Every now and then I am pulled aside and asked for advice about starting a business. If they find out that I operate my own business and that I help others start their own, I rarely find a person out there that doesn’t have some interest in starting their own business. The reasons for it vary greatly, but nonetheless, I believe the second “American Dream” is to have your own business (the first being having a house).

Inevitably, the topic moves along like this, “I would love to start my own business, but I don’t know what kind of business to start, what should I do?” I honestly believe I could start a business just helping others find out what business they want to start up.

I don’t have any great suggestions for what YOU could do as your first business, but here is some advice that I’ve compiled that might help:

• Think about if you could do ANYTHING, what would your ideal job be.  Notice I said JOB, not business.  How would you spend your day?  What field is it in?  Can you start with that idea and grow it into something that might be interesting to you?  If you said, my ideal job would be to sit on my behind watching tv and collecting big checks - there is a problem you’ve already identified.
• Go beyond dreaming about starting a business, buy a notebook and carry it with you. Start taking notes on ideas you have throughout the day.  Refer back to it daily.
• Start looking at the world differently. Think like a business owner. When you go to a store or business, ask questions. “How’s business?”, “What are challenges you face each day?”, “I wonder how a business like this can develop additional revenue streams?”
• Ask others that are doing it. Have you ever admired somebody for their business acumen? Read an article about somebody who’s doing something you would like to do? Pick up the phone, send an email ask if you could take them to lunch, go to networking meetings find people who are doing what you want to do, start hanging around like-minded individuals.

A while ago, I was reading an article about business practices and I came across an idea that has stuck with me for some time. The idea is that human beings do not think about the potential outcomes of actions that they partake in today or on the flip side, concern themselves with things that they don’t do today. People don’t want to pay a dime for a preventative, but they’d give their lives for a cure.

WOW.

Think about that. We ALL know that it’s smart to exercise. We should be saving a portion of our paycheck to put into savings. We should be starting a business NOW rather than later.

So people start an exercise regiment and stop a month later. It’s easy to not put enough or anything into your 401K. I’ll keep reading until I find the PERFECT company to start.

Maybe you can start a business that will help those who want a cure rather than a preventative?

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