Business Alone

Some call it "the paralysis of analysis."

Others refer to it as "a mental block" or "brain freeze."

But whatever you call it, don't let it get in the way of you coming up with a sound and workable business idea.

You see, more than a few aspiring entrepreneurs mistakenly believe that they must come up with an idea that will appeal to the masses - that will become the "next big thing." If they don't get that flash of inspiration, they hesitate to get going on anything.

Some folks believe that ordinary ideas have all been tried and unless they find a new or innovative idea they won't become successful in online business.

I say, "don't worry about finding the perfect idea - just find a good idea, test it, and then develop your business around being exceptional in your niche in some way."

Most new business owners tend to be great advocates for their product or service as they prepare for their business launch.

They become cheerleaders and proselyters for their product's features, benefits, and usefulness. They want to shout to the whole world that their "baby" is being born and it's the greatest improvement to ___________ of the century!

Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you ever felt this way?

I think new business owners are better served at the outset by playing the role of buyer or consumer of that product. Here's why . . .

Everyone that goes into business as a solo operator needs to develop a certain amount of "creativity" or non-traditional thinking. Why?

Business in today's world is extremely competitive, full of dime-a-dozen copycat boring companies that survive marginally (or not at all), but always willing to reward fresh thinking combined with outstanding execution.

You don't have to be creative in the sense that your ideas are revolutionary or Nobelian.

In fact, my definition of being creative, in the business sense, might go something like this: the ability to transcend the usual thinking and commonplace practices of most businesses.

You don't have to have one-in-million ideas; you just need to discover ways to add value, merit, worth and importance to your business, especially in the eyes of your targeted customers.

Many entrepreneurs struggle to come up with good ideas. It only takes one, however, to lay the foundation of a profitable business. But don't worry - your idea doesn't necessarily need to be perfect to allow you to start a business.

Here's a tip: instead of trying to think of the exact, final idea that will be the basis of your business, it might help to start out surveying the field. In other words, begin by looking at general areas or industries rather than focused, tight subjects.

Start at the wide end of the funnel and narrow your choices and focus as you move down the funnel toward the small end. There will be a lot of areas or industries that you'll be able to eliminate right off the bat to narrow the field.

Let me tell you about some general categories of Internet business that have historically been of great interest to lots of customers. These are not niches - they're just wide areas or subjects that have proven to hold many potential prospects.

Coming up with a workable home business idea is only a beginning. If whatever that idea is never develops beyond a thought, your dream of a real business will never happen.

In fact, let me be so blunt as to say that your chances for success in any business creation attempt will be directly proportional to your ability to translate ideas, and feelings, and thoughts into executed action steps.

Every new product and service that you see in the world today is the result of someone's acting upon an idea and following through by executing a series of steps that eventually resulted in the product's launch.

There may have been many, many people that had a similar, or even the exact same idea.

Entrepreneurs are a diversified bunch. They appear in all sorts of sizes, temperaments, ages, and with various backgrounds.

Some produce tons of workable business ideas in a year. Others seem to struggle to come up with one good idea in a decade.

Regardless of where you fit on the continuum, there is a very underutilized place you can go to get all the good ideas you'll ever need to keep you in business for a long time to come.

Go online!

In a previous post I talked a little about the importance of being honest with yourself as you undertake any business creation.

For the solo entrepreneur, especially (because you are the business), it is critical that you begin on solid ground - not taking anything for granted, not overestimating your abilities, time you'll have available for the business, or your customer market potential.

You can't afford to keep a closed eye to any one of the many business realities that can be evaluated up front before so you don't lose a lot of time or money traveling down a dead end.

By asking questions at the outset, you are forced into analyzing, researching, and evaluating the information at hand in order to come up with honest answers that will lead to your business being planted on solid ground.

Otherwise, you may cripple your business output at a later time because you ignored, or chose to "skim over" some critical details that might have influenced your decision to even move forward at the outset.

Here are a few ideas of some information business niche markets that I have seen on the Internet that seem to be popular and growing (in terms of the number of new businesses cropping up.)

Will you be stealing or be viewed as a "copycat" if you join in this business space?

Not at all, as long as you don't "borrow" other people's logos, web graphics, content, etc.

The reason there is room for others in this space is because most of these businesses rely on local marketing, word of mouth, and clients that will be in your geographic area. Many of these ideas are work-at-home businesses conducted solo on the Internet.

It's a nasty name, "swipe files," but it's an idea you should implement immediately if you haven't already gotten yours started!

If you're like me, you run across great little ideas and tidbits on the Internet every day.

But if you don't record that idea, or web site, or reference, or "how to" hint for later recall, you will have forgotten that even existed within a day or two.

If you've been involved in copywriting, direct ad creation, web site development, graphics creation, email headlining, and any number of other online business tasks, you've probably heard the term "swipe files."

That's kind of a nasty or unpleasant term, but the concept is smart and the results of you building such files will be significant as you venture into your new information business.

If you don't know what a "swipe file" is, or you're not convinced you need one (or several), read on.