Get Started in the Business That’s Right for You

A lot of people just know that having their own business is the best way for their efforts to bloom into success. If you’re one of them but are stuck on finding the right type of business, there’s a process for you to follow. Successful entrepreneurs use this approach all the time when launching new corporations or expanding product lines.

The natural place to begin when determining a business to start is to assess your own talents, experience, and interests. Look beyond your daily job duties. There are abilities that you may have utilized only infrequently in your work. In fact, you may have some ability that goes beyond your present job that you’ve had to use in helping others or pursuing as a hobby.

You might think of something you wanted to do at your present job that was denied by the bosses. Ross Perot had the idea of providing data processing services but the executives at his employer, IBM, didn’t like the concept. So he started his own data processing company, with IBM as his biggest customer. By leveraging the information you gather in your job, you’re likely to find several unfulfilled customer inquiries or complaints.

Secondly, find something you have a passion about. That’s what Pierre Omydar did when he started his little internet business that became eBay. Omydar enjoyed collecting Pez dispensers as a hobby. This led him to create a website for hobbyists to sell their wares. You’ll find that marketing is a lot easier if you’re promoting something you really enjoy. Enthusiasm as a champion for your business is essential to success.

Finally, consider something that you can improve upon. Maybe you can offer a better pricing model by improving delivery logistics – like Sam Walton did with Wal-Mart. Or maybe you have a way of delivering dependable consistency in quality – like Ray Kroc did with McDonald’s.

You don’t have to make a significant improvement to become a large success. By delivering just a little bit of superior quality, your new business can become an enormous success. That’s a lot less risky than developing a new product with an unproven market. It’s the path taken by Krispy Kreme, which provided a slightly better tasting donut. That small difference permits the average Krispy Kreme franchise to sell 500 percent more per share foot than any food franchise in the country.