Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Like many of the other people here, I've been thinking about what kind of business to start. I seem to be stuck though and I'm wondering if other people often get stuck here too.

When you look at some of the most successful entrepreneurs out there, they seem to have mostly started at the bottom somewhere and worked their way into a market and then eventually scaled their way up until they had something substantial. So what does their evaluation criteria look like when exploring business ideas and opportunities? Maybe at the beginning, when they were exploring the different ideas and opportunities for their first successful business, they figured out how to see things a certain way. Then in the future when they start other ventures maybe it comes naturally to them, or maybe it came to them naturally the first time too. Im wondering whether it's a natural skill, knowing what idea to start on, or whether they learned that somehow. They look at the market, the potential profitability of an idea, the scalability of the idea, whether they can finance it, whether they have the skills and aptitudes to accomplish what they want to do but what else? Do they really see all of these things right at the start? It seems like they do and it seems like they must.

I know I want to build a business myself, but maybe I'm so caught up in thinking about finding the perfect idea that I'm having trouble narrowing it down to one thing and actually making it happen. I know that a person might not know if something is worthwhile until they actually try and see where it leads them, but at the same time I know that successful entrepreneurs didn't just go with every idea that they came up with. Somewhere in there they evaluated their options and looked for opportunities and at some point they had that "ah-ha moment" and started making things happen. I think a lot of people might get stuck at this idea searching stage and just give up or be stuck here for way longer than they have to be.

Many of the popular non-fiction entrepreneurial books out there have a chapter or two about finding a business idea but then they quickly move onto the other stuff that's mostly relevant to people who have moved beyond that stage. Usually the chapter talks about the same types of things that some people have already mentioned in similar threads. They talk about listing your interests, finding your passions, and then trying to make a go at turning those passions into profits. Then on the flip side I've read other books that talk about how your passions might not necessarily translate into a profitable or personally rewarding businesses. So what's the right way to look at it then?

Do you have to come up with something nobody has ever done before? There seems to be a balance between the extremes of creating a revolutionary new product or invention for an existing market and on the other end doing something similar to everyone else in a market that's already saturated by many competitors. Then you have to think about the fact that you have to get into a market with a lower barrier of entry, because at this stage we're not multi-millionaires with business opportunities of a different league available to us. Beyond financial barriers there are certain ideas that require necessary skills and aptitudes that play a role in whether you can actually turn that idea into a reality. You might be someone with a great idea for a web startup company, but unless you're tech savvy or have a tech savvy business partner willing to do much of the tech legwork, then it seems that you're out of luck. Usually there are also big companies firmly planted into the markets with low barriers of entry and as a result these big guys have distribution advantages, economies of scale, promotion and advertising advantages and the ability to see the potential in your idea and copy it themselves, stomping you out of the market just as things are getting good. As a result we have to start with a type of business with a low barrier to entry and usually those are businesses where the markets are already saturated with many big and small players. So the only way to do it is to find a market that has a low enough barrier to entry that a newbie entrepreneur can fit their way in and then differentiate. So what to do then?  It seems that somehow you have to do something that other people haven't done or haven't done well enough. Maybe you have to something that the big guys wouldn't be interested in or flexible enough to do. Maybe you have to come up with a unique proprietary feature, target a niche, or meet the needs of a specific type of customer better than the competitors.

Is it really important to have a perfect idea before starting anything? It would seem that the answer is no, but then where is the borderline between an idea that is worth pursuing and an idea that is worth leaving behind?

What do you think?

In my experience, there's no such thing as a perfect idea as your product will keep evolving depending on what your customers want or need.  Your customers will eventually lead you to the 'perfect product' that they will want to buy so why not go 'Ready, Fire...then Aim'?  You may have heard someone say that by fixing your product first, it helps make marketing flow seamlessly.  But what if someone beats you to it?  At least by launching something first, even if it's raw, you get to have the right to claim the idea as originally your own.  That's my take on the matter.

The longer you wait for the perfect idea, the longer you are out of business.  Some of my greatest learning experiences have come from failure.  If you're afraid to fail, you're afraid to succeed.

I look at it this way; The harder I work, the luckier I get.

Good Luck to you!

The fact is that there's no such thing as a perfect idea. Get started and fine tune it. Just make sure you get a proof of concept and make your first dollar before sinking in serious money into the business.

One of the reasons why starting a business that suits your passion is important is because like this when you run into difficulties, and you will definitely run into them when starting from scratch, you will have the ability to not turn around and say this is too much for me to handle. Something that you are passionate about you will fight tooth and nail to keep pushing it until it eventually takes off.

You also need to take note that whatever business you do decide to go into, you must research it as much as you can to find all the ins and outs of it in order to find your niche. Be prepared for a chance of failure in the beginning but don't let it stop you from reaching your goal.

Best of luck on whatever you decide.

We have some steps you can work through to help evaluate things you are entertaining. You can find them on this link http://www.christian-business-opportunities.org/top-home-business-ideas.html.

The more active in the search the more likely you'll find what you're looking for. It's hard to steer a parked car. Sounds like you're moving along just fine.

You'll know when you've got something when you are passionate about it. You have to naturally promote your product or service. If it's not in your heart then it's doomed to fail.

Business ideas are easy to come by, as are the opportunities.  The strategy I use in determining if it will work comes down to how much a person would need the item or service.  For example, everyone needs a place to sit down, to eat, and to have a place to sleep.  Working with the basics of living, like in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, finds products and services that have stable trends.  Recently I found hard drive recovery as a service.  This is a great example of something everyone will need at some point because they want their pictures back, etc.  This is a niche market and a basic need.

when in doubt, watch a Nike commercial

Just Do It!

not really, think a bit, plan a bit, then do it. just don't keep thinking and planning and end up not doing anything

There is a huge amount of hidden information that you don't see when you look at other peoples businesses. You don't see the knowledge they had or the type and amount of work that they had to do to succeed. Most of all, you don't see how critical their individual talents were in understanding and running their businesses. Finally, you don't see all aspects of the methods and mediums of communication they used to reach their market. You may not have the same talents.

That doesn't mean you can't find the right business and succeed. I think that the reason you haven't found much information on this important subject is because most people don't understand it very well. A lot of the successful people can't really describe how they did it.

I'll tell you what I know.

It starts with you. In the very beginning, don't look out there. Look at yourself. Look at your values. Look at what is important to you. Evaluate your personality. Are you an introvert, or extrovert? Are you comfortable around people or like to work alone? Are you analytical or more creative? What are you REALLY GOOD AT? What are your passions? What can you talk about endlessly? What gets you REALLY EXCITED?

Write all this stuff down in a journal and add to it frequently. Each time you come back try to add more. You will eventually get a picture of yourself. I call this your DNA.

Start a new page and write a short summary at the top of who you are and what your brilliance is and what you are most passionate about. Now begin coming up with all the possible types of businesses that would let you do that. Take your time and write down everything that comes to you, no matter how wild. Do this over a period of days or weeks and do it frequently,

Eventually you will have a good idea of the kind of business that you would be really good at. Then with your short list of possible businesses, you can then do your research to see which one is the most suited to your talents and business objectives.

There are many other factors that will affect your decision, but you now have a very good idea of the type of business you will succeed in. Your circumstances will determine the rest.

Good Luck

Why not look into a business where you can help other newbies in creating their own online business and get mentoring from someone who already is successful and know what thet are doing! That's what I do and love it!

Best Wishes

Jes