What business should I start? It’s not always an easy questions to answer. If starting your own business is something that you have been thinking about for some time, then you have probably toyed with many different business ideas.

There are as many different types of businesses as there are personalities of the people running then. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit and a strong desire to start your own business then this checklist may help you to narrow down your choices.

When trying to think of the best business to start, the first thing you should do is to perform a personal inventory. We all function better at tasks that we are good at, or those for which we have a natural ability.

So, ask yourself;

• what are you good at?
• what experience have you gained at work, school or through sport?
• what are your likes and dislikes?
• what are your personality traits?
• do you prefer to work in a team or on your own?
• what are your natural skills and abilities?

Performing a self assessment will not necessarily provide you with the perfect business to start, but it should indicate which businesses will not be ideal for you. Then, work through the following list and apply these questions to some of the business ideas that you may be considering.

Your Market

• who will buy your product or service?
• how much will they pay for it?
• what advantage will your product/service offer over the competition – ex why should customers choose you?
• the industry that the new business is in – is it in a growing industry, or is it on the decline
• do you have industry contacts?
• if not, how difficult will it be to enter this industry as an unknown – with competitive industrie,s for example fashion, you may find it very difficult to enter a competitive market as an unknown
• if you don’t know the answers to these questions do you know where to find them? You should never launch a product or service without first researching your market.

Products/Service

• will you be producing a product or providing a service?
• have you thought about distribution methods?
• do you know which methods are most cost effective?
• how will you get your product or service to your customers?

Location

• will you operate your business from home or from leased premises?
• if you plan to lease or rent can you easily accommodate additional staff, stock and customers as your business grows?
• do you need parking facilities? Is is available?
• can the premises be fitted out to suit, without too much of an investment from you?

Suppliers

• who will they be?
• is there a minimum purchase amount?
• what is their lead time?
• are they reliable – can they provide a consistent and reliable service?
• do their costs enable you to make a profit?

Equipment

• will you be using specialised equipment?
• what are the costs to service or repair this equipment?
• are spare parts readily available?
• if entering a declining industry how available will this equipment, and/or spare parts, be in the future?
• are special skills required to operate this equipment?
• will you lease or buy your equipment?

Staff

• how many staff will you require?
• do they need specific skills or training?
• do you know the hidden costs of hiring staff?

Finances

• how much capital will you need to purchase stock and equipment and to see you through the establishment phase of setting up your business as well as the first three months trading?
• if you need to borrow money do you know where to go and what the lenders will require from you?

As you can see there is a lot to consider when starting your own business. The above is in no way an exhaustive list. I have put it together to give you an introduction of the areas that you need to consider when deciding which is the best small business to start.

Karen Wardle
http://www.you-can-start-business.com/

If you found this article informative I suggest that you have a look at What is a business plan. This will help you to cement your idea and to develop a blueprint for your own business. I have extensive information on my website about how to start, manage and once established, how to grow your business. By visiting my site you can obtain your FREE How to Start a Business e-guide. This 14 page booklet takes you through the steps required to start your own business.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Wardle

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What you are about to read, this aggressive small business strategy comes after 21 years as a Madison Avenue Copywriter and Keyword Expert, 6 years as an article marketing entrepreneur, and the last 15 months as a Twitter professional.

If I were a business owner with LIMITED marketing dollars, this is EXACTLY what I would do:

1) Do Simple Keyword Research To Find Your Best Keywords

Your best keywords are the keywords that people are ALREADY searching for on a monthly basis in your industry. If you are a pillow manufacturer, you will surely discover that “pillow manufacturer” and “pillow manufacturers” and “pillow makers” are getting the most searches. Just know that the more generic the keywords, the more competition… the harder it is to get to Google page 1.

2) Write Powerful Articles Using That Exact Keyword

Take that keyword and write powerful content around it. Give great content…reveal secrets and tips that are valuable. Do not “spin” useless content… it is a waste of time. Give great info to people and they will want to know more about you. That is when they will click your links in your articles.

3) Publish Those Articles To The Best Article Directories

You don’t need to publish everywhere. In fact, one or two directories is best.

4) Tweet To Those Articles From Your Twitter Accounts

THIS IS MY SPECIAL SAUCE. If you are on Twitter, and if you have targeted followers, they will love your new articles IF the content in those articles is deep.

Twitter traffic absolutely adores new content and they will race through your Tweets to find your new article which in essence will pre-sell them on you!

What have you done if you follow these steps?

You have gotten your best keywords to Google for nonstop organic traffic (by placing your keywords in articles) and you have also enabled yourself to get INSTANT web traffic by Tweeting to those articles from your Twitter accounts.

I have spend the past 15 months on Twitter building a network of 400,000, and I can tell you that if you follow these steps and put this process into place, you will be getting nonstop traffic to your site every day.

How am I so sure that this aggressive small business strategy works?

I generate between 8,000 and 10,000 clicks a day from Twitter to MY articles.

That’s how.

Good Luck!

Kevin Browne is the Director of Social Marketing for York & Chapel in Connecticut after spending 21 years as a Copywriter on Madison Avenue. To learn more about how you can start a POWERFUL, INEXPENSIVE content sales system that will bring you the most targeted traffic online, contact Kevin Browne at 203.520.9204 or kevin.browne@yorkandchapel.com.

Technorati Tags: small business to start