How do I know this?

Because I’ve been where you are

I used to be a tradie, a chef as it happens.

I was working 16 hours a day, 6 days a week for crazy chefs whose sole purpose in life was to make my life miserable.

I worked for Gordon Ramsy and for Marco Pierre White and I got a thrill out of making things with my hands, and deep satisfaction from knowing I’d done my job well.

Why did I choose cooking?

Because I was a bit of a larrikin at school. I left school after year 10 and in my final year I made 35 full days. when I left school, I’m sure the teachers popped open a bottle of champagne.

My parents split up when I was 11 and it knocked me for six, I went from straight A’s to chasing girls full time.

My mum raised me after that and she worked 3 jobs to pay the rent and feed us.

My beginnings were not auspicious to say the least.

Like you I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs, I’m married with 2 girls but 8 years ago my wife left me and we were almost divorced. I had no idea what was coming, because as far as I knew everything was OK and then, out of the blue, came the “Neil I’m leaving you” chat, talk about a punch in the gut.

I didn’t want her to leave. This is not how it was supposed to end! So I made her the best sales pitch of my life. And fortunately, it worked

Are you married? divorced? kids?

I get it

You HAVE to make money, it’s in our DNA to earn an income and support those that rely upon us, if we don’t we’ve failed.

You know what the fastest way to do that is?

A Business.

The trouble is traditional businesses are dying, it’s no longer a smart move to buy yourself a franchise such as a Jim’s mowing business or a cafe.

Besides I think we both know that the initial thrill of working outdoors would quickly fade away and then you’re left with a shit load of hard work, and manual labor.

Add to that the fact that you can now buy a robot that will mow your grass and it’s clear that this sort of business is dead in the water

What about a cafe?

Surely that’s a good idea, right?

Well, have you had a look around lately, there’s a cafe on every street corner, a cafe cart at every train station and companies like n’espresso are doing the same thing to cafe’s that DVD players did to blockbuster video shops

Killing them.

Whilst you’re looking at all those cafes you’ll probably notice that most of them have replaced more traditional retail shops, in the last 10 years the high street has changed

Shops are closing, why is that?

The simple truth is that people prefer to shop online now

Here’s something that that will boggle your mind

According to National Australia Bank, online retail spending in Australia increased by 15 percent, to $17.6 billion, in 2015. This compares to roughly $562 billion for China, the country with the highest e-commerce sales, and to $350 billion for the U.S.

The Australian number may appear small, but Australia’s population is 2 percent of China’s. Additionally, Australia has a higher Internet penetration and smartphone usage; more than 90 percent of the population has Internet access.

The e-commerce opportunity in Australia is compelling, as studies show that approximately 30 percent of consumers spend more time shopping online than in a physical store.

So the question is, are you ready to grab your share of the $17.6 billion market?

Because like it or not online shopping is here to stay, and the good news?

The market is growing 15% year on year

So if you want to make money, the obvious choice is to start an online business

But which one? Selling what?

I’d like to show you, and yes of course there’s something in it for me, but it’s probably not what you think.