Should You Start a Business?

Whether you are thinking about starting a new business or overwhelmed and overworked by an existing business, there is a lot to consider.  Business strategist and deal maker Carol Roth talks about some of the key things you should know, from her new book, The Entrepreneur Equation.

Could You vs. Should You?:  Can you start a business?  Absolutely!  Should you?  Well, that’s a whole different story.  Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should and that it’s the best opportunity to succeed.  Business success follows when you are the right person with the right mindset pursuing the right type of opportunity at the right time for you.  The same goes when expanding your current business.  You always want to look at if the rewards greatly outweigh the risks for you and your business.  That’s a whole lot of factors to evaluate, so make sure that you do your homework by starting with the “Should You” question.

The Value of a Business Idea:  In today’s crowded marketplace, your business idea is worth almost as much as the piece of paper you write it down on.  Successful business is all about execution, not an idea.  There are many brilliant business ideas that have failed to be executed upon, some really stupid business ideas that were executed flawlessly (for example, the Snuggie), and many ideas that were executed differently by different people.  In fact, the UFC was on the brink of bankruptcy and is now valued at over $1 billion under its current ownership.  So, how could the same company be worthless and worth a billion if the idea had real value?  That shows you how important execution vs. the idea.

Is Your Business “ABLE”?  For you to succeed, focus on whether or not your business is:

Remarkable- does what you offer stand out in a crowded marketplace?

Viable- if the market opportunity isn’t big enough for you to earn a substantial profit, you may want to re-think the business.

Scalable- can it be grown exponentially for every resource (money, people or otherwise) you put toward it?

Suitable- does the business make sense for you?  Does it achieve your goals and do the rewards of it greatly outweigh the risks you are taking on- both in terms of money and quality of life?

If you are overwhelmed and overworked by your current job, you may need to make it more “ABLE”.  Be willing to take a step backwards and re-evaluate your business model and strategy so that you can take a huge leap forward with your business.

Comments

[GoOctopus Job Search]

Love this: when you are the right person with the right mindset pursuing the right type of opportunity at the right time.

It's not so easy to "come across" so many "rights", so you need to think carefully before you jump into a new open bussiness.

[Alexandra Levit]

@GO: Great way of putting it. I might have to steal that from you! ;)

[Shane Adams]

Also, investing in a business needs a strong study, for it to have a great foundation. What's crucial at this point is the question of what to sell. Products and services offered should always be unique and a market magnet to outdo competition, and to increase the potential of survival.

[Irene Sparks]

Nowadays, a lot of people want to surrender there job and start a business. For me, this kind of change is really drastic and very risky.