Putting it all together

We've talked about reasons to consider a home based business, What your strong points are, How to compensate for the weak ones, and Various marketing techniques you can use with your business. Now let's put it all together and choose a business that will bring you the happiness and income you desire. Here are a few steps to help you make that final decision.

RECAPPING - asking yourself some tough questions

Narrowing Your Focus
There are thousands of different types of businesses in the marketplace. Each business fills a certain need that the marketplace is demanding. In some ways, this is good because it gives you unlimited choices for the type of business you can start. On the other hand, it may be overwhelming to try to sift through all of the different possibilities and choose the right one for you. In order to make this process easier, we have included a step-by-step procedure for narrowing your business options.

What is your motive - your strengths and weaknesses
Your search for the right business idea will be aided by learning the necessary steps to take so you can best assess your interests, skills, abilities, knowledge, and talents.

Assess Your Interests
Your interests are simply your likes and dislikes, your preference for one thing and your dislike of another. Begin by writing down what interests you. Start with broad categories. What are your hobbies currently? What were they when you were younger? What school courses did you enjoy when you were younger? Were there any jobs that you really liked or got a lot of satisfaction from? What kind of sports and recreational activities have you participated in and enjoyed? What do you do in your spare time? What would you like to do if you could? What do you consider to be a lot of fun? Once you have created your list of interests, identify anything that you particularly dislike doing. List these activities below your interests along with the reasons for your dislike. Your interest inventory is not a rigid indicator of what you should do. It is only a starting point for helping you learn the range of your interests. It is important to not confuse interests with abilities and skills. Once you have completed this list, review the activities and interests you have identified and look for patterns. Do any appear consistently? If so, circle them.

Building Your Skills Inventory
The key to picking your business idea is knowing and being able to articulate all the different skills you possess. The word "skills" is being used in the most general sense possible. You are not looking for skills which you and you alone possess in all the world. It is sufficient that you have the skill to any degree. You are looking for any you may have exhibited while doing something. You will need to really open yourself up when making your list. After you have developed your list, circle those skills which represent your strongest abilities and which you take the greatest pleasure in performing. Now see whether a pattern exists that can lead you to explore what your business should be. Write down any patterns that appear.

Recalling Your "Power Stories"
Everyone has memories of times in their lives when they felt particularly "strong" and "on track". It may be the time you gave your first speech, or the day your child was born, or it may be the time you reached a goal you had previously thought impossible. Whatever it is, these are the times when you felt the most proud of yourself. We call these memories "power stories". Whether or not anyone else is aware of these times in your life or think they are important is irrelevant. The important thing is that they matter to you. Recall a list of seven personal power stories. Divide a sheet of paper in half. On the left side of the page, write down each of your power stories. On the right side, list the skills and talents you used in each story. What skills and talents reappear in each story? Circle those.

Building Your Special Knowledge Inventory
List any special knowledge you have acquired according to the following sources: Learned in school, college Learned on the job or by actually doing at home or work Learned from seminars, workshops Learned by reading avidly Learned by talking to people You should list as many special types of knowledge as you can think of. Circle the 5 types that you would like to use in business.

Self-Estimates
On a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high), rate yourself (as compared with other people) on each of the following traits. Be as objective and accurate as possible. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Try not to rate yourself the same in each ability.

___ Clerical
___ Musical
___ Teaching
___ Managerial
___ Technical
___ Scientific
___ Mechanical
___ Empathic
___ Building
___ Numerical
___ Sales
___ Artistic

Then list your top 4 traits with the rating for each.

Pros and Cons of Your home based business
Working from your home has a unique set of characteristics - are you ready?

Dividing Up Your Time
You need to decide, as a future business owner, how you want your time to be spent. Divide the following categories in terms of percentages of time per week based on 100%. Try not to give each one the same percentage. With People: With Information: With Things: If you're having trouble with this one, you may want to skip over to the Visualizing Yourself in Business section.

Determining Your Priorities
As you begin combining your work and family responsibilities, make sure you know what your priorities are. Begin by listing any current time commitments and then estimate how much time you spend on these regular activities. Think through your priorities. What activities must you continue? What can you let others do? What activities are expendable? Now that you have completed your personal assessment for helping to determine your business idea, try to pull the information together to see whether a picture of yourself has emerged so that you can gain a sense of what type of business would best suit your skills, knowledge, business goals, and your reasons for wanting to start a business. You most likely will begin to see a pattern that leads to a specific idea or to a general category of business such as service, retail, or manufacturing.

Do you have the resources for a business?
Research indicates more and more that you must enjoy what you are doing if you want to be Successful in the long run. If you start a business based on the latest get-rich quick scheme, you will find yourself getting tired very quickly. On the other hand, if you focus only on what you like and you disregard the needs of the marketplace, you may soon find yourself scraping to pay your bills at the end of the month. Then what is the answer?

Like most of the things in life, the answer is to find a balance. It is likely that almost anything you would like to give, someone else in the world would like to receive. The trick is to find that person and presenting your product or your service in such a way that they simply can't resist what you have to offer. This is matching personal interests with marketplace needs.

Let's look at an example... Susan was very interested in adventure travel. She had worked as a travel agent for several years and she was now thinking to start an adventure travel company for women. She decided to test the waters by putting an advertisement in Cosmopolitan magazine, a women magazine. When very few people responded to her ad, she became very disillusioned and she decided that her idea might never be successful. That's when a friend told her of a new magazine that she had just seen at the newsstand called Outside Woman. It sounded interesting so she purchased the magazine and read it. After talking to the editor of the magazine, she learned that a lot of women who read this particular magazine were interested in travel as a way to open their worlds and go beyond their fears. Susan also learned that most of these women were in their 30's and 40's, not early 20's like she had previously thought. Armed with this new knowledge, she created an adventure package that aimed at "women who wanted to experience the spiritual side of adventure travel" and she placed an ad in the magazine that her friend had recommended. The response was tremendous. Within several weeks, she was able to book a first group outing and her business was born. Susan's story is one of Success.

However, without a little luck, her story could have been one of failure. Market research is often the difference between succeeding and failing miserably. Susan never gave up her dream of doing something she loved. But until she reached the right group in the marketplace, she was doomed to failure. Moral of the story? Look inside yourself to learn what you like and what your dreams are. Then open your eyes and take the time to find others with whom you could share your dream. All in all, it may take you a little longer, but it will be worthwhile.

Visualizing Yourself In Business

When you are trying to choose the best business for yourself, it is easy to get caught up in the belief that what you have been doing, you must continue to do. Without careful consideration, you may end up trading your small office or cubicle at work for a small room at home that keeps you just as tied down as your old job. Or you may end up having to spend most of your day pounding the pavement on sales calls when what you really wanted was to remain at home for most of the day.

To help you "feel" your business before you actually start it, you may want to try using visualization to get a mental picture of what your day will actually be like. By doing this, you will discover what you will be feeling as you go through a typical business day. You can then use this information to help you determine if you are on the right professional track.

It's important to evaluate the lifestyle of your business direction before actually investing money, time and energy into it. Going into business for the wrong reasons (i.e.., a panic decision to quit an undesirable job, impulsively starting a business just because, or to simply have more time) without adequate research can be a ticket to failure, either in your professional life, your personal life, or both.

The following questions are a simple way to get you thinking about what your day will look like once you own your business. As you consider each question, notice how you feel. Do you feel tense and agitated as you read each question or are you getting excited and motivated? Even if you don't know the reason why, listen to your feelings and trust yourself.

1. It's time to get ready for your business day. What time is it?
2. You get dressed for work. What do you wear?
3. Someone depends on you before you leave. Who is it? What do they need?
4. You open your door to your business. Where is it located? What does it look like?
5. You look around. Who else is there with you?
6. You produce (or handle) the product of your business. What is it?
7. A customer purchases that product. What does he/she look like? Male? Female? Age? Occupation?
8. You've started building customers. Why did the customer choose your product/service and how did he/she know about it?
9. You think about your product or service. What does it cost? How did the customer pay for it? Cash? Credit Card? On account?
10. You glance down at your customer list. What and when will he/she purchase from you the next time?
11. It's lunch/dinner time. What are you eating?
12. You eat. Where? With whom?
13. The morning has come and gone. What do you see yourself doing during the second half of your day. Producing something? Selling something? Going somewhere?
14. It's time to close up. What time is it?
15. You prepare your bills or count your money. How much did you "make" today? How much is in actual cash? How much is owed to you?
16. It's time to go home. Are you going straight home or do you have to stop somewhere first?
17. You've arrived home. Do you have household responsibilities when you get home?
18. You need to do book work/paperwork for your business. When do you do it?
19. You want to talk about your day with someone. Who do you talk to?
20. You prepare for your business for the next day. What do you do?
21. It's time to sleep. What time is it?

Define your Business
NEXT Record your business decisions and findings in the "Business Description Worksheet" for the first part of your Business plan.