Where to Start

So you've been thinking about starting a home-based/Web-based business? Not sure where to start?

The first thing you need is to determine your knowledge/skill set. What do you enjoy? What do you hate? What are you good at? What have you always wanted to learn? What do you know?

Ask yourself these questions. You may need to do some soul searching. Enlist friends and family members to help in the brainstorming process.

What do you enjoy?

Just start listing things that you enjoy doing. Write them down. Don't worry about how it relates to a product or service yet. Think about the things that you do in everyday life that you enjoy. Do you like to work with people or things? Do you like to be indoors or out? What are your hobbies?

What do you hate?

Do the same as you did above for things you enjoy. If you hate to cook, you probably don't want to start a catering business. :-) But don't worry about relating it to running a business just yet. Likely, you will hate some tasks required in running a business. As long as it is not The Product or The Service that your business is all about, you can tolerate those tasks or hire someone to do them for you.

What are you good at?

Think about this. You may want to say "nothing", but everyone is good at something. It may be something so simple that you aren't even thinking about it. Are you good at analyzing situations? Are you a good organizer? Are you a good listener? Are you creative? Are you good with your hands?

What have you always wanted to learn?

Maybe the skill that you are going to use in your business is one you haven't even learned yet. Is there something that you have always wanted to learn? You don't necessarily need to go to school either. You can learn many things on the Net for free. Unless you want to start a medical or law practice or other similar professional business, you likely won't need to have any specific degrees or credentials. Entrepreneurs depend on their knowledge and experience. They don't need a piece of paper that says, "Yes, I have this knowledge and experience."

What do you know?

What topics do you have knowledge about? Everyone has something that they are knowledgeable about. You may not think you are, but likely someone else does. It may be something that you would consider very normal, but there is likely someone out there that would be interested in the knowledge that you have.

I can't tell you what kind of business to start. You need to figure that out on your own. The brainstorming above should give you some ideas of what kinds of businesses you could do. You are going to need to motivate yourself, and maybe others, even when the going gets tough. I highly recommend that you do something that you enjoy. That is the only thing that will get you through the hard times. There will be hard times. If you are looking for the perfect solution that will have you making money overnight with no time investment, then you are in the wrong place and are a prime target for scams.

How does this inventory of knowledge/skills turn into a business? Glad you asked.