M
ANYPEOPLE
think it’s “oh so mysterious” to start a business. Asthe editorial director of
Entrepreneur
magazine, I often hear “I can’tdo it” or “I have no idea what to do.” Nonsense!Most people are overwhelmed by the belief they have to startfrom scratch. They think “What can I do that no one has ever donebefore?” In other words, they think they have to reinvent the wheel.But unless you are a technological genius, trying to reinvent thewheel is a big waste of time. If you are another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, then this is the way to go. But for most people starting abusiness, they simply need to answer the question: “How can I dosomething better?” or “How can I do it differently from the otherguy doing it over there?”
GET THE JUICES FLOWING
How do you start the idea process? First, take out a sheet of paper,and list five to seven things you like to do or that you are reallygood at, such as I am really good withpeople, I love kids, I love to read, Ilove computers and numbers, I’m goodat coming up with marketing concepts. Just write down whatever comes tomind; it doesn’t have to make sense.Now list things that you don’t thinkyou are good at or you don’t like to do.Maybe you are really good at market-ing concepts, but you don’t like to dopublic speaking or you don’t want totravel. When you are finished withboth lists, ask yourself: “If there were three to five products or serv-ices that would make my personal life better, what would they be?”This is your personal life as a man, woman, father, husband,mother, wife, whatever your situation may be. Determine whatproducts or services would make your life easier or happier, makeyou more productive or efficient, or simply give you more time.Next, on the other sideof the paper ask yourself the same question aboutyour business life. Alsoexamine what you likeand dislike about yourwork life as well as whattraits people like and dis-like about you. Finally,ask yourself why you’reseeking to start abusiness in the firstplace. Then, when youare done, look for a pat-tern to emerge (i.e., isthere a need for abusiness doing one of thethings you like or aregood at?).
THEY DELIVERED
Let me give you an ex-ample. I live and workin Irvine, California.Most of the fast-foodrestaurants are locatedwhere the neighborhoodsare. So in the office areas,there are not many easilyaccessible places to go during a lunch hour. Several years ago, twoyoung men in Irvine found this lunch situation very frustrating.There weren’t many affordable choices. Sure, there were some foodcourts located in strip centers, but the parking lots were really
ENTREPRENEUR’S INSTANT START-UP GUIDE 3
What’s the Big Idea?
Getting an idea for your business:It’s notas hard as you think.
Bright Idea
Experts agree:The bestplace tolook for ideas isto startwithwhatyou know.
THINKING ITTHROUGH
Before you starta business,you have tolook atwhatthe potential is,whatyourproductor service is,and if there is a lotof opportunity to make a good deal of money over the long run.Or is ita “hit-and-run”product,where you’re going togetin,make a lotof money and thengetout? That’s notnecessarily a badthing;fads have made some entrepre-neurs incredibly successful.Butremem-ber,once you’re in business,one of thehardestthings to do is to know whenit’s time to getout,to letgo.And if youguess wrong,if you try to make a classicoutof a fad,you are going to startlosingall the money you have earned.And noone wants to do that.
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Nice book...........