What are you business ideas?

Analyze your ideas to determine which make the most sense for you! Not every idea that you have, will be a successful venture for you. No matter what your ideas are, they need to be inline with who you are. For example, I do not pretend to be well versed on cars, so, I would never attempt to sell them or write a blog about them.

A good business idea to you may sound like a bad business idea to someone else, but that does not mean you cannot be successful! It just means the idea fits you better than the other person. I will admit, not every idea is going to be a winner. Some ideas you should just forget about, but most of them, have a good chance of success if you are passionate about it!

Be driven by passion

If you are passionate about what you do, you will be better at it. You will find yourself offering advice to everyone you meet. Giving pointers to your customers or clients because you want to see them succeed. Talking about your service or product wont be like a sales pitch, it will be more normal and flow smoothly in your conversations. It will be natural because it is something you are truly interested in and passionate about.

I love business development and every time I meet a business owner I am so interested in learning everything about their business. I ask them tons of questions and just get really excited about what they are doing. I always give them my personal email and tell them to be sure to contact me if they have any questions. I almost always ask them what questions they have that I might be able to answer for them right now! I am not going to send them a bill or try to sell them a service, I truly want to help them succeed!

I can always tell who is passionate about their business and who is in it for the money. Those that are passionate about what they do are driven to do more and be better because they owe it to their customers and clients.

Here are some questions to ask yourself

• Is it something you enjoy?

– Your ideas need to be driven by passion! You have to truly enjoy and love what you do. It is true that you can be successful (monetarily) by doing something not so enjoyable like, picking up dog poop, but chances are, you wont be in business for very long. If you wake up every morning with anxiety because you can not wait to start working, then you are probably doing the right thing! (NOTE: as long as the anxiety is caused because of excitement and not stress )

• Do you have experience with it?

- What is your skill set? Does your idea align with your talent and abilities? Personal experience: I failed my first year in business because I did not poses enough experience. I was persistent, and learned the skills I needed to succeed and experienced a 200% increase the following year. Experience and skill will save you and your business from frustration and wasted time.

• What is your main objective?

– If your main objective is to get rich, or to make tons of money, you can, but chances are you will find it difficult. If your objective is to experience the freedom and joy that comes from doing something you enjoy instead of punching a clock, and if you are interested in helping other people you will find greater success. And that success wont just be monetary, but every aspect of your life will be more enjoyable.

• Is it sustainable?

– Sustainability is critical. You will find that as time moves on things change and todays standard of change seems to come much more rapidly. What might seem like a good idea now could have a short life. One example of this is Palm. Here is a company that cornered the market in PDA’s (personal digital assistant) years ago. Everyone wanted a Palm hand-held computer. Then the Smartphone hit the market and no one wanted to carry a cell phone and a PDA so they ditched the two and got a smart phone. Today Palm makes a smart phone of their own, but the competition from Apple and other companies has taken its toll. Just recently Palm Inc. was purchased by HP. I do not know the details, but Palm was good at what it originally sought out to do (PDA’s). The future of their idea was probably not as sustainable with the growing technologies and advances in smartphones.

• Does it fit your personality?

– Who you are says a lot about your capabilities and interest. People that are unhappy in their jobs are probably doing something they dislike. If I do not like phone sales, chances are I am not going to be very successful at it and I certainly wont be happy about going to work. I recently went on a search for a new mountain bike. I did not really know what I wanted, but I had a budget. I went to one bike shop where I was greeted by an employee that was just putting in his 9-5 and more interested in sending text messages then helping me find a good bike. At the next bike shop I had a completely different experience. I was greeted by a mountain bike enthusiast, this kid knew everything about every bike in the shop. He new the best type of riding to do with each bike and I could tell that he loved bikes and more he loved talking about them and helping his customers find the right bike for them. I am sure that he enjoys going to work each day because he is doing something he loves.

• Can it adapt and grow?

– I guess this question fits with the previous question on sustainability. But what you will find with your business idea is that over time it will evolve into something more sometimes something different. You have to be certain that your original idea has the ability to adapt and grow as you do. If your idea fades so will your business, but if you are able to adapt your idea to the changes you make along the way, your business will be sustainable and grow.

• What are the limitations associated with it?

– You will run into a wall or two along the way as you start to turn your idea into a successful business. Those walls, or limitations, can be foreseen and you can be prepared for them if you can see a clear enough vision on where you want to be. You can push through those limitations and get over the walls if you can prepare for them. Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

No matter what your ideas are, be sure that they are driven by passion. If you are passionate about what you do everyday, you will see the fruits of your labors in more ways than just the monetary reward of owning a business!

Here are the things we’re going to cover this week:

- Introduction to Small Business
- Why You Should Consider Starting a Business
- Who is Qualified to Start a Business
- Business Ideas: The Right Idea is Driven by Passion
- The First Steps: Getting Your Business Started