If you’re thinking of starting your own business the first thing you need is a business idea! It sounds so simple and it is, for the most part. However I would recommend you spend some time brainstorming a few ideas before you decide on your final business. At the end of the day, you’re business will be a success I’m sure, so you need to make sure it is the right business for you.
I have so many different passions and interests, this has lead to me owning a few businesses. I currently run this blog and am co-founder of Voltage Sport – Many of my tips for this post come from the recent brainstorming ideas I’ve had over there. I also have a business in partnership with Arbonne International. Having these businesses has taught me so much over the last few years.
A Theme
The first thing when brainstorming your business idea, is to think about all the things you enjoy. In my mind, there is no point starting a business you are not going to love. Some people have different opinions on this and would say look for ideas where the money is but if you are going to be working on something 24/7, at times it will feel like you are, you want to enjoy your days!
Once you have your list of all the things you like to do. Start thinking about if you would like to talk about those topics all the time. To start with you might want to keep it broad and then you can narrow down your field later. For example at Voltage Sport our overarching themes are sport and fitness.
Using your theme you want to decide what type of business you’re going to run. Will it be more of a blog, a shop, a network marketing business? Will you create more than one or do your ideas fit well together? There are so many things to think about but you don’t have to decide right now, after all this is only a brainstorm.
A Niche
Once you have found your business theme it’s a good time to try and find if there is a gap in the market which you can fix. If there is, great! If not it’s time to find your niche. Again using Voltage Sport as an example the fitness industry is huge, adding sport to the mix makes us a little bit more unique. Even more than that is myself and Keil (my co-founder) are unique – As are you – So we spent time finding our voice for the website and narrowing down the subjects we want to include on the blog part of our site. We also discussed the the feel and design of how we want our brand to be.
A Product or Service
Once you have your theme and your niche it’s time to decide what your business is going to offer to it’s potential clients. A product or service is a great place to start. Think about what you know on your subject matter, is this something you can become an expert in and then offer a class or would you like to create a product which you can sell? At Voltage Sport and even on this blog I have lots of ideas of both products and services which can be offered in the future.
For me, I can easily get carried away and try to create all my ideas at once. What I have learnt is it is best to do a few bits at a time and do them well. To begin with you might launch one product but in 5 years time you might have hundreds! It’s all about timing and doing it right.
Brainstorming and creating lists is one of my favourite things to do. It is creative and allows your mind to wander – You may have just thought of your first million pound idea!
These are a few of the things I did to get me started into creating a business. Good luck on your next adventure!
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