Small Business Ideas – And How NOT to Find One
Most new entrepreneurs believe all they need to do to locate the best small business ideas is to simply keep their eyes open. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t happen that way. Establishing ground-rules for your search can remove some pain and make the process a lot easier.
You can make your own mistakes, of course; but, I recommend you learn from mine! I’ve had a number of successes over my thirty years of entrepreneurship, but I’ve had my share of set-backs and mistakes, too.I’m not sure I’d trust anyone who hadn’t. For what it’s worth, here are….
FIVE KEYS to help you through the maze:
- Avoid ‘Glitter’ ads. That means all ads and offers featuring anyone standing in front of a luxury car, especially if it’s situated in front of a jet airplane – and particularly if there’s a woman wearing diamonds in the shot. The car was likely rented, the plane is probably a prop that just happened to be parked there, and the woman is likely a hired model. Do we have to talk about the diamonds?
- Avoid all ads featuring blind testimonials. You’ve seen them:Signed Joe K, Arizona.Years ago my speaking and consulting brochure had several pages of testimonials from CEOs from various companies who had hired me either for a consulting project or a speaking date.Each testimonial included a picture of the person, his or her full name, title, and the name of the company.There was no doubt who they were and the fact they, indeed, actually wrote it.
Just a few days ago I was on the phone with someone trying to sell me a business opportunity.We talked for about 30-minutes and things went fine until I hit him with the questions that usually separates the best from the rest:
“How many people have bought this opportunity from you in the last 36 months?”
“Twenty-two”, he said.
“Okay, I’m willing to talk to your references. I’ll probably talk to only three, but I want to pick them.Send me your list of those twenty-two people.”
It wasn’t surprising when I looked at his website and found several blind testimonials.No names, no identification of any kind. He told me he was worried about people stealing his system, which couldn’t be true since his ‘licensees’ are sharing it with anyone who will listen or hire them right now.
Of course, he never sent it. He came up with a reason not to move forward.Apparently my ‘buy-in’ wasn’t worth the disclosure. - Be Wary Of Over-hyped Promotions. Notice, I didn’t say ‘avoid’, only ‘be wary’.The reason is because I’ve actually purchased some software I really like from a website that was really blatantly over-hyped. Why did I buy it? I simply had scrolled down past all they hype to find the actual product features and even located a demo.It looked good enough for me to take a chance and I did.The point is this.Don’t get caught-up on hype and blind testimonials.Zero-in on the features and benefits – and take a test-drive, if possible.Then, decide if you want to take a chance, which brings me to my next important point:
- Don’t Get Paralyzed By Fear. Many people never accomplish anything because they’re afraid they’ll be wrong! Let me make it easy for you:You probably will be.Don’t worry about it.
Many years ago I began as a field sales rep, but I didn’t know much about selling.To learn, I must have purchased more than ten cassette albums (ask your parents). Years later, when speaking to groups of new salespeople, I suggested they buy books and cassettes so they could learn, too!
“How do you know which ones will be good?”, they’d ask.The answer is, you don’t.
The same is true for exploring anything, including all those small business ideas you hope will fall through the transom. Chances are you’ll have to invest in some knowledge. Suppose only one in ten is the ‘right’ one but two others are pretty good. If you’re exposed to ten and simply select one, you have only a 10% chance of finding the right one and a 70% chance of being totally wrong.
Using our little example, if you invest in learning about all ten of them, you have a 100% chance of finding the right one! Invest in yourself. If you think knowledge is expensive, try ignorance. - Go with what you love. Don’t think everything you touch will be turned to gold.You must either know the business or be willing to learn about it (see point 4, above). Also, be sure you’ll be able to work ON your business, not IN it. If you love landscaping, learn how you can build a landscaping business. Don’t spend your time learning how to plant seeds. Sure, you need to know the business – and I’m not suggesting it’s okay to be ignorant of how to landscape -but, you need to learn how to multiply yourself and run a business.
There’s much more to learn, of course.Screening for the best small business ideas is a journey you can accomplish if you’re willing to do the work and – yes – spend a little money.
Good luck!
Author: Jim Lorenzen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing
