The types of internet businesses that fail or should I say are more prone to failure are the ones that try to market goods that are widely available in the supermarket and the high street shops. Do not try and sell bulky goods like furniture, pet food, clothing or groceries on the web. These demands are already being met by well established retailers online and off line. Do not try to compete with the large brands like Dell computers or Viking Direct as they have perfected the art of delivering products like computers and stationary direct to the end user. Their buying power is massive and they already have the infrastructure to keep most newcomers from succeeding in the market place. So what kinds of internet businesses are more likely to succeed? The best internet business ideas are the one that allow you to generate repeat orders from hard won customers. The products supplied will either be expensive or very light or both with decent profit margins built in. The products should also not be readily available in the supermarkets or high street stores. In the best cases you will not be delivering any physical product but instead providing a service on the web whether it is subscription based or an application like software that can be downloaded instantly and sold repeatedly. Be wary of the advice that is offered by so called experts on the internet. Most of them have never run an internet venture before and make their money solely by giving misleading or incorrect advice for a small payment. I call them “the hopeless internet gurus.” If you have already run a business successfully then you are much more likely to succeed in an internet business as the same business skills are required in both. In fact I would go even further and say that even more skills are required to succeed online as you also have to learn specialist skills like search engine optimisation and creating great landing pages. A final word of warning; do not give up your day job unless you have ample capital to launch your new business and survive the first year. Chances are that you will struggle to make a profit in year one. It’s not all doom and gloom though… for those of you who do have the right idea the world is your market place and growth can be dramatic once you move into profits.