We’re continuing with the 4-part series on how to choose the perfect business for you. This series is extracted from my book 12 Weeks to Startup.
So far, I’ve outlined the elements of a perfect business and explained how you can conduct a personal analysis.
By conducting the personal analysis, you identified the things your family and friends think you’re good at. In today’s article, I’ll show you how to identify what you’re good at or love doing.
This step will require a bit more thinking than the others. So it would be best if you can do it in a quiet place where you’ll not be disturbed for about 2 hours.
What are you good at or love doing?
To complete this step, answer the following questions on a sheet of paper:
- What do I love doing in my life, leisure, and work?
- When do I lose track of time and just do whatever I am doing?
- What would I do for the rest of my life and never lose momentum?
- What do I daydream of doing?
- What are the things my friends and family ask me for advice about?
- What lifestyle do I want?
- What do I see others doing that I want to do?
- What did I love doing as a child? (ages 5-6)
- What would I do with my life if money was not a problem?
- If money was not an issue, what business would I start?
Write down the answers as they come, no matter how frivolous something may seem, feel or sound.
Don’t overlook these
Make sure that you only write about things that you were or are enthusiastic about. Generally, these are activities that give you great satisfaction when you complete them, no matter the amount of effort you put in.
Also, include things that you do effortlessly – the things people compliment you on (even if it’s just your sense of dressing).
For example, I am a great administrator rarely think of this as a talent. It’s just how I do things. This is something I could make money out of and that is helping me a lot in my business. And yet, I didn’t consciously rate it as a skill until people started complimenting me about it.
Remember to include character traits that other people may term as negative.
For example, were you good at telling tall tales when a kid (or still do)? This could be the start of a writing career. You can create a blog, write an eBook or novel, and sell them online.
Some more examples to jog your memory
Do you talk a lot? This could be turned into a perfect public speaking career. It doesn’t matter that you were told to shut up a lot when you were a child…
Do you love travelling? You can take photos of places that you go to and sell them online or sell short stories about the places visit to online and offline magazines and newspapers.
Were you shy and managed to overcome the shyness? You can teach people how you did it.
Were you the class clown? Did you get punished a lot for cracking jokes in class or making fun of teachers and other students? You can make money as a comedian or MC.
Are you the person that people go to when they have problems? And maybe people seek you so much that your family and friends complain that you don’t have time for them. Are you so busy sorting out other people that it’s taking a toll on you? You can turn this into a counselling or coaching career.
The sky’s the limit and even personality traits that seem challenging can be turned into a business, if you are willing to explore them.
What next?
Now that you know what you’re good at or love doing, you’ll need to summarize all the information you’ve collected and come up with 1-3 ideas that you can turn into a business. Find out how to do that in the next article.
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Click the links below to read the other parts in this series:
How to choose the perfect business for you Part 1 – Elements of a perfect business
How to choose the perfect business for you Part 2 – Conduct a personal analysis
Choosing the perfect business Part 4 – Decide which business to start
Image credit: Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net
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