When you consider opening your own business, one of the first steps commonly taken is looking into resources like journals and books to develop a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial process. Most books will tell you that the baby steps of starting your own business are self-inventories and skill assessments. The purpose of the skill assessment is to match your skill set and the experiences gleaned from your self-inventory with a business that would require those skills, or a business in which a person with that skill and experience set would thrive. A good example would be someone who has very strong interpersonal skills and loves dealing with people, who should perhaps consider a business that is heavily related to sales. Someone who has a love of clothing and accessories might enjoy a retail clothing business. Beyond yourself, though, look at the needs of the market. Look at the needs of people who share your interests. What can you provide that others are not providing, or are not providing well? Think about the scenario in terms of goods and services. Most businesses do involve a mixture of both, but the ratio is different with each industry and this may help narrow your search.
The adage “do what you love” is a good start but must be backed up by the first steps of market research: analyzing market potential, competition, and the required resources for market entry, as well as uniqueness and demand for the products or services that you’re considering selling. The place to start when deciding on a business is with the consumers – and consumers in this case includes other business entities that might seek your product or service. Your success depends on your ability to perceive and meet currently unmet market demands. Regardless of what you like to do, if there isn’t a demand for that product or service, then you likely won’t succeed no matter how determined you are. The thing is, you don’t need to come up with something new and innovative out of thin air – you can improve something that already exists. “Build a better mousetrap,” as they say, and you will do well for yourself in business. If you can provide better services in your niche than any other business entity in the area, then you will succeed. But this is still a function of what the consumer demands, not what you have to give them.
Consider doing a comprehensive market analysis. See the article about market trend research for more information.
Once you have a general idea of market trends and currents, examine your self-inventory. Match your skills to what is available and narrow down the scope of interest.
Learn from the errors of failed businesses in your market niche by doing an extra bit of research after you narrow down your field of interest. Look at businesses nationally that were of a similar theme that had failed in the last 10 years. See the article on why businesses fail for more information.
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