Starting your own internet business can seem daunting, but it really only requires a little bit of smarts and some experienced help.
Choosing the best entrepreneurial option depends on so many factors: your interests, your background, the available opportunities, your money and time resources—and even on hard-to-quantify elements like the fun factor and how family and friends will react.
That said, while the work of identifying and choosing a good opportunity will never be easy, you can employ a handful of clever tricks to help with the decision-making:
Tip #1: List Your Strongest Industry Skills
You'll have most success starting a home based Internet business connected to an industry you know something about. Accordingly, you probably want to begin your brainstorming by listing out the top, say, four or five industries you already know at least a little bit about.
Most people have knowledge in several industries. For example, even a student majoring in graphic design who's only worked a couple of part-time jobs—one in clothing retailing and one in construction-- may have industry skill or knowledge in the following areas: education services (including tutoring and test preparation), web design, fashion merchandising, and some construction trade or specialty.
Tip #2: List Your Top Personal Interests
Another source of ideas for starting an internet home based business: List some of your personal interests. How great would it be to have a job you'll find interesting!
Think particularly about any hobbies you enjoy, the books you like to read, the places you like to spend time or visit. Are you keeping honeybees in your backyard? Are you an amateur jazz guitar player? Have you always been interested in civil war history? All of these items can point to areas where you might be able to enjoyably operate your own business.
Tip #3: List the Most Attractive Businesses for Sale You See
To see how other people have turned previous experiences and personal interests into real, viable businesses, search through one of the online business opportunities for sale websites such as
bizbuysell.com or local equivalent websites.
As you do this, make another list of any small businesses that seem interesting. There's no shame in copying someone else's ideas or in using someone else's ideas as a springboard for your own unique venture.
Tip #4: Interview the Most Knowledgeable Small Business Person You Know
If you know anyone well—family member, neighbor, friend, or whomever—who has already successfully operated a small business, confer with this insider.
Specifically, let this small business veteran know that you're really interested in starting a small online business—and that you would greatly appreciate any coaching they can provide. In specific, ask them for any small business ideas which they think might be worthwhile for you to consider.
Getting practical ideas from someone who knows both you and the realities of small business will provide you with additional options to consider.
Tip #5: Pay Attention to Patterns
Applying the first four tips given earlier should provide you with four lists of possible online business ideas. And those lists should be useful fodder for your startup brainstorming. But let me provide one additional tip: As you look through the new business ideas that come from industry experiences, personal interests, real-world small businesses for sale, and the ideas offered up by small business veterans, pay attention to any patterns that appear.
Specifically, look for internet home-based business opportunities that fall into industry categories where you already have some experience and which fit your personal interests. Look for businesses which (based on lists of businesses for sale) somebody has already proved work. And look for businesses that make sense to entrepreneur friends that you trust--and makes sense for you.
Any new online business idea which appears on two or three lists is definitely worth more in-depth research.
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Seattle CPA Stephen L. Nelson is the bestselling author of the small business reference books Quicken for Dummies and Quickbooks for Dummies. Nelson also authors the ebook,
Starting an Online Business and publishes the
How to Write Up a Business Plan web site.
