you can have people send in pictures of their dogs and you re-create them on silkscreen and make ties or scarves, or something that differentiates you.





If you just want to be a me-too, set up a wholesale business and try to sell on ebay (although fees are eating many retailers alive there), that's a possibility, see what the prices /shipping is before you place your order through the wholesalers.





I have a side business that I run on the internet - I raise exotic animals and sell them and their end products - I am moderately successful, but have 6 figures into the business, my ROI is decent but I still have my day job.





Expenses depend on whether animals are healthy or ill - most of the feed and other expenses have been fairly flat for the past 5 years. Income swings dramatically depending on how the industry is doing -