E-commerce is a booming trend and one that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. More and more people around the world are using the internet to make purchases on everything from music, to home goods, to clothing, to auto parts, and anything else you can think of. The world of e-commerce gives the average person or small business the opportunity to business worldwide and to compete in a way that was never possible before.

In this article we’ll look at the benefits of running an e-commerce website and we’ll list seven of the leading reasons that you should consider starting your own e-commerce site.

1. Low Risk and Expense

If you want to own a traditional brick and mortar store, the costs and risks involved will be very high. Each month you will have expenses related to the rent or mortgage, upkeep of the property, other overhead costs, salaries of employees, inventory, and that is just the beginning. Anytime there are high costs involved in running a business, the risk is also going to be pretty high.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, an e-commerce site can be started with very little money and essentially no risk. You can get a simple site up and running for less than $100 (sure, this won’t give you the best e-commerce site ever, but it is possible to get started on this amount). The risks are not even comparable to those of running a traditional business.

2. No Employees

Just one of the issues that comes along with running a traditional business is managing the employees. This is really a full-time job in itself. Aside from the time aspect, employees also present one of the largest costs and risks for business owners.

If you run an e-commerce business you won’t necessarily need any employees at all. Most small e-commerce businesses could be run just by one person, or with a partner. Depending on the growth of the business and on your goals, you may eventually hire some employees for various jobs, but this is not a necessity to have a successful e-commerce business.

3. 24/7

Traditional stores will have hours of operation, and they’ll be closed at certain times. Some stores are open 24 hours a day, but they also have added costs for doing so.

If you’ve ever wanted to make money while you sleep, e-commerce is one option. There will be no need to close your store and customers will be able to visit your site regardless of the time of day or day of the week.

4. Almost No Barriers to Entry

The barriers to entry with a brick and mortar store are very large. The startup costs will be far more than most people can afford, even with sufficient loans. The competition is also likely to be very stiff.

E-commerce businesses offer an opportunity to the average person that involves very low barriers. It requires only a nominal amount of money to get started, and there are plenty of opportunities to do things on the cheap until your online store is producing some income.

5. Worldwide Market

As a traditional store owner, in order for customers to buy your products they will have to be close enough to your location to come to the physical store. Obviously, this limits your market to those who live or work within driving distance, or those who are traveling through the area.

However, as an e-commerce business owner you can easily do business with people in all corners of the world. Anyone with internet access can shop at your store. Yes, there are some disadvantages including shipping to other parts of the world, but it can be done if the buyer is willing to pay the added shipping, or you can sell electronic products that don’t require shipping.

6. You Don’t Have to Be #1 to Be Successful

For traditional brick and mortar stores, there is always a need to stay ahead of the competition in order to remain profitable and in business. If you can’t be one of the leaders in your industry, you probably cannot survive as a business.

On the other hand, with an e-commerce site you will have very low expenses, so almost everything that you make will be profit. Because of this, you won’t need to have the number 1 site for a specific industry, you can easily survive and remain profitable with just a small piece of the pie.

7. Flexible Hours

Running a traditional business means that you will probably need to be there and working just about every hour that it is open. Store owners usually have a very hectic schedule with long hours each week.

Running an online store is work and does require hours, but generally you can choose those hours as you see fit. If you are not a morning person you won’t have to be working early. You will usually be able to work a schedule that you choose.

As the owner of a new website, or an existing one in need of revamping, there are certain aspects to consider. Maybe you want your viewers to see how professional your business is. Or maybe your site caters to families and that is the ‘feel’ you want viewers to experience when they find your page.

The days of hiring someone to do your web or graphic design work are long gone. Remember those days? It was once a natural practice to hire someone, which meant spending money, to get precisely what it was you were looking for. Even then, there were still no guarantees. There are now many different programs available, permitting you to totally revamp your current website, or even helps you create a great first site. Of all the choices, we have found Photoshop to be the easiest to work with.

When using Photoshop, you can have a finished product in the style you desire in no time. Seeing as you will be doing the work yourself, from your very own computer you will be saving money from the word go. By choosing this method of creation for your header, with your desired feel and look, you just need to add it to your site codes. But let’s start at the beginning.

Your first step is to open your Photoshop software and create a new image. You can either set the size of your image by choosing the pixels at1025 x 150 (or the size you wish your website to be) or by using the image-size tools available to you so you can set the dimensions properly to fit the size you wish to work with.

Selecting the image outline or header, select the tool resembling a rounded rectangle. Drag this pointer to the corner of the image found at the top left side. Now left click to draw a rectangle crossing from the left to right side of your image. This will show you the outline of your header section.

Continue by selecting “Layer” from the navigation tool bar, which you can find at the top of the window you are working in. Your next option is to choose the “Layer Style”, followed by “Add Drop Shadow” from the various options. You will now see a new pop-up window with the option “Drop Shadow, Inner Glow and Outer Glow.” Be sure to check the box in front of this option.

Next, you want choose the “bevel” option. This will result in the rectangle having a professional style with depth, added by your chosen shadow. Clicking on the “Layer” icon will add a new layer to your header.

We’re going to open the text tool now, dragging it to the top left corner of your image. Type here either the name of your website or company name. Have fun playing around with different font types, sizes and colors until you find what really suits your ideas. There are also other text option tools on the navigation bar at the top of the present window.

Now we are going to add a bit more style to your header. Start by selecting the rectangle tool, left-clicking in the top right-hand corner. By dragging the pointer along the top of the header, you will be creating a smaller navigation bar at the top of the image.

Now click the “Direct Selection” tool, selecting the rectangle by left-clicking on it. This will result in small squares appearing at each corner. Click the lower left corner of this shape, dragging it toward the right side and creating an angled edge for this navigation bar.

If you wish to add color or effects to this upper navigation bar, you would be choosing the “Fill” tool and making your choices from the options there. You can also crop and/or cut your image to any exact size you may need with the “Crop” tool.

Since you have put all this hard work and effort into this project, you don’t want to lose it. Click “File” then “Save for Web and Devices” to save this image. You might want to consider creating a folder for all your business website information so you can keep everything together. Once you have saved this new header, you need to upload it to the “Images” file of your website codes.

To properly add your new header to the pages of your website, you’ll be using it as a background image. It will need to be located in the first row of the first table of the website, right under where you see the head tag.

Now you know just how easy it is to create your own website headers for free. Depending on the nature or purpose of your website, you may decide to change things up more often. How about for each season? Or the other pages of your site? It’s no longer a question of money, but of imagination.