Venture capitalist, Paul Graham believes there will be more and more web startups.

So my first prediction about the future of web startups is pretty straightforward: there will be a lot of them. When starting a startup was expensive, you had to get the permission of investors to do it. Now the only threshold you have to get over is whether you have the courage to. Even that threshold is getting lower, as people watch others take the plunge and survive. In the last batch of startups we funded, we had several founders who said they’d thought of applying before, but weren’t sure and got jobs instead. It was only after hearing reports of friends who’d done it that they decided to try it themselves.

He thinks that, although, starting a web business is difficult, it’s nothing like as soul-destroying as a 9-5 job.

In a startup you have lots of worries, but you don’t have that feeling that your life is flying by like you do in a big company. Plus in a startup you could make orders of magnitude more money. If the number of startups increases dramatically, then the people whose job is to judge startups are going to have to get better at it. I’m thinking particularly of investors and acquirers. We now get on the order of 1000 applications a year. What are we going to do if we get 10,000?

It’s hard to imagine the internet ever getting full up, so the prospects are there for anyone with a good idea, technical know-how and the initiative to carry it through.

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Countless individuals have dreamed of quitting the day job to develop a new business online.

And why not? Working from the comfort of your own home, with low costs and being the master of your own time, must be better than slaving away in a 9-5 job, mustn’t it?

How about the complications? The technical problems, long lead-ins to a sustainable income, and, of course, the intense competition for a large, but limited pot of money on the internet.

John Evans, who founded Syntagma Media — an internet content provider — has given an interview about the trials of creating an online business to Gerry Reynolds, business consultant and retail analyst.

Here’s a preview :

Gerry : What are the economics of an online income stream? [...]

John : If you set no upper limits, you’re really at the mercy of events. It’s no good having a $10m business if your costs are $11m. Mr Micawber defined that problem 150 years ago.

The trick is to set an upper boundary that gives you the best split between receipts and obligations, building in the vagaries of the tax system, of course, and depending on the amount of effort you can comfortably provide. Everyone will reach a different conclusion, but it has to be within your comfort zone. You are, after all, in this for the long haul.

Read both posts here : #

1. It’s easier. Tax preparation software prefills a lot of information (especially if you get your W2 online). It’s quicker to punch in numbers on your keyboard than to try to write it all out legibly.

2. Fewer mistakes. Again, tax preparation software makes it easier by doing all the math for you. Fewer mistakes mean a return that is processed faster.

3. No missing tax breaks. The tax program you use will be loaded with all the new tax rules and allowable deductions, whereas some IRS forms this year have some deduction lines missing and taxpayers who don’t know about those deductions can miss some important tax savings.

4. It’s faster. The IRS estimates that it processes electronically-filed tax returns in half the time it takes to process paper returns.

Buying a good tax preparation software might save you money and pay for itself. If your adjusted gross income is less than $52,000, you can use the IRS’s Free File service by choosing an e-file partner company from the IRS website. Electing for direct deposit saves time too and gets your refund to you even faster.

Some banks still don’t offer online banking but even if yours does, you may not have used it. If you haven’t availed yourself your banks’ online services, take a look at some of the advantages.

You can access account information, see what transactions have cleared your account, pay bills or transfer money 24/7. Online banks never close. Because you access from a computer, you can check your account online from anywhere in the world. And those transactions that you complete over the Internet are effective immediately.

If you have several types of accounts all with the same bank, you can manage them all with one visit to the bank’s online banking site. Transfer money between checking and savings or money market accounts and the balances are instantly adjusted.

Paying bills online may take some getting used to but in the end is worth it. Some banks charge a monthly fee for this service, others provide it free for certain types of accounts. In the long run you will save money by using fewer paper checks, envelopes and stamps. You can also set up checks to issue on specific dates in the future.

If your bank offers online banking, log into the site and familiarize yourself with the services available. Many sites offer a tutorial. Remember to figure into the balance any financial transactions such debit card purchases that may not go through until the merchant posts them. Keeping an eye on your money can be easier when you look at it through a computer screen.