14 Questions To Ask Before You Choose A Business Idea

Author: Alyice Edrich

Have you started one business after another only to have it flop after months of hard work? Have you watched your friends fail over and over again, all the while wondering if your business idea has a chance of succeeding? Have you dreamed of working from home, but don’t know if you have what it takes? You are not alone!

Businesses fail for many reasons: bad timing, too small a niche, marketing to the wrong clientele, and not enough help when the business booms. So many times people start a business without really thinking about the business itself. And then when it flops, they think they’ve failed when the truth is they did not pick a business that matched their skills or area of expertise, they picked a business that conflicted too much with their family life or full-time job, or they picked a business that didn’t meet the wants or needs of the public.

The first step in any successful business venture is to determine the potential of the business and the only way you can do that is by developing a business plan. If you’ve never developed a business plan before, pick up a copy of “Writing Business Plans That Get Results” by Michael O’Donnell. It’s a step-by-step guide designed to help you create a business plan that turns your idea into a profitable business venture.

But before you can sit down to write that business plan, you must understand what type of business you’d like to start and why. To do that, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

Am I willing to work for little or no money until my business shows a profit?
Am I willing to put my profits back into my business until it is stable financially?
Am I willing to sacrifice time with friends or working on my hobbies to make room for growing a business?
Would I love working this business even if I couldn’t make money at it?
Can I work this business around my current job or do I need to quit my job to run the business?
If I have to quit my job to run the business, do I have enough in savings to sustain the business for 6 months to 1 year and still support my family?
What skills do I currently have that can I transfer over into my own business?
What skills am I willing to go back to school to enhance?
Do I want to run a business online or would I prefer to interact with my customers face-to-face?
Can I start my business online and once it proves profitable open a brick ‘n mortar store?
What’s my competition?
Is the market over-saturated or can I find a niche in this market?
Is this a product or service others need?
Am trying to copy someone else’s business because I’ve heard it’s a successful venture? (If so, rethink that. You can’t copy someone else and succeed if your heart isn’t into the business itself.)

Taking the time to really think about what you’re good at, what you went to school for, what is missing in a certain industry, and how you plan to pay for the start-up and maintenance of your business will help you determine whether you should look for another business idea or get started with the one you have in mind.

14 Questions To Ask Before You Choose A Business Idea

Author: Alyice Edrich

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