Obviously, you cannot launch any commercial enterprise in the absence of an ‘idea’! Therefore, if you are keen to enter the arena of business and trade, your mind is bound to be whirling with diverse ideas related to the buying and selling of different products/services.
Which one of them is the most suitable one for you? Note that this is a vast arena, wherein each business promises to award healthy profits if handled properly. However, what you need is not just the anticipation of a good income.
You would also love to have a venture in hand, which will sustain its prosperity for a long time to come. The fact is that not all businesses can give the assurance of long-term or eternal prosperity. Therefore, take care to select only those ideas, which you can bring to life successfully.
What should you do when you get all these novel business ideas?
Congratulate Yourself
Yes, this may sound weird, but just do it! How many people in the world can think of ideas that seem highly workable and profitable? The answer is, definitely, not many, thereby leaving you amongst the few who can! When you pat yourself on the back, you are encouraging yourself to continue working further on each idea, instead of just discarding it as a fantasy that will never really work.
Don’t Give Up on Ideas
If you believe that you will never give up on an idea without giving it deeper thought, you are sadly mistaken! Like everyone else, you are only human. Similarly, like everyone else, you have conditioned your mind to think ‘negative’ instead of ‘positive’, if not always, at least, most of the time! Therefore, after the initial moments of excitement, you may sit down to figure out the perceived and real problems linked to the workability of each idea.
Thus, if you have decided to set up your own business venture and make it a success, refuse to throw away even those ideas that may seem rather foolish and too fantastic to work.
Note that it is in your hands to make something succeed or fail. You do not want to wake up one morning and discover that someone else has had the same idea that you did, and used it to become the owner of a full-fledged and well running business!
List out Everything
Admittedly, once ideas begin flowing into your mind, they keep on coming. You would like to remember everything, would you not? Therefore, get a few sheets of paper for outlining your ideas. Make a few columns on each sheet. Use one column to write down the title of the idea.
Use the next one to add details connected to the business idea. Use two other columns to document the pros and cons of each business. Never mind that you have very little knowledge about various businesses. Just write down anything and everything that comes into your head. Finally, highlight the ideas that you feel are the best, and will stand the test of time.
Despite this exercise, you may still be hesitant to initiate any kind of action in connection with a particular idea. This is natural, for a profession is less risky to handle than a business is! Therefore, take time to observe the business community and its behavior related to every kind of enterprise that is on your list.
Focus on Personal Interests and Skills
It is not just career-oriented professionals, who require certain basic knowledge and skills. You do too, for you have to be your own best friend, philosopher and guide while building up your business! Therefore, when you decide to launch a commercial enterprise, keep your own interests and talents in mind.
Similar to the person who seeks employment in alignment with his/her interests, you will also enjoy doing only what retains your interest. Then again, similar to every profession, which requires specific type of skills, you need to possess certain skills too.
For instance, you will decide to open a shop dealing with baked goodies, only if you have a deep love for baking all manner of cakes, confectionaries, etc. Your business will only flourish when you put your brain, heart and soul into it! Do not go for a particular idea simply because it is in trend, without having a clue about how to handle this line of business.
Share your Ideas
This is something that many would-be business owners refuse to do, simply because of a niggling fear that someone may steal his/her idea. Do you honestly believe that this is going to happen? It will not, for not everyone is waiting to launch a business venture or waiting for someone to give them ideas.
Then again, the majority of your listeners will not even have the patience or diligence to develop ‘your’ idea! In case, any of your ideas is so straightforward that it can convert into a real business far too easily, you may end up with too many competitors to confront!
At the same time, do be cautious about the people in whom you confide. To illustrate, do not share your ideas with family members, relatives or close friends. This is not because they will strive to put a spanner into the works or try to make your ideas their own.
It is just that they tend to wish you well, and will hesitate to be blunt in their opinions. This can lead you in the wrong direction. Therefore, opt for people, who are mere acquaintances and you do not know very well.
Once you are through with these small exercises, you should have much more knowledge than before. Thus, you should be able to make informed decisions about a couple of ideas or more, which you feel will work best for you. Do not just stop with this. Work out a detailed business plan for each of these selected business ideas. You may even request experienced businesspersons to look at them and give you their candid opinions.
