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Re: Choosing a business

designer — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:31:46 GMT

Do what you love and are passionate about. Then, the work will seem like "life" and play. The money will follow. It sounds corny, but true.

I make jewelry. I am not the Tiffany Co. with private jets and villa's in the South of France. But, seeing my handcrafted piece in a magazine or worn on TV is "priceless"...it feels like Christmas to me each and every time it happens!!!

Kenneth Fron
www.kennethfron.com

Re: Choosing a business

maggiechris — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:28:09 GMT

Hi Luckiest,

I see you all over the place on this forum. I appreciate your time & feedback. I was wondering, of all the businesses you have checked out that are home based; can you recommend one to try? A side from starting a regular business (not on line) I want to have a home based business that can also generate a little cash.

Thanks in advance for your response.

maggiechris

Re: Finding a business to be passionate about

Adducent — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:06:05 GMT

You're very welcome. Its a busy world that many of us live in and it can feel like we are being pushed to make decisions quickly or that we don't have enough (or have taken too much) time and need to "jump" right now. Sometimes it is better to "walk", then "run" ... and then if you feel like it "jump". Feel free to stay in touch ... I'd like to hear about how things progress for you. You can find my contact info at my web site (via my profile).

Take care,

Dennis Lowery,

Adducent, Inc.

Re: Choosing a business

Danifer — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:34:01 GMT

To echo some of the posts above - go with what makes you happy. It's the easiest road to success.

Re: Finding a business to be passionate about

maggiechris — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:25:46 GMT

Thank you for your response. You have givin me baby steps which is exactly what I need right now because I can be a little compulsive. You put me on check and are making me slow down. I think your feedback is priceless and is better than any "How to start a business" book I've ever read. I hope you don't mind but I'd like to stay in touch w/you. I like reading what you have to say. Thanks again.

Finding a business to be passionate about

Adducent — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:43:15 GMT

Being passionate about making money can drive you to take on things or get into ventures with only the thought of the money driving your decision.

Is the money important? Absolutely!

Is how you make it important? Yes, if making your life more comfortable is also one of your goals!

This would factor in because if you started something as capital intensive and as regulated as an assisted living or adult day care facility you could find out that the business became the worst high-pressure job you ever had.

The elder care market is one that is growing but is also a highly competitive and regulated industry (and may become increasingly so). Unless you have a lot of money behind you it is better to think tactically than strategically about entering such a market.

I tell clients and people that I talk with about starting or buying a business to be methodical in how they approach either one. Don't jump ship, leave your job and pin all your hopes on something (the start-up or business you buy) trusting that all will be well. Sometimes they aren't.

I've been successful in several businesses (from writing, publishing, manufacturing to business services) but have also had flops. That's normal experience for someone who's been an entrepreneur for 26 years. Often you learn more from your failures than you do the successes. Odd but true.

Here's how to learn from those things that don't work out:

Take the elements of the things you have tried in the past that you spent time and money in exploring as business opportunities (and even do this for your current job) but that did not work out.
On a sheet of paper draw a line down the middle of it. On the left at the top of the page write "Bad" and on the right top write "Good".
For each thing list out the bad and the good; the bad will constitute the determinants of why it did not work out for you or why it did not fill you with any passion. The good are the positive elements that helped offset the bad but did not carry enough weight to make it work for you.
Once you have done that look at what you've written. Take a new sheet of paper and transfer all the good things to that page. This becomes a profile of the things that were positive that you need to look for in a business or opportunity that may ignite your passion.
Now with your "Good" profile in front of you, if the elder care market (or any marker or industry) interests you, think about how you can utilize those good aspects in a business of your own serving that specific market or industry. Make notes about the different businesses that you can start or buy that have those good aspects to them. Those should be your focus.
Once you've done that calculate what I call your Personal Economic Burden (all your monthly personal expenses that you need to pay to live: mortgage, rent, insurance, food, utilities, car payments, etc.). Total that up and add 20% to it (10% for miscellaneous and at least 10% for savings). Take that total amount multiply by 12 and divide by 365. That is the daily amount your business must generate for you to be "comfortable". We'll call that the "Comfort Number". That's not making you rich but if you achieve it; it will give you a solid foundation to build on so that you can make even more money
When you have that daily number and with it in mind, review your notes from number 5 above and research to determine if you feel that business can generate what you need to meet your Comfort Number. If so, then that is a business you should focus on starting or in finding to buy.

I have a book in work right now on this subject so I hope the above helps. Please let me know if it was helpful.

I'll also post this as a topic since it may help others as well.

Dennis Lowery

Adducent, Inc.

Re: Choosing a business

maggiechris — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:49:01 GMT

I too have been looking for years into every thing, spent countless hours & money. I just cant find my passion. I have worked in loss mitigation (foreclosure prevention for the last 5 years) but I'm certainly not passionate about it. I guess I'm just passionate about making money. Please don't get the wrong idea of course my family & children come first but they are older now and I want to focus on trying to make our life more confortable. I know about SCORE & SBA. I've focused so much on my home life and working that I forgot what "I" am passionate about. What businesses have you been successful with? Do I sound rediculous?

I have done some research. I know that in the next decade the number of seniors is due to go up tremedously. I was thinking of maybe some type of assistant living or maybe an adult day care facility. What do you think?

Re: Choosing a business

maggiechris — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:48:34 GMT

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Re: Choosing a business

Adducent — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:38:37 GMT

Hi,Let's establish the basis for your business start-up planning efforts:

The Starting point

That would be you. Define what type of business you would really like to start!

Let's walk through the thought process.

When deciding on a business, you will want to find one that satisfies your goals and meets your objectives.

Start by reviewing your own abilities, knowledge and experience.

Do you want a business that will take advantage of those or are you looking at it from the perspective "I want to go in a new direction"?

I believe it is always better to play to your strengths, abilities and experience but going in a new direction is OK if you have the core skills and capability to effectively apply them in a business that may not be one you are experienced in.

Give some thought to the following:

What type of business are you interested in?

Do you want to start a manufacturing, distribution, service or retail business?

Each has its own unique pros and cons.

Manufacturing businesses (and distribution businesses to an extent) tend to allow you to build up nice solid assets on the balance sheet with tangible value. Retail and service businesses tend to have more intangible assets but also are less capital intensive.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! No matter the type you will want to focus on a business in a solid well-established industry that has a history of steady dependable growth. Don't start a business in a declining industry.

Important Tip

I would focus on an established industry that is in an uptrend (one place of many where you can find this data online is):

http://www.ita.doc.gov/TD/Industry/OTEA/O
TII/want2_industry.html. Where:

the business and industry shows growth over the next 5 years

the industry is fragmented, where the companies in the industry tend to be smaller and medium sized businesses

preferably an industry where your background and experience will help you in the business

Do you want to run the daily operations yourself or do you want to have a general manager to take care of that for you?

One of the worst things you can do is start a business that becomes the worst job that you ever had.

In general I would tell you to avoid businesses that are going to require you to be the main sales person for the business if you are not comfortable in a sales role. Or a business that requires you to do some job or perform some function that you do not like or cannot perform.

There are cases where it makes sense, instead of starting a business ... you buy a business or businesses that have a team in place to cover all the daily management tasks necessary for the business to run, prosper and grow. Allowing for those management costs under your ownership is something you will have to factor into the viability of the deal.

Just remember that you have to identify what you want so that you know what to plan for and allow for that when you are evaluating what type of business to start or buy. You must have clearly identified objectives, wants, desires and criteria in front of you when you get started so that you do not get side-tracked and waste your time.

Re: Choosing a business

LUCKIEST — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:25:14 GMT

Choosing a business. I am a SCORE counselor and

can give you some direction and even be a mentor.

Contact me at pdeig@juno.com and include a phone number

Again LUCKIEST