How To Decide What Business To Start – Complete Guide

Choosing a business idea and proper execution play a crucial role in the success of a business. While there are tons of plans available on how to run a business, there’s no guide on how to decide what business to start.

Deciding what type of business to start is the foundation of a future plan.

As rightly said, one should plan with patience, but execute with impatience. You can’t go wrong with what to do in any way.

If you ask the experts, it’s always about picking a business idea rather than running it. Deciding on an idea is the most crucial part. The importance of planning is far superior to running a business.

10 Steps to Decide the Type of Business to Start

Step 1. Making Peace with Yourself

Most people are often afraid to start something new as they fear failure. As a budding entrepreneur, you first need to make peace with yourself. Don’t waste time finding the right time to start. Whenever you start, it’s the right time.

Clear your mind, and be ready to take up a challenge. This is going to change your life forever. Embrace it.

Everyone will tell you it’s risky to start your own business. People will discourage you, say things like you won’t have a stable life, there’s no guarantee and more.

Do remember, that the risk-takers are the most successful people today. And also, they failed but never stopped trying. You need to plan things properly and strategically, and things are bound to fall in place with time. It’s about sticking to it.

Step 2. Starting with the Basics

Starting a business is not rocket science. You are no Zuckerberg or Bezos, so don’t waste your time finding something which would change mankind. Be practical. Instead of finding something unique, work on coming up with something that can improve an existing product or service.

If your area has no good organic coffee shops but there’s a considerable demand, you should bank on the business opportunity.

You need to make room for your business in this category. You just need to be smart about what to do and work hard. As simple as that.

Most businesses fail due to no understanding of the target market, insufficient demand, and underestimating the competition.

Some of the basic factors that you must consider before starting the journey to find what business to start are listed below:

• Investment capacity
• How much time you can devote to the business?
• Are you looking for a business that can be expanded in the future?
• Market demand
• Your industry experience

Do remember, it takes time to be successful in business. It is observed, the average time to make a business profitable takes around 2 to 3 years.

Step 3. Brainstorming Ideas

You should start with all the probable business ideas. List them according to the resources available, and chalk out the most suitable ones. Consider every business idea possible. It’s important to work on a feasible idea that is practically possible.

For example, if you don’t have enough money to start a cafe or a suitable credit score for a loan, don’t plan it.

Step 4. Start the Process of Finding the Right Business

To come up with a business idea most suitable to you, list seven to ten things about yourself. To decide what type of business to start, listing down things you like to do or not will help you shortlist the best ideas.

Now write about what you like and dislike about your work life. Once you are done, you will have a list ready to match up some of your ideas.

For example, if you like going out and meeting people and have some knowledge about finance, you can choose a consulting business around financial planning.

Step 5. Shorten the List

Now you will have a few business ideas that suit your personality and what you actually want to do. There are people who want to start a specific business just because it had been profitable in the past. That is not how you should choose a business. If you don’t like what you do, it’s never going to succeed.

Don’t follow the herd.

You shortlist a few business ideas which suit you, not what others are doing. The business is as good as you are, so your complete participation is very important.

Step 6. Breaking the Cycle

If you have an idea, be creative about it. It’s no more like following a standard business with a traditional model. Almost every sort of business is available around the corner, and you need to do something different to take the lead.

Even if you choose to start a traditional business, like a coffee shop, try to have something that others don’t offer.

You need to be creative about what you do.

You can choose to offer a small selfie zone at your cafe, or a small room where photo lovers can go and click pictures. This could turn into a USP for your coffee shop helping you to attract more business.

Step 7. Understanding the Need

Before you jump into an idea, it’s really important to understand the need. Supposedly, if you see there’s demand for good laundry services in your area, you can bank on the need. It could be the need for a better service with door-to-door delivery or cheaper laundry services. You have to strategize on the market demand.

As a business owner, you have to capitalize on the need to succeed.

Step 8.  Finalizing the Best Business Idea

After everything, it’s now time to pick an idea. After a gruesome evaluation process, you should probably have a suitable business idea. If you are still confused, you should probably refer to any professional business consultant for further help. Now, you need to start working on the idea. Planning is really important.

Most businesses fail at this phase due to poor planning.

Also, make sure you customize the business idea according to your community and area. Customizing a business concept plays an important role in success.

Step 9. Creating a Business Plan

You need to create a well-detailed business plan which should include all the necessary data and information. Some of the topics must include a business description, market analysis, management, sales strategies, financing, and financial projections.

You should also register your business either as a sole proprietor or LLC.

Depending upon your business, are and zoning regulations, there will be permits and necessary licenses. Make sure you complete all the required legal formalities before starting off.

Step 10. Testing Your Business

Before you go live officially, do carry out a pilot to see if everything’s on the right side. If you offer some service, run it free for a few days and collect feedback. If it’s some product, create some samples and distribute them.

You need to check whether people are liking it or not. If you have at least 7 people praising it out of 10, you are on the right foot.

Make the necessary changes, and go ahead.

If things are not working, try again, and learn from your mistakes. Failure is your biggest teacher. Pull up things, do your homework, research, plan, and start again.

There’s no right time to start a business. Don’t wait. Opportunities are scarce, so start today for a successful tomorrow. Do remember, that sky’s the limit.