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In the economic world of the 21st Century, business owners have two primary options. The first of these is called the brick and mortar. It represents the pre-Internet way of conducting business in which store owners had physical locations separate and apart from their homes where they went in every day to face customers and offer their products and services for a fee. The online business model, on the other hand, offers customers the same kind of possibilities, but only from the comfort of their living rooms while sitting in front of a computer. It is important to know that while both have their advantages and drawbacks, they are very different from one another. However, just because they are different, that doesn't mean that both cannot be integrated and used for greater success. Brick and mortar store facilities have their own concerns. If you ran a clothing store, for instance, you would need to keep inventory, hire sales associates, and other individuals to facilitate a sale. You would have to rent a commercial real estate location and pay utilities on said place every month. You would have to protect cash from theft of all kinds, and you would have to uphold safety and fairness standards for all people or risk being held financially liable if someone was to injure himself while in your store. The positive aspects of the brick and mortar storefront are that you get a chance to have a more personal relationship with your customers. You secure a place within the community and become known as a leader in your industry. You create jobs for local economy. The drawback of the brick and mortar facility? It takes money to make money. On the other hand, you have online businesses, which can theoretically generate revenue with very little startup capital and very little overhead. Online businesses may be operated from anywhere with an Internet connection. Some businesses need not even keep an inventory if they can establish a strong working relationship with a quality drop shipper. Drop shippers keep products in inventory so the store owners don't have to. When an order is made, they package and send, all without the merchandise ever touching the store owner's hands. While the online business sounds good on the surface, it's important to note that it does not leave you many opportunities to interact directly with customers and it requires you to give up control, to a degree, over the quality and handling of your products. Whichever business that you decide to go with, it's important that you be prepared for the challenges, and that you realize you do not have to confine yourself to just one way of doing things. These two business types may be easily integrated.
This article was written by Marc Joseph, who enjoys giving advice on discount and wholesale clothing. Marc has been able to bulk up his savings throughout the years as a wholesale distributor.
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