Start A Business Without An Original Idea? Heresy You Say? Maybe Not…
The Problem
Okay, that’s it. Your boss is an idiot and you’ve had enough! You are finally ready to strike out on your own.
You are convinced that anyone can run a business better than him (her). Now you are finally ready to give it a shot.
But here’s the problem. When you thumb through the trend and business magazines you realize that you don’t have “that thing.”
You know, that amazing idea for some catchy new product, gadget, or service. Nothing has hit you. Does this mean that you are destined to continue to work in a place that you hate and struggle in silence?
Unique Product or Service
The running joke in business circles is that you can spot the ‘business pioneer’ because he has an arrow in the back (the most failures).
This, of course, is the reference to the early American settlers that charted paths across the Wild West in hopes of finding gold.
But do you need a brand new business idea to find success?
The Promise of Success
Burger King did not invent the fast-food restaurant. They looked at the success of McDonald’s and emulated it.
They made some tweaks, innovated a little, and…VOILA!
Burger King lets McDonald’s do the heavy research, and customer traffic analysis. Then they simply set up shop across the street.
Customer survey polls for local and small business finds them wanting better service.
That’s why you can not only find success but own the market if you are just 10% better than the competition.
Sometimes you don’t even need to be too much better, just different. Remember, you still can’t buy onion rings at McDonald’s but you can at Burger King!
What’s Your Offer?
One of the big differentiators has to do with your offer. How can you stand out from the competition?
If you get this one factor right success can be yours in a surprisingly short amount of time.
“The increase in the number of people starting their own businesses in the US has surged to a 13-year high” according to Business Insider.
New applications for an employer ID in the US “reached 1.1 million through mid-September, a 12% increase over the same period last year and the most since 2007,” according to an analysis of US Census Bureau data by The Wall Street Journal.
But what kind of business do you start?
The Impact of Crime
Not to be a “Debbie Downer” many people starting small brick-and-mortar businesses tend to overlook the impact of crime.
New investors who get started in real estate ventures soon begin to realize where the best “deals” are located. Often they are in parts of town where drugs and crime are prevalent.
Yes, there are thousands of exciting startup businesses that fight to get capital from Angel investors.
According to Forbes in an article about boring businesses;
“… U.S. Small Business Administration, in 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available), these (boring) companies produced 46 percent of the nonfarm GDP rivaling major corporation contributions and exceeding startup ventures as a category.”
Boring businesses are almost always service-oriented.
Some examples include:
– Child care.
– A food truck.
– Catering services
– Cleaning services.
– Gardening.
– House painting.
– Printing services.
New business owners have the challenge of raising money. And some of these boring offline businesses, like food trucks, still may encounter the issues mentioned earlier.
We Prefer the Online Business Model
It is not a coincidence that Jeff Bezos (as of this writing) is the richest person in the United States.
An online business gives you the ability to work from anywhere. That means you can travel. You can also choose to live anywhere you want.
The other advantage of the business model we chose is that it is based on a ‘boring’ service that is more than 300 years old!
To get some business ideas read a business comparison we did here.