بركان (Volcano) – By Mariam Al-Ali (5 years)
If you are reading this post while still thinking about which products or services you want to offer in your upcoming startup venture, I caught you in a good time!
People usually look for the entrepreneur-Genie deep inside their potentials reservoirs and opt to have their own businesses to have more freedom in time and inspirations. So, how to pick your next business idea in such a way that will assure you a quality of life afterwards?
- Do something you like: it just cannot be overemphasized. If you are going to work on something for 8, 10 or even 12 hours a day, you better choose something you like doing, right? My business adviser is a good example on that: he works 16 hours a day on average, 7 days a week, and enjoys it to the max. How? I guess I will speak about that in more details in a future post J
- “Scratch your itch”: this point is somehow related to the first one – do something you like with the intention of solving a problem you suffer from. I got this idea from a book called Rework, by Jason Fried and David Hansson. Be your own first customer and do a business that satisfies your needs first. And, if you are suffering from a problem, the odds are that you are not alone. Hence, once you solve your problem using a marketable solution, similar people out there may want to adopt your solution and pay for it.
- Make a business that will get you friends, not clients: think about your business as a party to which you want to invite only people who would fit in. Having your own business means that you will spend a good deal of your time serving clients and a much greater time looking for them. Similar the first point, you better spend time doing something you enjoy with people you like. And because people buy from people they like and trust as Brian Tracy always says, your chance in growing sales is more this way.
- Run with your idea, then think how to make money out of it: this might be the hardest of the four, especially when you start the self-owned business as your main income stream. However, if you can afford it, do what you like with no intention of getting immediately paid. This will transform the prospecting process from please-buy-from-me, direct-sale approach to focus on community reach and networking with like-minded people to get their trust over time. Hence, it is highly suggested to start your business on the side keeping your full time job.
Which one do you think fits you the most? Which one do you think is the most challenging? Please share your thoughts with me and the world.
I really like all your thoughts Maali. It is a new perspective and approach of starting your own business. Yes, I agree with you that you have to start with what you like (i.e your hobby) and you are good at doing it! and by word of mouth (i.e your network) of your friends who also like what you are doing, your business will definitely grow more and more by time. Don’t ever think of money for the first two or three years. Start slowly with confident baby steps toward a big dream and this is the secret of unlimited success
By the way I like your daughter Mariam drawing. She is talented like her mother and she will be a famous artist one day 
Thnx Ghadeer,
in fact, I owe those ideas to the ‘seclusion’ I went through during the past 9 months or so after my immigration.
also, a book called Rework (I guess I spoke about it a little in the article) may change the way we think about startups. it’s a highly suggested read for those who want to gain new perspectives.