Continuation from yesterday…….STEP #4. Look At the Things You Know and/or Passionate About First
If you are an accountant don’t look for business ideas in a high tech robotics field and vice versa. Stick to what you know the best. Don’t forget, there are multi-million dollar business opportunities just about anywhere you look. As a matter of fact, it is often the boring industries and not the high tech ones that offer the best opportunities for profit.
Take a look around the industry you are very familiar with and/or have worked in for a long time. What are the sticking points in the industry? Are customers having problems with the market leaders and if so…why? Are there are new technologies or products that can be introduced into this industry? Etc… There are millions of different questions you can ask in order to generate business ideas from what you are already familiar with. The idea here is very simple. Look for what you can improve on within your field of knowledge or industry and build a profitable business around it.
If you would rather concentrate on your passion, go back to STEP #3. Make sure you know the industry in question inside and out. Read anything and everything you can put your hands on. Even if the entire process takes a few months, the outcome will be well worth it. Not only will you be able to come up with much better ideas within your field of passion, you will also be able to avoid certain pitfalls that might be unique to that particular industry.
PRACTICE #3:
1. Define an area or an industry you would like to concentrate on. Be as specific as possible.
2. If it is your passion and you are not familiar with the industry, spend a few weeks/months reading everything you can in order to educate yourself. This will help you avoid failure.
3. Concentrate your idea generation efforts in STEP #1 on this area of interest.
STEP #5: Study Public Companies and Trade Publications to Determine What Products or Services are Popular within Your Industry or Area of Passion.
This step is incredibly important on multiple levels.
First, you will be able to ascertain what works and what doesn’t. You will be able to see what products are selling like hotcakes and what products are failing. That in itself should give a number of ideas to concentrate on. Perhaps a similar product or something that could be advantageous to a product that is already popular. For instance, a new and a unique case product for a popular gadget such as iPhone. Perhaps a smart phone repair or an insurance service. Basically, the sky is the limit.
Case Study: If you are a big fan of coffee, you should be fairly familiar with Keurig line of coffee machines, K-cups and other accessories. As of this writing Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (GMCR) generates close to $4.5 Billion in sales within this product category alone. Yet, this wasn’t always the case.
To Be Continued Tomorrow…..(Why Am I Seeing This On A Financial Website?)
