Oh, the joy of being self-employed! The yearning to be self-employed and in control of one's own life comes from deep within. Yet, what type of business can one start that will be truly successful on every level - a business that does more than make money and give you and your family a life of luxury, but a business that fulfills the need to create, the need to express, the need to use one's mind in a way that will make life better for others? Because this new business has not yet been created, it usually has not been clearly defined.
We've all heard the phrase 'follow your passion and the money will come' or' build it and they will come' and we've all watched many of our friends follow this philosophy and not ending up successful. While we advocate following one's passion, one's strengths and likes, we also strongly believe that a little bit of planning and common sense can go a long way in fulfilling one's dreams. Read More...
So, yes, do build your business around your passions and your likes and your strengths! That really needs to be Rule Number One. If one's heart is not in what they are doing, they are not going to be successful. Learn to listen to your heart while also listening to your mind.
List making has a way of focusing the mind and slowing it down. Perhaps slowing the mind down is one of the most important keys to selecting the right business and guiding it through the birthing process. Our minds think so fast. Thoughts wiz in and out like falling stars and disappear before we can catch them. Rule Number Two: make lists, long lists, shortlists, and use whatever scratch paper is available to jot down the those wild ideas that you wish could be true. Once captured on paper you can own them and manipulate them to fit the overall picture you are designing.
Look for gaps in society. What do people really want that they can't find or get now? What would make their lives happier? Break boundaries by not thinking of what everybody else is doing. Don't go for a franchise - you can create your own unique expression of service to the world. However, Rule Number Three is: study the franchise model. There's a reason some fast food establishments can hire people who are sometimes unemployable elsewhere, pay them minimum wage, have an awesome turnover rate, serve food that most health-conscious people won't eat, and still make a fortune. The reason they can succeed is based on their use of systems - written systems - based on common sense yet covering every tiny aspect of the business.
Research every possible aspect of your business, not being afraid to look at the negative points. If you choose to ignore the weak links in your business model, the weak links will not ignore you. A good business person knows exactly where these weak links are and how serious they might become. They are not ignored!
Write your full description of your dream business in dazzling words, keeping this to 40 to 50 words maximum. What will it do? Who will it do it to? When will it do it? How will it do it? Where will the funds come from? When all of these questions can be answered with confidence in your dazzling 40 to 50 words without creating any fuzziness in your tummy, you probably have a winning business being born. Congratulations!
--Eleanor Ditzel
Eleanor has over thirty years of public accounting experience and has been writing articles online for over ten years. Her articles cover a wide span of interesting subjects, such as those at http://PayrollServicesForSmallBusiness.org/ which provides small business help and information on useful small business practices.
