What Business Should I Start?

I’ve been spending a bit of time on Quora lately. A lot of people have been asking questions related to: what business should I start? My answer is any business you want. In fact, the question so random, I doubt any answer provided by a bunch of strangers would be overly useful.

If you want to start a business… start with you. A business has enough challenges without having worry about running something that has little or no interest to you.

Consider answering these 3 questions:

  1. What type of business do YOU want to start? Take stock of your skills, experience, and education. However, don’t limit yourself to things you already know. You’re not done learning yet. Also consider passions. If there’s an area your passionate about, you don’t have to have background in it to start pursing it. The key is finding a business you’ll enjoy doing.
  2. What’s your vision for your life and business? This is such a huge piece. Knowing what outcome you want to achieve will help guide you in the business selection process, as well as help you determine the steps to running a successful business. Go beyond the idea of simply making money. Consider the benefits of having a successful life and business. Identify what you’ll achieve from your success and how success will affect your life and business.
  3. What problem do you want to solve? This is can be part of your vision. When you think into the distant future, what role do you play in creating the ideal solution? If you know what you want to solve, your business idea may be tucked away in it.

When I think of starting a business, the biggest challenge is commitment. Majority of Americans want to start businesses. However, only about 10% are business owners. That’s it. Not only that, but the failure rate of businesses is horrific. A lot of the failure comes down to poor planning and lack of commitment.

No business is perfect. Expect setbacks. However, don’t let setbacks stop you from pursuing your dreams. Get up and try again. Revamp your plan and move forward. You haven’t failed until you’ve given. Until you give up, you’re just working toward the business of your dreams. So commit to them.