Just got back from the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, and one word to describe it all is -- UP -- things in internet retail are booming!!! Internet sales in the United States topped 87.5 billion in 2004. The top 400 internet companies generated combined internet sales of more than 51 billion (Internet Retailer Top 400 guide). That's 401 million separate sales with an average ticket of $127.

Amazon (a pure web player) did 6.9 billion last year, Dell 3.2 billion, Staples 3 billion on web alone, blah, blah, blah … but you know, The Big Guys don't seem to know any more than the run-of-the-mill, guru-educated entrepreneur, they just have a heck of a lot more money to throw at the problems. Small guys need to use their brains and speed.

And what was crystal clear is that the opportunities for small operators in niche markets are FANTASTIC (The Big Guys don't want to touch these markets because they are worth only a few lousy million).

I had a chance to chat with a lot of smaller players: A jewelry-bead company does $5.6 million, T-shirt company $6 million, home cleaning advice and products $6 million, batteries and flashlights $7.5 million, a wedding web site, started in January 2004, is now pulling $1,000,000 in annual sales … really, what's wrong with that?

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Yes, the opportunities for small enterprises are like never in the history of mankind. With the potential markets approaching a billion users, you now KNOW why you never were meant to be somebody else's salaryman.

I grew up in my parents' retail stores, I saw the very, very long, long hours, the bend-over-backwards service to please customers, extending credit to the poor folk until their next pay day -- it ain't the way to go.

Ries and Trout talk about finding a horse. You gotta find a horse to ride—a big idea, a famous person, an angel banker, a concept that will allow you to do a quantum leap.

Make the internet your horse, please.

Way to go guys!

John

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