Questions

I'm looking for advice on idea generation. I'm currently struggling on what type of business should I start?

I Iike brainstorming and coming up with ideas, working with slogans and logo ideas. But unsure on what type of business I should start? I was thinking about consulting but please advise.

10answers

Hello! This is a great question, alimena many new self-employed or entrepreneurs face. When I started consulting 10 years ago i started mentoring people in this exact situation - you know you're good, but you feel like your skillsets are diverse and you obviously want to do something productive that generates steady income thus you're unsure as to what path to follow. If this goes un-addressed for too long you'll see years pass by w/no fruitful effort. My background is in strategic marketing - here are my thoughts for you:

First, try coupling your skillsets to a certain industry such as marketing, pr, sales, technology, etc. Are you capable of creating the logos or imagery you propose to someone?
Second, based on whether you can deliver and the industry that best suits you - understand your would be role in the current eco-system. For example I would place your interest into marketing but you see, a logo does not make a brand, a slogan requires clever pitching to be accepted at once, and clever repetition to the audience for it to stick and become a slogan or part of the brand. Why would a company go to a consultant who cannot deliver campaigns but only create words on microsoft or sketch a logo but not create it? Even a graphic artist must go through dozens of variations of the same 'finished' logo before one gets accepted and thats because a miniscule detail makes a huge difference to a client. So a sketch is close to delivering nothing.
Consulting can be a good gig, but you must understand what consulting is - is not just speaking, unless you're amazing public speaker and jargonist. No, sustainable consulting delivers a product in the form of research, theories, thesis, manages others implementing the effort, works side by side the teams they are hired by. So this means that even for logo and branding consulting you must be perceived as an expert in your field, have experts who like you as a human and respect you as a professional. Specially if you want to simply create verbal content and not tangible brand assets.

With that said, on the other hand, let's say that you are able to deliver tangible assets to a company client. Good for you, now lets understand your role in the current eco-system as follows:
You are either a disruptor, traditionalist, softserver, specialist, connector or a soloist. Now, is important that you don't get played by your ego - none of these is above another and even through the distruptor classisification might be of your liking it doesn't mean that you are - you, to me, sound like would fit under the soloist. A distruptor is someone with ton of experiences and abilities to bring all others together under one roof service and deliver a hybrid company - I have done that with Unthink, a hybrid marketing agency that caters to small and new business owners who need high budget services on monthly payments and have gathered expert professionals to work under my model and not traditional lump sum plans for traditional and digital marketing and advertising.
A traditionalist are becoming irrelevant and depend heavily on relations and past authorities in a field. For newcomers this is obviously out of the question and a dying competitive strategy.

Specialists, you could be here, focus heavily and depend on NICHE markets only. These individuals can charge a premium because they offer a single solution to any client and deliver it well because they understand it backwards and inside out. These people are constantly improving, reading, learning and networking and have a pitch crafted down to the T. They depend heavily on connections obviously and patience for their connections to need their services.
Connectors, are networkers, not doers. - you could be here too. They make the connections and hire or subcontract others who can serve.
Soloists are common - these are web devs, programmers, graphic artists, solo-business owners - who have modest growth goals, low cost of living and thus can comfortably build connections and offer a small variety of services which once sold they create and deliver themselves. (if you know graphic design you would be here) These people are not looking to build an agency right off the bat or at all, instead just make a good living doing something they love either as main provider or as a contractor or sub-contractor to clients directly or other companies.

I hope my answer helps you figure out what type of business to start, I cannot give you a direct response because that is a loaded question which answer depends heavily on things only you know. If you would like to chat a bit more give me a call, message me, or google me. Right now, we currently added a yelp account, if you feel like my answer helped me I would invite you to leave a yelp review for me in return :) https://www.yelp.com/biz/unthink-marketing-avondale


Answered 8 years ago

Start by finding out what people need. Go to Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Quora questions, Reddit forums and start reading about things that interest YOU. That will ensure you're in a space you can stay interested in. However, look at problems other people are having. Think of ways you can solve those problems. Those solutions will help you come up with ideas for businesses. Approach it from the standpoint that you are going to learn and understand before you try to sell. Once you know enough about the problems your potential customers may have, creating something for them to buy will seem much easier.


Answered 8 years ago

In my opinion, I would start with an internal audit first.
What are my interests or hobbies?
What group do I hang out with the most?
What industry or niche do I know the most about?
What are my resources?
Who do I want to serve?

Ideas and logos are easy. But they don't make a business.

You need to find a niche of people, discover their pain points, develop a solution to those pain points and then go sell it to that niche. The type of solution combined with the specific market niche you're after will determine the vehicles you use to reach them and deliver the solution.

Conducting the internal audit first will direct you into something you care for and will give you the fuel to carry on later when shit gets hard.


Answered 8 years ago

NEVER start a business because you fall in love with a brand you invented.

Every day, I run across people who do just that, putting the cart before the horse. Because of what I do for a living, chiefly these are domain owners who (in the absence of any buyer for their inventory) concoct a website to justify (in their own minds) whatever domain they purchased. Typically these are projects they'd never have undertaken but for the accident of domain ownership.

Project first. Branding second.


Answered 8 years ago

Private label products to sell on Amazon.


Answered 8 years ago

You definitely want to work on problems that you are very familiar with, as your ramp time to get your business going will be less.

The best article I have read on this topic: http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html


Answered 8 years ago

using internet , many people start to use drop shipping because it lower the risk of carrying inventory and if you are good at marketing on line or personal connection, start small by acting as an agent, eg sell piano with major supplier, find them a customer and get paid if there is a sale.


Answered 8 years ago

Hi,
Many people out there have the same questions and maybe the same skill set as yours. But first let me first ask you the following. >What are you good at? What do you have a passion for? What do you find yourself doing the most? What do you find yourself doing the most of? What do you enjoy doing the most? Do persons often come to you for advise and do you often pull from the reservoir of info that you have on the matter? How do they respond when you furnish them with the required solution? How does that make you feel?
All these are questions which will help you know where you want to go. I notice your skill sets and yes you could do consulting, but if you are not passionate and sold on it there might be a challenge.
The areas are also marketing tools and also can work for public relations as well.
There is always a market for what you are offering ...set up a platform;advertise, introduce and promote what you have to offer.
Why not register with clarity and offer your expertise advise on this platform.


Answered 3 years ago

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