SmallBizResource Blog -- SmallBizResource

Looking Big on the Internet -- And Don't Let Them Hear You Bark

Posted by Naomi Grossman Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007, 10:24 AM ET

On the Internet, goes the caption on the well-known New Yorker cartoon that depicts a dog sitting in from of a computer screen speaking to another dog, nobody knows you're a dog.

And nobody knows what size your business is either. Or where you're working from. And many of you small business owners want to keep it that way.

The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on the online tools available now that can let home-based businesses function — and appear — much bigger than they are.

The article tells the story of Dave Novak who sold $1.2 million of luxury steam-shower and bath equipment last year. He imports the products from China and resells the systems for $2,500 to $4,000 apiece under his own brands. Where is his office based? In his toddler son's bedroom in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Novak's company, Novak & Co. LLC functions on a MacBook Pro computer, an iPhone and a host of Internet-based tools.

"Most people don't know I'm based at home," Novak says in the article. "There are so many tools out there now that offer a whole other way to live, and I don't think people understand how great it is."

Writer Gwendolyn Bounds notes, "If the Internet has been the great equalizer for small businesses, it is particularly evident right now in the home-based business realm -- where new online tools from Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., eBay Inc. and others are making it easier and cheaper to network employees, sell goods and manage office accounting functions in ways that previously required office space, technical staff, and expensive investment in servers and software."

While these tools make it easier, cheaper, and way more convenient to run your business, the article highlights the challenges in finding the right products for your home-based business, especially ones that will continue to work as you grow out of the kid's bedroom.

Are you using any of these online tools? Let us know what works for you — and what doesn't. And if you're indeed a dog, we'll never know.

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