The Best Home Based Business Ideas Come From Identifying, Then Filling A WANT

Ready, Fire, Aim! This is how most people start a home based business. This is how most people start any business; how most companies launch a product. This is how I did things when I first started along my entrepreneurial path, and let me tell you, it is one of the most expensive and important lessons you can learn. You have probably heard, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” It’s true, and if you are even thinking about starting a business, you better remember it.

So where do you start? A business plan, right? Wrong! This is very important, and I will get into that later, but the place to start is your idea to start a home based business in the first place (or any business for that matter). Let me tell you about one of my flops.

I was about 25, and I moved back to New Orleans to pursue a business opportunity that eventually fell through. I had just sold my first company, and I was rich. After paying off a bunch of debt, I had about $10 thousand in the bank! Listen, when you’re 25, and that is more money than you have ever had before, you think you’re rich. I put the whole thing into spray mace (pepper-spray) distributorship. This is a self defense spray, and since New Orleans had such a high crime rate, and was at the time, the murder capital of the US, I thought I had a no-brainer here. I was very wrong.

Long story short, I finally threw out about half of my INITIAL inventory investment about ten years later. Maybe the people who were interested in carrying something to insure their personal safety were all carrying guns, I don’t know. What I do know, is that I will never invest my time or money into a venture again, without first testing to see if there is a market for the thing.

It is far easier to find a market and provide them something they want, than it is to have a product and find a market for it. Notice I said, want not need. It helps to be a member of your market too. It is not a requirement, but it sure makes things easier and more interesting if you can relate to the people you are trying to sell to.

A good way to start, is to think of a product or service that will make your life easier, better, more fun, exciting, you get the idea. Do some research to determine if other people are looking for it. Search online for the product or service, and see what comes up. Do some keyword research (If you don’t know how, I will get into how to do keyword research in a future post). Search online forums for groups that represent your market- just add “forum” to the description of your group in your search. See what they are talking about. Can you help them?

This is finding a niche. Identify a market and identify something they want. If you do that, you are onto something. Remember that people are more likely to purchase something they want, than something they need. This is why it is more dangerous to walk into a Best Buy than a Farmer’s Market. Don’t, “Ready, Fire, Aim!” Take careful aim and you will exponentially increase your chances for success.