No matter how small you intend it to be, there is still an investment involved if you intend to start an online business. At the very minimum, you will need to get a domain name and a good hosting package. Though the amount is not too big, nevertheless, it is still money.
Not many will want to risk even a couple of hundred dollars of their hard earned money, especially if they are not fully committed and wants to do it on a part time basis. There are of course some ways that you can use to finance your initial investment that do not need you to dig into your principal savings, so even if your online business fails to take off, you will not feel too bad about it.
The best way of course is to start a blog with a free platform. I recommend Blogger as you have almost total control over it even though it is free. With a good name and some good contents, you should be able to make some money from Adsense within a few months. If you are willing to risk it, and I suggest you take the risk as the motive of starting this blog is to make the money for your planned online business, you can take on writing paid reviews. This method is fast and easy and if you are hardworking enough, you should make enough within one month to buy a domain and a hosting package.
After getting your own hosting and a professional sounding domain name, you can foray into whatever you have in mind, but like all business, whether online of offline, there will be other expenses. As you go along, you will find that you need specialized software to facilitate running your business. That would mean additional cost. Hopefully by now the business is making some money so you can re-invest the money. Else you will have to depend on your blogs again.
Easy as many Internet Marketers will tell you, it is not. An online business involves many aspects and it is suffice to say that if you do not have sufficient knowledge, it is best you learn the trick first before attempting to start an online business.