Although making baby quilts and creating an e-biz seem like vastly different projects, they have more things in common than one might expect. I can't promise you that knowing the similarities will make you a world renowned quilter or a millionaire e-preneur. But it will give you five good reasons to appreciate the work of the other. Here they are:

1. Piecing bits and pieces together. In making baby quilts like in an e-biz, the final product is a combination of different materials and techniques. Both projects have been called 'something out of nothing' but in real terms that's quite far from the truth. Shopping carts, codes, optimization and links are for an e-biz what patterns, fabric blocks, batting, backing and threads are for a baby quilt, to name only a few. There are thousands upon thousands of bits and pieces available out there but on their own they do not account for much. Choosing the right ones and piecing them expertly is what the master quilters and e-preneurs excel in.

2. Precision and patience. When making a baby quilt or starting an e-biz 'One block at a time' principle applies for both. There is a natural order of creating a quilt or an e-biz and skipping a step might be quite costly. Neither one of the two projects is an overnight one; in quilting as in e-biz it might take longer than a few months to see the final product. Accuracy and precision are another key point in creating baby quilts and an e-biz. Half an inch here, half an inch there and the quilt ends up in the scrap bag. A typo here and wrong code there and the e-biz links point to the competitor's site.

3. Knowledge and "How-to" manuals. You'll need to know how to make a baby quilt just like you'll need the know-how to make an e-biz website. Quilting and e-biz both benefit from a good preliminary research on techniques, materials, tools and terms but learning on the go is part of the process too. There is an abundance of "How-to" manuals for creating baby quilts just as there are multiples upon multiples of manuals on how to make an e-biz site. There are also many real and self-proclaimed gurus and choosing who to follow could be quite frustrating.

4. Sloppy work - sloppy product. An e-biz site as a baby quilt will tolerate occasional 'oops' and mistakes. However, there is a limit to that and sloppy work is always costly. Poor quality of an e-biz site destroys credibility, drives away potential customers, and kills profits. A baby quilt that's falling apart, with poor construction or with an awful color combination does not tell a very favorable story of its creator and shows lack of care and love.

5. "Start-up" enthusiasts and "drop outs" aplenty. Making baby quilts and running an e-biz are not 'get rich easy' formulas as some might want you to believe. The 'burnout' factor is quite high and even though there is no statistical data the numerous 'ghost' e-biz sites and unfinished baby quilts can testify for that. In 2006, the Quilter's Newsletter Magazine estimated that 27 million Americans, 17 percent of the US households, enjoy quilting as a hobby. With the vast amount of retiring baby boomers this number is growing steadily. In 2007, the Netcraft Web Server Survey found 108,810,358 distinct websites but how many of them are e-biz sites is unknown. As more and more people are actively seeking to develop new sources of income the e-biz startups are experiencing a significant rise in popularity.

These are just five of the many similarities between creating a baby quilt and an e-biz. Now, if you are wondering if the best quilters are the most successful e-preneurs you are forgetting that there are differences too; which, however, are the scope of my next article.