A contractor told me one day, “Hermann, if I had enough time I would launch today ten different cases.” I replied, “But the launcher, I supports five of them since I enough of my time “then he replied” You’re absolutely right, but I prefer to stick to two for the moment. Because you know I can do more than ten things to make money, but I prefer to be expert in two, two tracks where I can make fun of competing for another ten years if necessary. You see.

Our friend knows that he can a lot, but it can not succeed at all times. He knows he doitchoisir, choose what suits him most, he can do better than anyone. Do you want to choose the company that suits you, here for you three steps to get there.

1. Identify your niche carrier.

You decide income and geographic location of the target that you want to serve. For example, “sell hardware managers in your region or your city with a monthly average of 300,000 CFA francs. You have defined your target characteristics. You deploy your sales strategy and customer management features based on their own. You serve their hardware at first. Tomorrow you’ll be able to use the appliance, retirement savings and whatnot because you dedicated all your expertise to serve this target and it will be recognized as an expert, it will be ready to ask you the same for products or services you’ve never thought of. But attention may there are competitors already in place or about to move. There are so-called niche in niches where there is almost no or very few potential competitors. Make a little study you can check that the market is really identified carrier, and position yourself accordingly. If by cons you’re dealing with a large number of competitors in all markets, it is up to you to create your niche in you, a unique concept with additional services that will increase value for customers.

2. Listen to your heart.

One thing that can go wrong in choosing the company to start, it’s your heart. Your company will be your image. You will love it too. What good would it you start a business you really do not like? You also will determine precisely the role you play in the company to create. And for you to play this role, you will have the enthusiasm. If you do not like too much administration with all its cohort of procedures, not just starting a business or transit customs declaration for example.

3. How much do you need?

The capital requirements will depend on the type of business you want to run. Same for your sales potential and the desired mark. Know how much you can afford and choose your business accordingly. Do you have a financial history which guarantees you a bank loan? Do you have a warranty? What are your goals? To answer these questions and choose your business accordingly, consider multiple scenarios and compare the needs and potential funding sources. Compare what it costs you to open a laundry with what it cost you to open a tele or a factory for packaging dairy products. Closer all the potential sales and profit for each type after confrontation with expenses for raw materials, personnel and equipment and make your decision.

Reflecting enough and listening to your heart, you come across opportunities that meet your criteria perfectly and ensure a growth why not national, subregional and international levels. Thus were born the big firms.

Close your eyes for a few minutes and consider a detailed picture of your life as you want in 5 years. Be as specific as possible.

* Where do you live?
* What do you do during the day?
* What do you do for a living?
* Do you work alone or with others?
* What surrounds you?
* What do you do when you’re not working?

Do not limit yourself to these questions create a living vision of yourself, touching on issues that are important to you. These are personal issues that will influence the type of business you are looking for – be a person of the city or the countryside; wish to travel or stay at your computer, love to meet people or work phone. This activity will help to create the basis for choosing a business, make business decisions, and develop clear goals.

It is best to do this exercise with someone else and share your vision. If you can not put it in writing to make your vision more concrete.
Determine what your strengths and what you enjoy doing

It is often useful to get inside yourself to understand what you like and what you dislike, and what are your talents. Finding a winning business concept is one thing. Find one that interests you and which suits your skills is another.

One of the best ways to do this is to develop three separate lists:

List 1: Your strengths
Everyone has a strength and many skills can be the basis of a business. You can be someone well organized by nature or who knows fixing things. Perhaps you are so accustomed (e) your skills that you do not immediately think, therefore developed this list by watching for a few weeks to seek your abilities and asking people who know you well to give their impressions of the areas where you excel.

List 2: Skills acquired over the years
Whether you worked in a traditional or not, you’ve no doubt accumulated many skills. Note all the work responsibilities you’ve had, think about the various tasks that you know run. Make sure this list is complete – it should include at least 10 distinct elements.

List 3: Things you enjoy doing
Make a list of things you enjoy doing. It’s not as easy as it looks. This list should include at least 10 elements. Pass through your hobbies and interests that come to mind immediately. If you’re stuck (e), ask people who know you long time – especially those that you knew when you were a kid – what they have seen you do during your moments of happiness.

Keep these three lists in an accessible place (eg on your desk) for several weeks, and whenever you have an idea, write it in the appropriate category. Ask people who know you well to give their opinion or help you refresh your memory.

Understand the market needs

Until now, you concentrate (e) inward to find your business idea. It is now time to focus outward to find a need that has not been met but who may be using your product or service.

There are many lists of companies “Top 10″ or “Hot New”. These lists can give some ideas but the best business ideas come from you and will be based on who you are and the market needs. During your soul searching and developing your list, keep your eyes open for all business opportunities.

The worksheet attached is designed to help you find ideas. Feel free to be different (e) and do not be discouraged if your initial ideas are not perfect. Put them aside and continue working.