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 minimalistic 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.