Search for a Business Idea

Choosing a business is like getting married, you will be living with the your choice for a long time. So it's worth selling something you like and think is useful.  This means you must look at yourself to figure out the kind of business you should start.

Interests and hobbies ­ How do you like spending your spare time? What are your interests?  What do you wish you'd spent more time doing?

Talents and skills  -­ What are you good at doing? What do people rely on you to do? What could you be good at if you only had time for it? 

Personality traits - ­ Do you like working with your hands? Do you prefer talking to people? Does writing, collecting and analyzing information suit you, or creating new ideas and things instead?

Knowledge and expertise - ­ What do you already know much about?  What are your skills?  Are  you familiar with a particular industry? What training have you had?  The best business for you will be something you can be excited about and that you are comfortable promoting!  That passion will give you the energy to overcome obstacles. Your enthusiasm can also rub off and ­attract customers who will spread the word.

Look Around You for Opportunities - Besides being something that suits you, your business idea must fill an unmet need or create a desire that people will pay to satisfy. If you can’t create a need or fulfil a need, your idea will not succeed.  You also have to think about your market and the number of people you can reach..  That’s one reason Internet Marketing is so attractive.  It’s a colossal market.  

Look at the Changes Around You:

Shifts in the population and lifespan

Fashion and new fads

Technology, medicine and scientific advances

Changes in  leisure and recreational pursuits

Housing trends and lifestyle

New food production or ways of  serving food

Changes affecting wellness and the environment

 

Home-based businesses are often well-positioned to fill gaps in the market that are too small for larger companies to bother with. For example, selling art work and home crafted items on Ebay. They don’t have to be your own work,  you can contact local artisans and sell their items on consignment. 

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Look for unfilled niches in markets where:

Expertise is in short supply

Customers value unique and creative items

Customers want custom-made or personalized items

The target market is locally small but globally big – the Internet is a pretty big market.

Quality improvements – Improve the quality or performance of an existing product.. Many products already on the shelves could be improved, modified, enhanced or simply packaged better.  Consider the fellow who simply came up with idea to put small items in packaging that could hung from racks at checkout counters.  He was paid handsomely.  Train yourself to look at products closely. Look for ways in which a product could be improved by making it:     

 Safer to operate
 Easier or lighter to carry 
 Cleaner to use 
 Quieter to run  
 Longer lasting    
 Easier storage 
 Cheaper distribution  
 Easier to transport 
 More adjustable   
 Performance enhanced   
 Lower repair costs   
 Higher Tech 
 Value-added  personal services 

The customer is always king. Any way that you can add value to a customer's experience will help make your business unique. Home-based businesses can often supply extra value at low cost, simply by being more connected with what their customers want and prefer.