Thinking of starting your own business? Tips on how to find the right business idea!

Some of the best business ideas are crazy. There aren’t any magic rules for finding the best ones. Your best shot at picking the right idea is to make sure it’s a good fit for your personality and skills. Business ideas are allowed to be crazy or mundane.

Six Tips for landing the best business ideas

Be different -  find a niche

Consider researching a niche that no one else has explored yet.  The narrower you define your market the less competition you may have.

Explore a number of ideas and pick the good ones!

As you come up with ideas, you need a way to pick the good ones. Examine the ideas circling your mind. Do a few stand out as something you’d really like to try? Bring those to the top of your list.

Find a small business idea you’re passionate about

If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, business will be much more fun. You’ll also find it easier to get up early, work late, and battle through obstacles. Plus, your mind is better at absorbing information that genuinely interests you, which could help you learn faster and progress quicker.

Choose an idea that fits with your skills

It’s much easier to get a business off the ground if you can do a lot of the early work yourself. Otherwise you’ll have to hire a lot of skilled people and that’s going to get expensive. You don't have to be a total expert before you start however, as it’s okay to learn on the job. But when you look at all the steps required to start your business, make sure you can take responsibility for a good chunk of them yourself.

Examine the Finances- How will your business make money?

Once you’ve chosen your best business ideas you need to figure out how to make money and get a return. That’s what a business model is for. It’s your plan for making money. Business models vary for different industries and the financial margins will be different in each one.  There are business models for retail, manufacturing, IT, service industry and professional services such as accounting.

Consider the following questions for your business model idea:

• What customers will be charged for?
• What is the average margin on the products or services you want to supply?
• What are the operating costs?
• How will I get my idea to the market?

Engage with an Accountant and Mentor

It is important when considering your idea to do some research and talk to experts who will have the knowledge to guide you.  An Accountant who is familiar with your industry will be able to help you with the financial sustainability aspect and a business start-up mentor will be able to ask the right questions as to how to market your new idea and how to set up the correct business model.

When deciding on a business idea to pursue, make sure:

1. You are genuinely excited by it, because you’ll spend a lot of time on it
2. You can carry it out (You will be doing a lot of the work yourself)
3. You have a finance plan on how to sustain the business

For more information on developing a new business idea contact Jim Doyle on 053 9170507 or email jim@rda.ie