Can you be an Intrepreneur?

intrepreneur in-tra-pre-noor, n. a person who organizes, maintains and takes responsibility for an internet business venture.

Starting any business is a somewhat daunting task, but to start what is now known as a traditional or offline business should only be considered if you have very deep pockets, a lot of patience or a unique and brilliant idea.

I say this because I have been running my own traditional style businesses for the last 17 years and to be perfectly honest, it is not getting any easier. On the contrary, it is actually harder if not impossible to earn a reasonable income now because of ever increasing overheads and diminshing profit margins due to unprecedented levels of competition both on and offline. Each year I have seen my expenditure increase as a result of higher rent, rates, water charges, electricity/gas charges, insurances, staff costs, telephones not to mention raw materials. What makes matters worse, if I increase my prices accordingly to compensate, I notice a dramatic drop in sales and so I have become the proverbial hamster in the wheel running faster and faster but going nowhere.

However, with the advent of the internet...