Anyone seriously looking to start a business and work online from home should ask lots of questions in order to make a well-informed decision. A good place to begin is by doing several informational interviews with successful business owners in the same kind of business. Most people are more than happy to share their experience with others, and some will even recount the lessons they learned the hard way so that you can avoid costly pitfalls.

Following are a few questions that I often get asked about start-up costs. It would be a good idea for you to ask these of other people as well, but here are a few of my own responses:

Q: I’d like to get into Internet Marketing, but I don’t have any money to invest. Can I still do it?

A: Depends on what you mean by “get into it.”

If you are serious about becoming a successful business owner, then the short answer is “no.” It takes some money to start any business. The good news is that home-based Internet marketing businesses require a lot less cash investment than traditional “brick and mortar” businesses, franchises, or even cottage industries that depend on expensive materials, production equipment, licenses and inspections, product shipping and/or inventory storage. All of that makes a home based Internet business accessible to almost anyone by comparison.

It also depends on what you will be marketing and whether you already have, or need to purchase the products and/or services in order to fulfill customer orders promptly and professionally. This will vary from company to company, so be sure you fully understand what is required of you, up front.

Q: So what kinds of costs are involved?

A: There are TWO different kinds of expenses:

CAPITAL EXPENSES (one-time or infrequent) and OPERATING EXPENSES (those that recur monthly or even more often). You might compare the two to buying a truck for a business (capital expense) and buying gas, oil, insurance, and maintenance to keep it running (operating expenses).

Capital expenses for Internet Marketers include the cost of things like your computer, printer, phone, etc., and other home office set-up needs. You might find that you, like many people, do most of your work out of a wi-fi café and “out-of-pocket” with your cell-phone, pda, and so forth. Easy, then, to keep these costs reasonable-especially if you already have the equipment and gadgets. But since these tools are the lifeblood of any Internet Marketer, they need to be up-to-date and reliable.

You may also need to invest some money to get your business branded (a custom blog or website, logo, etc). If you don’t have these things in place, you won’t be able to compete in the vast online universe. That will affect your profits, and hence your success. You might have people in your personal network who could help you with this, and that could save you money. (Beware, however, of well-meaning amateurs who don’t fully understand things like search engine optimization, Web 2.0, and other critical Internet linking technologies. Read more about this.)

In Part Two of this series, I will explain Operating Expenses and answer a question about “fees” that you can reasonably expect (AND what to avoid), if you want to tie your business to an already established company or product line.

I hope this has been helpful so far. Please comment, share it, bookmark it, ReTweet it, and subscribe to my RSS Feed.

Here’s to your phenomenal new business venture and your brand-new life!

Still scaling the Internet-marketing learning curve, or struggling to get a new online business off the ground? Take Thia’s online Tools For Success survey and qualify for a complimentary 30-minute phone “workout and fitness evaluation” with this Personal Trainer for Internet Marketing Newbies. Learn more about Thia too.