As a small business owner, you know the perils of business cycles. The high cycles are great, but the low cycles can ruin your business…unless you prepare.

I was recently at a local pool shop getting chemicals for my in ground pool. It was not my regular pool shop because the one I frequented for years had gone out of business.

While conversing with my new pool expert, I asked about the services they offered off-season in order to stay in business. She mentioned that she would take a temporary job at a retail shop while the business closed for the season.

I didn’t press the conversation, but wondered how she kept paying rent for her location, utilities, insurance, etc., without business income. I know that she did not own the property, so it’s clear that the expenses were real.

Later that day, I ran into a client that recently sold his business and retired. Although he has kept busy, he’s running out of things to do and is contemplating starting another business because his money is not earning him much in his investments. He knows that owning a business offers the best return on investment, when running a successful business. His problem is that after running a retail location for decades, he does not want to be tied to a physical location.

He knows that I help people start businesses, and asked about starting a portable business. Since he’s considering moving out of state, he wanted something that he can take with him wherever he is, without physical or geographic restrictions.

He was talking about starting an online business, and he didn’t even realize it. With my help, he is now looking into starting an online business.

Recently, I hosted a workshop about growing a brick and mortar business utilizing internet strategies. I touched on ways to drive traffic to web sites, and converting them into customers. After explaining one of the traffic strategies, (how affiliate programs work) a handful of attendees drilled me with questions about supplemental income from affiliate programs and how to use them to grow their business.

There are dozens of reasons for supplementing your income. There are hundreds of ways to do it. Unfortunately, there are many myths, get-rich-quick schemes, and business opportunities out there that are sucking the life out of people that attempt to supplement their income.

I’d like to do something about that, and offer a live, in person presentation that will help demystify all questions you may have about running an online business.

Starting an online business is not rocket science. All you need to know is the blueprint to a successful online business. Once you have this blueprint, you’ll decide if it’s something you’d like to do to supplement your income, or if it’s not for you.

You can get details about this presentation by visiting StartYourInternetBusinessNow.com.

There are so many ways to supplement your income. Starting an online business is just one of the many ways. It should be your way, and if it’s not, I hope you look into other ways to do so.