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7 February 2001

In the early days of e-commerce, the mid-1990's, we kept hearing that, "no one was making any money on the Internet." Then there was a boom and lots of people were making lots of money - thanks to the Internet. However, they were not actually making money on the Net. Indeed, they were losing money. Income was earned via generous venture capitalists, hugely over-valued stock market listings and expensive buy-outs. Profits never seemed to be of any interest to the dot-coms. Then the market fell dramatically in 2000 and, again, everyone is saying "no one is making any money on the Net."

In truth, there has been a widely overlooked group that has been doing very well on the net: micro e-businesses. These are tiny businesses operated by one person, or sometimes a couple, selling products or services over the Internet. They are generally based out of a spare room in the family house. Most micro e-businesses are in America - probably because e-commerce took hold faster across the Atlantic. But more and more such businesses are popping up in Europe. This trend will continue.

A few of these people have made - and sometimes lost - millions. But most of them have developed a small, growing business that is earning them a good income.

Many of these micro e-businesses are operated by women who left the workforce to have children and have discovered the Internet allows them to have a rewarding career but also spend more time with their children. Their businesses gives them far greater flexibility than they would have in a 9-5 office job and the prestige of owning their own companies.

Such micro-businesses have been slower to develop in Europe. But we should encourage them. Politicians have long wanted the Internet to be a solution to the employment problem. They want Europeans to become more entrepreneurial and they want the new economy to grow in Europe. Micro e-businesses do all of these things. However, politicians need to make business laws in Europe easier in order to allow micro e-businesses to flourish.

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