When you decide to become an entrepreneur you have a lot of decisions to make. The first choice is what type of business is right for you. Your business is going to be your entire life from sunup until sundown, so you may as well choose something that you really like doing and are good at doing. In order to find out which type of business is right for you, consider these questions.
What Lifestyle Do You Want to Live?
Do you want to live extravagantly? Do you want to get to travel? Do you like the minimalist lifestyle? What exact lifestyle do you want to live in your biggest dreams? Write down what this would cost you to do, and keep that figure in mind as you determine which business to start.
What Is Your Start-Up Budget?
How much money do you have set aside or can you access to get a business off the ground? You usually don’t make profits on day one, so you’ll need money to keep you afloat and to invest in the business as you get started. How much you can spend will narrow down your choices of businesses.
Who Do You Want to Work With?
The type of audience you work with is an important factor in choosing the right business. If there are people you dislike working with, you will be unhappy. For example, if you choose to start a financial planning business, you’ll be working with well-off individuals who are trying to protect their money from taxes and fees. If you choose to open a nightclub, you’ll deal with people who are drinking. It’s up to you.
What Are Your Skills?
Now that you know who you want to work with, take inventory of your skills. Try writing down some problems that the audience you want to work with have, which will help you match your skills to those solutions. After all, people want solutions to their problems and nothing else really.
What Do You Hate Doing?
As you list your skills you may want to skip the things you really hate doing. Although there is always going to be work to do that you dislike, you don’t want that to be the main activity of your business. Try creating a weighted list so you know how often you have to do each activity.
What Is Your Adventure Tolerance?
Some businesses are more risky than others. Multilevel marketing businesses are some of the most risky, for example, while something like a virtual assistant business is the least risky for most people.
Once you’ve addressed these questions you should be closer to your choice of a business to start. When you’ve made your choice there is still work to do before making the final decision.
Research Your Potential Niche
Never skip the research portion of your exploration into which business is right for you to start. You need to know how large the audience is, how much they can afford to pay, and who your competition is.
Know Your Competition
This is very important so it’s a separate point. Your competition is important because they’ve already done a lot of the research you need to do. If you sign up for their offers and get an idea of how they’re doing, you’ll know whether or not you’ve made a good choice.
When you have picked the right business for you, don’t wait around to get started. Instead, move on to the next step, which is to create a business plan. And when your business plan is complete, get started. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll have the business of your dreams.
Follow Your Dreams to Create the Business of Your Dreams
If you’re considering starting a new business, it’s important to do something that you will really love doing. After all, it’s likely you’ll be living that business life 24/7 – at least in the start-up phase. You may as well love what you’re doing.
Do Your Research
When you believe you have a passion for something, it’s best to take a step back and conduct some research to ensure that this passion will pay off monetarily. It’s easy to say that doing what you love will pay off financially but it doesn’t always. Luckily, you probably enjoy many things and have a passion for more than one thing.
Stick with What You Love
If your research shows that what you want to do may not pay off, move on to another possibility from the list of things you enjoy. You have many talents that you like doing that can be turned into a business. Not just any business though; the business of your dreams is waiting for you to start.
Be Realistic
When seeking to follow your dreams it’s hard sometimes to be realistic. But, if your dream is to make six figures and you love something that can’t possibly generate that type of money, then you may need to switch to another dream or find a way to think outside the box doing what you love and living within your means.
Find Your Audience
It’s truly best to find your audience first, before you create one product or service for them. The reason is that it’s much easier to give something to someone who already needs it than it is to convince someone that they need something.
Deliver Excellence
When you do make the choice, make a commitment to deliver excellence and always wow your audience. Give them more than they think they’re going to get, and show your love and passion for your topic to them by being super-amazing.
Stick to Your Values
It can be hard to follow your dreams, make money, and stick to your values. Sometimes when it comes to money, values can fall to the wayside – even when you are doing something you enjoy doing. Work becomes work and it’s easy to start looking for shortcuts. If you truly want to follow your dreams, don’t lose your value system.
Be Ready for Change
When you truly have a passion for something, you may think that you’ll always have that passion. But, sometimes when you start doing your passion for work and money it can become harder than you thought, and your feelings might change. But, since it’s your work and livelihood you need to find a way to accept that change and still love what you do.
Get Started
Don’t wait around once you’ve identified your passion and want to follow your dreams. Just start doing it and you’ll be where you want to be eventually. If you never start, you’ll never be where you want to be.
To have the business of your dreams you need to follow your dreams, even when things don’t always go as planned. Stick to your values, and find a way to make your dreams pay off for you in the end.