Launching an online business is a dream for many aspiring entrepreneurs. But when it comes to taking the first step, there’s a choice to make: should you build everything from the ground up, or buy an existing business that’s already running?
Both options can lead to success, but they come with very different risks, costs, challenges and timelines. Starting from scratch offers complete creative freedom but demands significant effort and expertise. Buying an established business gives you a head start, especially if you use a platform like Offiro, where stores are already built, verified, and ready to operate from day one.
In this article, we’ll compare these two paths side by side using nine key criteria to help you choose the best approach.
1. Risks
Starting from scratch
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When you’re creating a business from zero, you’re facing unknowns at every stage. You start with ideas, but only time can tell whether they’ll work or not:
- Will your products appeal to customers?
- Are your suppliers trustworthy? Can they deliver in time?
- How good is your website? Will it function properly under traffic?
You have to test everything yourself: from product choice to marketing strategy. Checking every hypothesis can take months or even years and will cost you money without guaranteed profit.
Let’s look at the numbers. Can you guess how many businesses fail in their first year? One in ten? One in twenty? No.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number is actually close to 20% or one in five.
And this trend continues: one in three enterprises close in year two and and nearly half don’t survive its third year.
Buying an Online Business
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When purchasing through Offiro, most of the major risks are significantly reduced. Offiro tests and verifies every shop before listing it. This means you’re not guessing whether the business works; you’re stepping into something with a proven track record.
You can see key performance data on the shop’s page and you can get more information from our managers.
The biggest challenges shift to operating and growing the store while Offiro provides support.
2. Cost
Starting from scratch
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Initial Investments |
| ⭐⭐ | Overall Investments |
At first glance, building from zero seems cheaper, especially if you only consider upfront investments. You can focus on free or inexpensive tools and build or buy things as they become necessary. You are not bound by timing — you can take as much time building and preparing as you want. However, costs snowball quickly over time. You’ll need to pay for:
- Website design and development
- Branding and content creation
- Product testing and samples
- Marketing experiments
- Legal and administrative fees
In the long run you’ll end up spending far more than you would have if you’d bought a functioning business. Furthermore, the money is spread out over months or years, and you can easily miss the true cost until it’s too late to pivot.
Buying an Online Business
| ⭐⭐⭐ | Initial Investments |
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Overall Investments |
Buying a ready-made business follows a different pattern: the upfront cost is higher, but your investment comes with predictable returns. You’re purchasing something tangible and you know exactly what you’re paying for. Here’s what you’ll get on Offiro:
- Established domain
- Unique store design
- Product line that can be extended on demand
- Working marketing channels
- Tested logistics and trusted suppliers
And we’ve got real data to prove our point. Take this shop for example:
The store listed at $3,500 on Offiro already generates $2,323 in annual net profit and you can increase this number even further with Offiro marketing services.
3. Time Consumption
Starting from scratch
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Creating a business from zero can take months before you can even start building a digital storefront. You’ll need to:
- Brainstorm a niche
- Generate and validate ideas
- Source products
- Set up logistics, and build marketing campaigns
Even after you go live, you’ll face the challenge of generating traffic and building trust with new customers, which adds even more time before revenue appears.
Buying an Online Business
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When you buy through Offiro, most of the heavy lifting is already done. After purchase, you can typically start operating within days and plan marketing campaigns on day one. This is ideal if you want to skip the slow setup and focus on growth.
4. Legal Challenges
Starting from Scratch
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Building from zero means you’ll have to navigate legal details yourself. You must register a business, draft contracts with suppliers, ensure compliance with data protection laws, and handle tax obligations from day one. This adds a whole new layer of problems, especially if you don’t know your way around rules and restrictions.
Quick fact
General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR consists of 11 chapters and 99 articles. It would take you hours just to read everything, let alone comprehend and memorize it.
And if you miss even one step, you might face fines or forced shutdowns later. Here’s a quick example: to launch a pet store like this, you’ll need to:
- check product safety regulations
- label compliance
- check advertising rules
And you must do it before starting sales.
Buying an Online Business
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Buying a store from Offiro means that the legal side is already taken care of. We ensure that all businesses in our listings are legitimate and provide documentation to confirm ownership transfer. We also guarantee that you’ll work worry-free: our consultants provide guidance on common legal aspects and warn you against doing something that can violate the rules.
5. Skillset
Starting from Scratch
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Building from zero requires you to master many skills from different fields:
- Website development
- Analytics
- Graphic design
- Copywriting and content creation
- Product research
- Marketing strategy and analytics
- Legal compliance
- Customer service
If you try to do everything yourself, you inevitably sacrifice quality. And if you choose to outsource tasks, you’ll need to find reliable freelancers and coordinate their work, which adds both cost and complexity.
Buying an Online Business
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Purchasing through Offiro reduces the range of skills you need to get started to a bare minimum:
- You don’t need technical knowledge: your site is already up and running and we guarantee uptime up to 99.9%.
- You don’t need to think about design: we’ve got a list of templates you can switch any time.
- You don’t need to be a marketing guru: every store comes with a loyal customer base and you can expand it further with Offiro marketing services.
- You don’t need to be a content creator: we’ll provide effective YouTube videos and expert articles to get you started.
And if you’ve just started your journey, our manager will be there to help you every step of the way.
6. Scalability
Starting from Scratch
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Scaling a business you’ve built from zero can be more flexible — you design the foundation yourself and optimize it for growth from the start. But this flexibility comes at a cost: if your initial setup is weak, scaling will magnify problems instead of profits.
It is not uncommon to rebuild a business during its lifetime: change the site, switch suppliers, try new marketing tools. However this process can delay growth by months or years compared to buying an already operational store.
Buying an Online Business
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When you purchase an established business from Offiro, you get a working foundation that you may or may not want to expand. This makes scaling significantly easier: you can add new marketing channels or expand product lines, knowing the core business already works.
Let’s look at the example from our listings:
Glimso.com was generating $2,000 per month. By expanding the product line with targeted, viral items for bloggers, we helped increase Glimso.com’s profits to $4,622 per month and turned Glimso.com into one of the most desired shops in our listings.
7. Revenue Potential / Cash Flow
Starting from Scratch
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Don’t get us wrong: new business can generate profits, but the timeline is often unpredictable. It can take weeks to make the first sale and months to make revenue consistent. During this time, you’re funding everything yourself with no immediate return.
According to CB Insights, 38% of all businesses fail because they run out of cash. For comparison, only 8% of enterprises fail because their products are actually poor.
Buying an Online Business
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One of the strongest advantages of buying through Offiro is immediate cash flow. Every business in the listings is already up and running, meaning you can start earning from day one. Even if the profits are modest at first, you avoid the long waiting period most new businesses face before breaking even.
Let’s look at numbers again:
You can buy a store like Amrius.com with one-time payment or choose a more flexible approach and pay 25% of the total price upfront. Your store starts earning right away, so you can cover the next payments with the profits you’re already making.
8. Support and Resources
Starting from Scratch
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Beginner entrepreneurs often struggle because they have to work alone and rely on self-education. You get better over time, but you face two major drawbacks:
- Without guidance you will make mistakes that can snowball into bigger problems.
- Learning on the go means slower growth and lower sales.
Buying an Online Business
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When buying through Offiro, you get support from day one. Your manager will guide you through ownership transfer and our marketing experts will help you get comfortable with running your store. Key information and performance data are available on your store’s dedicated page.
And if you ever need help or expert advice — feel free to contact us.
Conclusion: Which Path Is Right for You?
Starting a business from scratch can be rewarding if you want complete creative control and are prepared to invest time, money, and energy into every step. But it’s also the riskier, slower route, with many hidden challenges.
Buying a ready‑made business through Offiro offers a clear alternative:
- Lower risk with proven products and systems
- Immediate revenue potential with stable cash flow from day one
- Shorter learning curve with seller support
- Faster scaling with optimized operations and marketing services
For many first‑time entrepreneurs Offiro’s ready‑made businesses provide the best balance of speed, safety, and profitability. Instead of spending months figuring things out, you can focus on what really matters: growing and improving an existing business.
