Do you have what it takes to open a business on main street and earn a comfortable living? If you lack essential information, are you willing to take the time to hunt it up? If there are things you do not know, are you willing to learn them? If you lack needed skills, are you prepared to develop them?

One who can answer a resounding "Yes," to the above questions, can succeed. Online or offline. Until you can shout this right out loud to your family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers on the street, any effort to build a successful website will break your heart. And waste a ton of your time. And more than a few bucks.

If you want to succeed on the Web, you must first come to grips with what you mean by success. If your definition can be simplified to making a good living with the opportunity to make more, then all is quite doable. And one of the best ways to start is to begin part time and grow your business as you learn.

Whether you have started a business or are still only thinking about doing so, you may find it informative to know how successful site owners define what "success" means to them:

• They are not making a million bucks a year; this was not the goal. Rather they are making a living (their definition) and are in an excellent position to increase their income.
• The site designs are quite simple; very few fancy graphics are to be found.
• Their site is well focused.
• Their site is loaded with content.
• Some face stern competition; others have carved their niche and conquered it.

As you search sites, you will probably note ways in which each site can be improved. But this is true of any site, large or small. And it's true of yours, and mine. When I am referring clients to different sites to look at different designs, I usually hear, "You gotta be kidding. that's nothing!" If you visit a site and find "nothing," then you probably need to know more about business and the web in order to build a winning site. Re-evaluate your definition of success, learn what is needed, then take another look. A website is successful if it is a success in the owners eyes, and more importantly in the eyes of their customers. What else matters?