You probably have heard many stories of people who have made it in the online business world. With the prospect of so many possible clients and customers from every corner of the world, the potential for starting an online and home-based business is, theoretically, endless. But with success comes failure, and so it goes that there are also nameless people who fall through the cracks and fail at their attempts to become online entrepreneurs. Here are some simple tips to helps you become one of the success stories:1. Learn all you can about the market.It’s very important that before you plunge into a home and / or online business, you know what the market will be like. What are the current trends? You need to immerse yourself and get a good grasp of what you are getting yourself into before you commit your resources, effort, and time to starting an online business.2. Learn all you can about the competition.A good way to begin is to look to the competition. Study their methods and learn everything you can about them. You know the saying ‘keep your friends close, your enemies closer?’ That is exactly what you should be doing. You’ll be able to learn from their mistakes and weaknesses, the knowledge of which you will use to help strengthen your otherwise greenhorn operation.3. Make yourself unique.Really novel ideas are hard to come by these days, and sometimes. that’s not even enough to propel an online business to success. You need to think of ways – through marketing, presentation, service, promotions, etcetera – to make your product or service be different from the rest. And we don’t mean just in quality – the packaging needs to be attractive as well, so the more likely it will be able to draw clients and customers.4. Keep a lid on your spending.It’s important to be careful where and how you use your resources. Avoid taking big risks unless you can already afford it. You need to exercise discipline – business is a gamble in itself, and adding more elements to make things dicier is a definite no-no.5. Be prepared and have a plan.Having a business plan will help you have a guide to refer to during times when you are unsure of what to do. Having a plan gives you a vision and an end goal and makes it much easier for you to envision what your next move or moves will be.