Ideas for Starting A Business

Quite frequently aspiring entrepreneurs dream of starting a new business, but they don’t know what kind of business to start. They think that they must come up with a novel idea – something that no one else has ever thought of or seen. However, new businesses don’t have to be started on a completely new idea; it could be simply bringing something to your area that isn’t available right now or improving upon a product or service. If you study Sir Richard Branson, you’ll find that he has built a multi-billion dollar empire simply by improving existing products and services in different industries. Let’s look at Branson’s early beginnings. He started his career publishing a college newspaper. He interviewed John Lennon and got Lennon to record an original piece of music for him. Branson then put the song on a special disc and packaged it with the newspaper next to his article. He gave an experience to his readers, which was unheard of previously. With each business that Richard Branson has started, he improved on what was currently being done. At a time when the airline industry was going through upheaval, Branson started Virgin Atlantic. Eager to innovate, he chose to cater to the first class passengers by offering massages onboard and home-bound limousine service. Branson’s way of improving upon an existing idea is actually the best way because you know there’s already a market. Just understand when you come up with a new idea, you have to create the market and that takes time and money. Then along comes Sarah Hanson, a young 19 year old student that was deep in college loan debt and unsure that what she was learning would even apply in the real world. Sarah was helping her grandmother find assisted care living accommodation when the idea struck. Hanson has been programming since she was 12. Going through the process of finding a place for her grandmother to live, she created a Senior Living Map. What started out as fun soon became a business opportunity, but Sarah knew that she would need financing in order to justify her time and pay off her debt. She took a chance and listed her situation, idea and offered 10% of her after tax income for the next 10 years so that she could devote 100% of her time to developing the idea. So sure of herself, Sarah made the commitment to pay even if her senior living map failed. Another woman responded and invested $125,000 in Hanson. Another thing to consider is the financial climate. For example, some types of business are more likely to succeed in a volatile financial climate than others. If you want to start up a business but you haven’t decided which area you’d like to work in, find out what sorts of business are thriving, and what about them makes them ‘recession-resistant’. You could also look into: 1. The ‘essentials’ markets – e.g. food and house maintenance. You know, the things that we use or need every day. 2. The affordable luxuries market – in an economic downturn, this market is aimed at high-income earners or the wealthy. 3. Existing businesses – not only is buying a business that already has established revenue a safer option, but you might get a bargain in difficult economic times. 4. Franchises – an established franchise stands a good chance of surviving when economic conditions are tough as they have experience and time-honed, streamlined systems and processes. Now only that, with many of them, the franchisor is doing lots of advertising. Simply consider the variety of avenues available as you go through the process. While looking for the perfect business idea for you, just be mindful of the entrepreneurial qualities necessary to achieve your goals as each approach is different. Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and small business consultant, creating tomorrow’s leaders today. The audio to this article may be heard here: http://www.thevisionaryleader.com/audios.html