What’s the right business idea for you?

So many people who start a new business make the wrong choice about what to do. They regret their decision for years to come. That may have been you in the past, but that won’t be you from this point forward.

You’ve probably come up with a few decent business ideas over the years that you did nothing about. You’ve probably also had a few ideas that you did pursue and that didn’t work out.

But have you ever stopped to think about what really makes for a great business idea?

• Every successful business starts with one obviously, but every great business idea you think up is not necessarily going to be right for you.

For almost a decade and half I have worked one-on-one and in groups with people who want to start their own business. I have worked with people from all walks of life starting with aspiring dot-com entrepreneurs in the early days through to people desperate to escape the corporate rat race and have a go at being their own boss.

So is a great business idea one that will make you a lot of money?  Or is it one that makes you happy? Is it one that will allow you to use the skills that you have? Or is one that will allow you have lots of time on your hands so that you can travel the world?

My advice is that the idea itself is, of course, important. But what is more important is that a business idea is a ‘good fit’ for you in terms of a number of factors. What makes for a good business idea for me doesn’t necessarily make for a good business idea for you. There is a right business idea for everyone.

So the question to ask is not ‘What would be a great idea for a business?’

• The question to ask is ‘What would be the most appropriate Eureka Idea for a business for me?’

Too often people start businesses that they think will make lots of money. They follow the trends and start a business because it is in the latest ‘hot’ industry. Or they turn their favourite hobby into a business and give no real thought to how they will make a living from that business. Or they start a business that takes up all their free time and they end up stressed out of their minds.

Starting a business is a huge undertaking.  And it can be difficult to extricate yourself from later down the road when the initial buzz has gone and you no longer enjoy the day-to-day involvement of running that business.

The answer is to spend some time doing some deep and guided thinking.  And that’s the kind of hard work that a lot of people shy away from. They just want to get going or they procrastinate about the situation for ages.

You need to define the type of business idea that will be a ‘good fit’ for you. Too often people make ideas fit them. But if you make an idea fit you, then you are cheating yourself. So you need a system for coming up with and then evaluating business ideas. That’s what this program is all about.

Too often people set out in business to find that, just a few months or years down the road, they are no happier, richer or more fulfilled than they were before they started their business. Don’t let that be you. Or if this has already happened to you, remember that you owe it to yourself to fix things so that you are happy.

So what makes for a great business idea that is right for you?

• A great business idea must enable you to live the kind of life you want. Too often, entrepreneurs find themselves in the situation where their business is their life. It overtakes everything. To be successful in every sense of the word, you must have balance in your life. So you need to figure out the kind of life you want the business to provide for you. This means all aspects of your life and not just a few.
• A great business idea must enable you to do what you’ve always dreamed of doing. Too often people do work they hate. What field of work have you always wanted to work in?
• A great business must enable you to use your unique and special talents. This doesn’t mean just doing something that you are OK at. We all have something that we are uniquely qualified to do. Your perfect business idea will allow that talent to shine.
• You need energy to succeed at anything. That dynamism comes from being involved with a business that you feel fanatical about. Your perfect business idea will tap into your deeply-held values, beliefs and passions.
• It goes without saying that no business idea can be great and perfect for you unless it makes money. A great business idea will always have an obvious, systematic and replicatable way of making money. In other words, it will have a profit formula.
• A great business idea will offer something which the world wants. The world does not always know what it wants upfront, of course. But people know if a product or service meets their needs when they see it. This is one of the things that Steve Jobs was so good at. A great business idea will always meet a defined market need.
• A great business idea is always the outcome of some inventive thinking. A great business idea cannot be a copycat concept if it is to thrive long-term. It must be unique, beneficial and special in some way.

So you need to take the time to sit down and figure out who you are an exactly what you want. Nothing worth having is ever easy.  Coming up with the perfect business idea for you is hard work. But it’s so worth it in the end.