The internet has made it possible for individuals from all over the world to start their own business for a fraction of what it would normally cost. This can a very promising prospect especially if you reside in the Third World. As a writer and webmaster from Jamaica, I have had some wonderful experiences. I feel different even weird at times because I am not on the well trodden roads to success.

You see, when you finish school most people opt to continue their education and obtained a college degree with the hopes of securing a well paid job. Here in Jamaica, every summer thousands of high school graduates leave school and only a small percentage of them is able to get work. What happens is that the unemployment rate is always going up amongst young people and there are limited opportunities for job creation.

Being able to secure a job as a low paid government employee, I soon realized that my job did not offer much in terms of job security. I found out that the internet could be used to generate a source of income and I started my first website soon after making the discovery.

The internet is a Godsend and has changed the paradigms for creating wealth. The route most persons take to achieve success is:

A) Go to school

B) Secure a college degree

C) Join the rat race

D) Stay and run the mills until the age of retirement

A small percentage has decided to go against the grain and become entrepreneurs. These people decided that the rat race is not for them and they should be the one calling all the shots. They earn a higher income than employees with lot more perks. With the emergence of the internet as a revenue generating medium, there as being a steady growth every year of the number of persons starting their own ecommerce business.

And if you are from the "Developing World" like me, then we have a more or less unique advantage depending on where you live. Your ebusiness can be a major source of foreign exchange which can work wonders for your income. Say for example you make your money through Google's Adsense program. A webmaster in New York receiving a check for $US500 would consider it to be small change because of the higher costs of rent, electricity and so on. Joe Webmaster living in Haiti or Jamaica would be smiling all the way to the bank when he converts that $500 to local currency.

And to be honest I consider it to be a reward of some sort. Having been born and grown in the bowels of poverty, I feel delighted to know that we can find ways to become successful and achieve our objectives despite limited resources. I started my ebusiness at a public library and I did not have a computer or credit card. That's one of the beauties of the internet; you can start with little or no money.

The internet is available to anyone no matter your geographical location, and the opportunities are equal even though the resources at hand may not be. Those $500 checks or more can be life changing depending on your local currency rates and whether you live in the Caribbean, Africa or Asia.

As I said before I started out in this business without a computer, no credit card and no internet connection. The experience and knowledge you gain from starting your own ebusiness can be very fulfilling and guess what you may even launch a consultancy service and earn money from local businesses if you are adept at web design or internet marketing.

Remember what I said about having a unique advantage? The advantage is that now you would be able to earn both local and foreign currency and smile all the way to the bank.

Oceanroc Web Publishing