How To Start a Business

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What is the Best Business to Start in 2012 – List and ideas

Posted: 04 Feb 2012 02:12 AM PST

What is the best business to start in 2012? Which business opportunity has the potential for rapid growth? Do you have the capital and passion to start a business but you can't seem to decide what business to start? If any of these questions best describe your thoughts, then please read on. Most aspiring entrepreneurs are usually confused when it comes to starting a business because they can't figure out the best business to start. Just recently, I got an email from a reader on this business blog and this was the reader's message.

"Respected Sir, how are you? This is (name withheld) from London, United Kingdom. Now I am doing MBA and ACA as well. Sir, I am very interested in business but I am very confused about field. Which field is more suitable for business, for growth? Would you like to suggest me something? Thanking you."

I receive such emails on a daily basis so I decided to do a piece in reply to this email. Now what is the best business to start? Well, you are going to find out soon. In this article, I am going to explain in detail the best business to start and how to find such business opportunities. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or an employee with a strong desire to start a business? Then please read on because this article is for you.

What is the best business to Start in 2012?

Well, before I reveal to you the best business to start this year; I want you to take a careful look at the list below.

1. 1900 – Andrew Carnegie made his money from steel – $475 million

2. 1910 – John D. Rockefeller became a billionaire in oil – $1.4 billion

3. 1920 – Henry Ford became a billionaire in the auto industry – $1 billion

4. 1940 – Howard Hughes became a billionaire with military aircrafts, contract, tools and movies – $1.5billion

5. 1957 – J. Paul Getty became a billionaire in oil – $1 billion

6. 1962 – Henry Ross Perot became a billionaire with EDS – $3.8 billion

7. 1970 – Sam Walton took retailing giant Wal-Mart public and became a billionaire – $22 billion

8. 1980 – Ron Perelman made fortune as a Wall Street deal maker – $3.8 billion

9. 1990 – Jerry Yang founded Yahoo! – $3.7 billion

10. 2008 – Aliko Dangote became the richest black man in the world as a manufacturer – $3.3 billion

11. 2010 – Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire with FaceBook.com – $6 billion

Some of the successful entrepreneurs mentioned in the list above were school dropout billionaires. Is this list exhausted, my answer is no. Oprah Winfrey became the richest black woman in the world with television show productions. J, K. Rowling joined the billionaires list with her book "Harry Potter Series."

Debbi Field's became a multi millionaire selling cookies; and Mary Kay Ash became a billionaire with her company "Mary Kay Cosmetics. Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner became billionaires by running their own cable network channel company; "Fox Broadcasting Corporation" and "CNN" respectively.

Now what is the best business to start? My answer to the question above is this: "The best business to start this year that can yield the highest returns on investment is non-existent." Are you surprised? Please don't be. I know you might be expecting me to make a list of businesses ranging from oil and gas to web based businesses. I am sorry to disappoint you because there is no stipulated best business opportunity with respect to the illustrations I cited above.

However, there's a contradictory twist to my answer. I believe the best business opportunity exists but you have to create it or make it a reality yourself. Now what am I trying to stress? The point I am trying to stress is that becoming a successful entrepreneur does not depend on the business opportunity; it depends on you. So if you are going to successfully go through the entrepreneurial process, you will have to find your own best business opportunity.

Well, instead of telling you to start an oil and gas supply business or an internet business; I am going to reveal to you five criterion to creating your own best business opportunity. If you are still willing to learn, then below are five questions that will help you decide the best business to start this year.

How to decide what Business to Start this year

1. What is your level of preparedness?

The first key to finding the best business to start is you; and the reason is because building a successful business starts with you, the entrepreneur. Are you in the right mindset? Do you have what it takes to build a successful business?

I listed the entrepreneurial mindset here because it the fundamental key to starting, building and growing a business. The state of your mindset will determine how far you will go in the entrepreneurial process of building a business. Choosing the best business to start begins with you answering the following personal questions:

What is your risk bearing capacity?

Are you prepared to face business challenges?

Are you prepared to handle business failures?

What's you perception towards making mistakes in business and life?

These are the type of questions you need to ask yourself before even deciding what business to start. These questions will reveal your mental preparedness for the entrepreneurial journey at hand.

2. How much Capital do you have?

The start-up capital you have access to, is another factor that will determine the best business for you to start. The best business opportunity for an entrepreneur with access to a $1,000 start-up capital will be quite different from that of an entrepreneur with a million dollars in start-up capital.

The best business to start for an entrepreneur with a $1,000 start-up capital may be an online niche store while the entrepreneur with the million dollar capital will feel that starting a gas distribution business or a manufacturing firm will be the best bet. So take note that your start-up capital is a predominant factor when deciding what business to start.

3. Who is on your Team?

The competence of the management team you have on board will determine the kind of business opportunity to pursue. If your business team has a track record of successes; then raising capital to pursue big projects will be a piece of cake. But if you are a solo entrepreneur, then your best business opportunity will be quite different.

4. How Strong is your Business Plan?

If you have the right plan, coupled with the right team and the right mindset; then you can pursue mega projects. But an entrepreneur who lacks the orientation of the use of a business plan will just bootstrapped his or her business on a shoestring budget. The extensiveness of both your personal and business plan will determine the kind of business opportunity you will pursue.

5. What Business idea do you have in mind?

Lastly, the best business to start varies from entrepreneur to entrepreneur based on the ideology of the entrepreneur and the prevailing circumstances. Your best business opportunity may differ from mine based on prevailing circumstances such as trend, your passion, hobby, skill, geographical terrain, demographics, psychographics, demand, supply, economic policy, etc.

The best business to start for someone in Nigeria or China will differ from that of someone in United States, Canada or India. And most importantly, I listed the "business idea" last because it is the least important necessity to starting a business. Remember, the world is filled with brilliant, million dollar ideas but the world lack savvy entrepreneurs.

An average business idea with the right mindset, a strong business management team and the right business plan will outperform an excellent million dollar idea with a poor mindset and a weak management team. So when deciding what business to start, make sure you do your preliminary feasibility study. Also make sure that the right combinations are in place and when contemplating on the best business to start; be sure to take into consideration the five questions above and I will see you at the top.

Six Lessons from My Failure in the Network Marketing Industry

Posted: 04 Feb 2012 01:56 AM PST

For every success story, there are fifty corresponding failure stories and just like every other person; I have had my own share of failure. One of the reasons why I take the pain to share my failures with you is to make you realize that failing is not abnormal; in fact, it is part of the process of becoming a success. Secondly, I want you to know that I don't succeed in every business venture I engage in; so don't think I am a super human when I tell you about my successes. Thirdly, I have come to understand from personal experience that success is a poor teacher and it tends to make you believe you are infallible. But failure, though painful is the best teacher. You learn more from your mistakes/failures than your successes. Success inspires but failure teaches; and this is the sole reason why I listen keenly to failure stories than success stories.

I once joined a network marketing company as an independent distributor and along the line, I failed. Well, I have explained the reason why I Failed to Build a Network Marketing Business so I won't be going into the details here. After my failure as a network marketer, I picked myself up and moved on but not without the lessons learnt. And with lessons learned from this single failure, I have built several successful businesses; so it's this same lessons I want to share with you now. If you are planning on starting a multi level marketing business; then I will advice you read this before launching out.

Six Lessons from My Failure in the Network Marketing Industry

1. There's a process to building a successful business and that process can never be bypassed

Before I signed up as a network marketer, I was told network marketing was an easy, stress free and quick paying business. I was told that my primary task is just to recruit new distributors and I will be on to a steady passive income. Now considering the low start-up capital involved, I felt I had nothing to lose; so I signed up with enthusiasm and high hopes of becoming a millionaire marketer overnight. After all, I have heard the success stories of other distributors; so mine shouldn't be an exception.

Unfortunately, I was dead wrong. Network marketing, like every other business is not easy. After I flopped and quit the business, I realized that there was nothing different when comparing network marketing to other businesses. I came to understand that the principles of business is the same; regardless of the type of business, economy or location. Building a successful business requires a process; it's a process that occurs in phases and each phase can never be skipped.

So never fall for the hype of a push button system or a stress free business model because it doesn't exist. There's nothing like overnight success; you have to toil to make your own bed of roses.

2. Acquiring the basic knowledge of a business is the first prerequisite for starting a business successfully

I believe this lesson is clear. You will be foolish to jump into the waters of business with both feet; without first testing the waters and understanding the basics. Business is universal in principle but each industry has its own tactics and intricacies. If you fail to learn the basics, then you are failure bound and nothing can help you. Learning the basics of a business can be done by understudying business models in the industry of your choice; attending seminars, by apprenticeship, reading books, journals, and most importantly, by starting small.

3. Business revolves around people

The network marketing business, just like every other business revolves around people. To succeed in the network marketing business, you must invest in people; because people are your assets in the business. So if you are an introvert; then you might reconsider your decision to start a network marketing business.

4. Selling is your most important task in business

If you have listened or read the prospectus of a network marketing salesman, you will notice the following bulleted points: No selling, No stockpiling, No stress, Easy to run, No recruiting down lines, etc. Most people hate selling; and these people are easily attracted to ads and prospectus that screams "NO SELLING." Unfortunately, selling is the most important task of an entrepreneur; and without it, no business will survive. In fact, selling is life.

So if you hate selling, then forget about starting a network marketing business. In fact, forget about even becoming an entrepreneur because you are only heading for the rocks.

5. Leadership skill is the second most important business skill

I wasn't born a great leader. In fact, I hated anything that will put me in the fore front. While in school, I was an A student but I hated being identified or singled out. I hated leading; even when I know deep down in me that I am competent enough to handle such task. But my adventure as a network marketer changed my perception entirely. While in the network marketing industry, I saw first handedly the importance of leadership and unfortunately, it's something you can't run away from in the industry.

As an entrepreneur, you have to be at the fore front of your business. People don't follow someone who doesn't inspire confidence. Secondly, people don't like being guided from behind; they want to be lead from the front. So despite my failure in network marketing, I never forgot the importance of leadership in business.

6. Failure is the greatest teacher; only if you are willing to learn

Failure is not bad. In fact, everybody fails at one time or the other but unfortunately; only few learn from their failures. Failure is the greatest teacher, but that's only if you are willing to learn. Now how can you learn from your failures? You can learn from your failures by keeping an open mind and critically analyzing the process that lead to the failure. When you analyze your steps, you are bound to discover where you went wrong and this will help you avoid the same mistakes in the future.

In conclusion, I want to stress the point that my time in the network marketing industry was worthwhile. It gave me the opportunity to meet great men and women who started from scratch. Secondly, my journey in the network marketing industry helped me discover my weaknesses and prepared me for the challenges of the business world. So my failure wasn't really failure; it was a learning process for me because with the experience gathered from my failure in the network marketing industry, I have become a better entrepreneur with a successful business to prove it. So don't let failure stop you; instead, learn to make it a stepping stone and I will see you at the top.