Online Business L(a)unch™ > Business Idea: The Idea

the Idea

Everything starts from an idea so naturally this is the first thing you need to create successful business. Great ideas can come from anyone, anywhere and everywhere – you just need to keep your “business antenna” up!

Start by reading newspapers, magazines etc. and watching TV regularly with intent of finding business opportunities.

Read “between” the lines: the written word in newspapers, periodicals, magazines, and even printed catalogs you receive every day is a treasure trove of ideas. Have you ever paid attention how many advertisements in every newspaper or magazine are? There're thousands of them!

So next time you read you favorite magazine, look at all these "annoying ads" differently: instead of skipping them start paying close attention and think about all the products or services mentioned as things you could supply.

 Pay more attention to what people around you saying or doing. Participate in business discussion groups. Usually members of discussion groups have a signature file with the description of their business and website address attached to every message. Use it as an opportunity to find an idea or/and to find out who your competitors will be.

There’re many different ways you can find your business idea. Let your imagination run wild - come up with hundreds of ideas; there will be plenty of time later to sort out the possible winners and to drop less successful ones.

If you already know what kind of business you want and what type of product you want to sell, you may skip this step (although going through this exercise can give you additional ideas to think about).

If you’re thinking: “What if I have absolutely no idea what I want to sell?” this is the right place to start.

Discover Your passion

Using your own skill and knowledge set to find your area of interest or expertise is the most popular way to starting  a business. Ask yourself the key question: what can I do and what am I enjoy doing?

First list all your hobbies and interests, tasks you enjoy doing, and find something you are most passionate about.

What things are you particularly good at? What talents do you have? What  subject or topic do you have a lot of knowledge about? What are people always coming to you for advice about?

Don’t forget that you may have skills from your involvement with voluntary or community work such as fund raising, event management or administration.  Write all these things down.

Most likely you also have personal skills such as organizing or planning; or communication skills and personal attributes such as reliability, enthusiasm and creativity.

Do you have an experience in any particular area? Any special skills and knowledge? Think about all the work responsibilities you've ever had, all the things you’ve ever learned and the varied tasks you know how to complete. Is there anything from this list you really enjoyed doing? If 'yes', it may be a good start for your business.

But... Don't overdo with this 'passion approach': if you really think that doing something you are most passionate about is the ONLY way to create successful business,  think again.

Don't take me wrong: it's very important to start building a business you’ll love: creating business is a hard work, and you must enjoy the task and the time spent. Besides, if you like something, most chances are you're going to be really good at it. But the 'passion approach' is limiting you and your possibilities; it's preventing you from moving in the different direction and trying something completely new.

Moreover, even if you have this one thing you're most passionate about, you may find out that nobody else shares your passion - it simply doesn't have a good market to go after...

The bottom line is: start with your passion but don't limit yourself. If you don't really have a 'true love' or can't find out what your passion is, you can always create one! Just find something that grabs your attention and research it until you fall in love with it and it becomes your passion! Or find a hot untapped niche market and go for it. When you start making money, I'm pretty sure, you will get passionate about it!

Next Step: Find Your Market