Where Can You Find Good Business Ideas?

Cases where people came up with a unique business idea all by themselves are extremely rare if they exist at all. If you think about it most businesses are working with services and products that existed before but are done better and more efficient now or they solve the same or a similar challenge for clients. You might object and say that airplanes, cell phones and computers were total novelties when they came around but actually they were furthering needs that humans had throughout history: Transportation, communication and calculation. The new ways of solving these challenges were just better.

Where Should I Look For Good Business Ideas?

First, you can hit the Internet and search for “good business ideas”. This is of course an obvious answer to a complicated question but nevertheless a good way to go about it.

Second, you can look for company statistics and try to find companies that are growing fast, are working in new ways, and are extremely good at marketing, sales or other core parts of any business.

Third, look up success stories and try to find out how those companies started and what was their initial advantage. Companies that are already huge are looked upon with aw but how did they really take off? Did they take off by themselves or did they get help from government regulations, monopolies or other “cheats”. If you can identify companies that took off in a way you identify as possible for you that is a great comfort.

Fourth, the simplest way to find a good business idea is to copy somebody else’s business and do it better.

Fifth, travel to foreign countries and look at the society there. What do they buy? How do they live? What is important for people there in terms of comfort and status? Can any of these observations be translated into business in your home country?

Sixth, find companies in your own market that are doing good or bad. What might be the reasons these companies are doing good or bad? Can you do it better?

How To Analyze The Business Idea?

When you have some good business ideas you need to analyze them to see if they fit you and your market.

What are the actual challenges faced by people and companies where you are located? Can you provide certain goods or services cheaper? Will some of the business ideas you have bring something entirely new to the market? Is there are craving for luxury goods? Are people actually willing to pay more for goods and services they already have because they are better or more comfortable? Can you produce something in your home country and be competitive on a foreign market due to quality or price?

How much do you have to spend to produce the new product or service? Do you need a business partner? How will you find a good business partner? Will it take forever to develop the product and cost more than you can possibly afford or get investors for? Are you willing to live like a Spartan for years while bootstrapping your company? Are you bringing something onto the market that will require enormous marketing to change the behavior and feelings amongst your presumptive customers? Some things that work well in one country can be a total disaster in another market as people might not have the spending power, knowledge or there is a lack of infrastructure. It is hard to sell sand in Sahara so to say.

Finally and often forgotten when looking at business ideas: How do you really earn money from this business? You are not creating a business for charity after all but should be able to make a living from it, pay employees and deliver profit to the owners. Starting a company is rather easy, develop the product or service harder, finding clients much harder and making profit from this complicated system of organization, product development, marketing and sales is by far the hardest part. Every single detail has to be in place and it has to be in place every day for a long time.

It is great fun to be in business and it is a great feeling to dream about success. Waking up on a Monday morning and spend your week trying to solve what appears to be unsolvable problems while at the same time being haunted by grumpy employees and customers is, on the other hand, something that can drain anybody.

But with the right spirit and a long-term perspective the dream of freedom, riches, recognition and a brilliant lifestyle make it totally worth going for. And that dream comes closer and closer for every Monday morning you go to work with a big smile and the confidence that you will make it because that’s just the way it is. 

Anders Östlund

Founder of Fryday, an international network of professionals

Did you enjoy this article? There are plenty of more useful articles on how to succeed in business at Fryday’s Business Blog.

You are also more than welcome to post your articles at Fryday’s Business Blog.

For blogging or other questions you can contact at info@fryday.net.

How To Master Small Talk!

Moving from a greeting to a conversation to a relationship is key to forming friendships and relationships related to business or other affairs of life. Small talk is what makes that progress happen.

How To Open Up A Conversation?

Of course you start with introducing yourself. I simple “Hello, my name is [INSERT YOUR NAME], how are you?” is a good start.  

Ask open questions – questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. By asking open questions you trigger more of a conversation than with closed question as the other person has to respond in a way that you can follow up on. Try to avoid any matter that can be perceived as sensitive.

Examples of open questions that are soft and non-sensitive:

• How did you find this event?
• Where are you from?
• How is it there (where the person is from)?
• How often do you come here?  
• What can you suggest in terms of activities in this city?

Then you listen and ask follow up questions. Listening is very important and everybody enjoy when somebody listen to them.
 

How To Deal With Rejection

What if that somebody you introduced yourself to stonewalls you or even walks away right then and there? Don’t get bothered by this but consider the rudeness to be the other person's problem. It can also be that the other person has a really bad day, is crazily busy or preoccupied with some serious issues. If you have acted with curtsey and not been too intense you should not let any of this get to you. Just turn around and proceed to the next person.
 

The Emotional Aspect Of Small Talk

Making somebody feel comfortable when talking with you makes the whole process of getting somewhere in your relationship building much easier than if the other person feel uncomfortable because you rush or are too intense.

Giving positive attention by being a good listener, asking follow up questions and follow the other persons mimic – laugh when they laugh, smile when they smile, lean forward when they do, lean back when they do etc - are good ways to make somebody feel comfortable.

Acting in this way makes it easier for the other person to open up and share more of his or her thoughts and that is when you know you are onto something, then you can also open up more and then you are in the friendship-making territory.
 

Expanding To Real Friendship

Once you have reached friendship-making territory you are still not friends. You need to follow up and continue to build on the relationship.

Maybe you can suggest having lunch or a coffee? Those are low-key activities that might just be about business but can also be a way towards friendship. The more often you meet the person the better you will know if this is a friend or if you will end up being acquaintances.

Not getting to a real friendship is not the end of the world. Most people you know are probably acquaintances and not friends; you can’t be best friends forever with everybody – that kind of close relationship is probably reserved for a small amount of people.
 

Conclusions

• Small talk is an essential part of networking.
• Bringing a relationship from ‘hello’ to a real relationship – whether it is an acquaintance or a friend – is something everybody can do.
• It is just about taking that first step, introduce yourself and initiate a real conversation and you are on the way.
• As with everything else practise makes perfect, you really need to get out there and do it, this is one of those things that cannot be mastered just by reading about it.
• This article is not a comprehensive guide to how to form relationships, just an outline of some common features of how to get started and how things might proceed.
   

Anders Östlund
Founder of Fryday, An International Network Of Professionals

Did you enjoy this article? There are plenty of more useful articles on how to succeed in business at Fryday’s Business Blog.

You are also more than welcome to post your articles at Fryday’s Business Blog.

For blogging or other questions you can contact at info@fryday.net.

How To Master Small Talk is also published at Fryday’s Business Blog.

What To Look For In A Potential Business Partner?

There are many reasons why having a business partner is a very good thing but there are also plenty of reasons why a business partner might become a disadvantage.

Why Do I Need A Business Partner?
What is it you lack that you need from a partner? Is it money, enormous work capacity, brains, structure, network, creativity or sales experience? Try to map out what it really is you need to succeed with your startup before you approach potential business partners.

Are you willing to give up control over your business and are you able to deal with somebody else always having opinions about the work you do?

If your potential partner has the same characteristics as you – why would you need him?

Why would you give away a piece of your company if you can get that input free of charge or can afford to hire somebody?

How will your relationship work out when put to the test in though times?

A good piece of advice is, as Rhonda Abrams, president of the small-business-book publisher The Planning said:
“Date before you marry.”
 

What Questions Does The Potential Business Partner Have For Me?
If a potential employee doesn't ask any questions in a job interview, you might be less likely to hire him because of a perceived lack of interest. The same applies to a potential business partner, who should want to know about your character, reliability and expectations before entering any partnership.

Is There Any Luggage?
Make a background check before you go into a partnership. There might be things there that you are not aware of. Do the person really have the knowledge he or she states, has the person had any entanglements with the law or with previous business partners?

Would you invest in a company without a proper due diligence? Probably not, so why take in a partner without looking into that persons past? Banks, investors, suppliers and clients might run for cover if they discover that your business partner has a questionable background.

You need to find out before anybody else does or your mistake can cost you dearly and even ruin your business.

Good Network
Having a solid professional network can make or break a company and therefore networking is extremely important to many businesses.

What network does your potential partner have? What is his standing in the local community? Are the contacts he brags about real or just persons he shook hands with?

A good way to find out is to speak to others in your community or sphere of business and randomly mention your potential partners name. Surely the person you speak with will react if they know him.

You can also speak with former employees or employers of the person. Always better to speak to former than current associates. The current ones might want to get rid of the person and see you and your business as a perfect dump.

Shared Ambition
Is your potential partner's commitment to the business as strong as yours? Do you share the same work ethic? What if you are willing to work dreadful hours but your potential business partner expect to be home at 5pm? What if your potential partner has a newborn baby at home and another one coming, that might have a profound impact on the time he can commit and also change the potential partners priorities in life altogether. Family men are very admirable but not always the best business partners.

You also need to make sure you share a vision of where the company is going and what needs to be done to get there. Most likely you are both interested in becoming superrich but do you agree on how to get there? Not sharing the objectives can put you toe to toe faster than you think.

These are reasons why you need to be extremely straight forward if you are about to form a partnership. There are so many examples of people who say they are committed, and they might think they are, but when put to the test they quickly run out of steam but when they do they will still hold a share in your company that they are not likely to give up easily.

There are plenty of friends who start businesses together but at some point thereafter their partnership is over and the friendship lost forever.

Endurance And Resilience
All businesses go through tough times and you need to be able to deal with them and so does your partner.

What if your company is short of cash and needs to bootstrap for a longer period? How long can you and your partner go without taking out a salary? What if your partner just bought a huge house and has to meet interest rate payments every month? Or maybe your potential partner has a family that sits on enough money to give you a soft and long credit line? Try to find out before you start.

What if you have to work extreme hours over a longer period of time? Does your partner have the physical and mental capacity to do so or will he hit the wall too early? Everybody has their breaking point but where is it? You can of course not find this out in advance but you should take it into consideration.

Proper Contract
Whatever you agree on with a potential business partner it has to be put on paper and signed in front of witnesses. You need to state what your financial commitments are, what other resources you might add to the venture and – maybe most important – under what circumstances and how you will break up.

It is not very optimistic to go into a partnership with a plan for a breakup but it is nevertheless important. Should you have a passivity clause, a clause stating that your partner has to sell his shares if he stops working? Do you need to have a clause prohibiting the partner to sell, give or in any other way hand his shares over to a third party without you being offered to buy the shares first?

Better to sit down together and map these things out and create a good and thought through agreement when you are still rested and in a good mood than dealing with it when disaster is upon you and the last thing you need is lawyer costs and coming court procedures.

Finally
Having a solid business partner is a great thing but as with everything else in life nothing should be taken for granted and we all have dreadful memories of standing in front of the class in school presenting homework we never did.  This time around not doing your homework can cost you dearly.
 

Anders Östlund
Founder of Fryday, an international network of professionals

Did you enjoy this article? There are plenty of more useful articles on how to succeed in business at Fryday’s Business Blog.

You are also more than welcome to post your articles at Fryday’s Business Blog.

For blogging or other questions you can contact Fryday at info@fryday.net. 

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Submit a blog post to Fryday’s Business Blog now! 

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Bootstrapping means starting a business without external help or capital. Such startups fund the development of their company through internal cash flow and are cautious with their expenses. Many successful companies started with bootstrapping, examples include Apple, Microsoft and Dell.

Control

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To become a successful entrepreneur a person has to have many character traits that are not common among the general population and must also be able to withstand some of the feelings and behaviours that are generally what society consider signs of success. Here are some common feelings and behaviours that nearly guarantee business failure.

Risk Aversion

If you are afraid to put yourself in front of your potential clients by bringing your goods to the market you have already failed and if you need investors but are afraid they will reject you it will hamper your business' growth and development. If you are risk averse you should probably avoid running a business altogether.
 

Prestige

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Pride

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Lack Of Focus

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1. Make a lasting impression
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2. Always get back to people you met
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3. Continue to add new people to your network whenever you can
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