Are you in the right business?

Are you in the right business?

You may be thinking that this is a silly question. But it's not as easy to answer as you might think. Many people are in a job or running a company and they're not really sure if they're in the right business. And sometimes we can't determine if we are in the right business until we have been doing it for awhile.

I know that I'm in the right business. But I'm not going to tell you what my business is because of the nature of this article. But I will tell you that I have been doing it for the last 12 years, and my family and I are very happy. So why am I hesitant on telling you who I am or what my business is? Well, quite honestly, because there are other people who might read this, and they know me personally. And they know exactly what my business is. And they could be angry with me if they felt that I revealed too much here. So let's just say that it's a fairly well established industry with many people getting into it every day.

But here's the real reason why I'm hesitant on telling you who I am or what my business is: It could change tomorrow.

I have seen this happen many times in my business. 

I started out as an independent contractor in the IT industry, and I didn't tell people what I was doing for money for years. And then one day we were contacted by a major IT company, and they asked us if we would be interested in being an employee for them for a couple of months to see how it went. We said "Sure, sounds great!" And in a few short months, I became the lead developer with a big company that had over 10 other developer teams around the world.

In other words, I was in the wrong business.

If I had told people what my business was from day one when I started out, or even when we were approached by another company to see if we wanted to be an employee for them, then things would have turned out very differently for us.

So [...] Are you in the right business? [USING TEXT] GOOD SHOTS

Well, there's one thing that might be able to answer that question: the business plan.

Yes, a business plan is a great tool to figure out if you're in the right business. But it's not the only one.

If you're not sure about your business and you want to take a look at how profitable it is and more, I recommend looking at the finance spreadsheets and calculations that we use in our full service business for pricing, profitability and money-making scenarios.

And if you really want to know what your business is, then here's a good way to determine your business type: go through each of the 5 major categories (subjects) that most businesses must address. And figure out which one(s) your business falls into. Now that you know where you are, then find out what it takes to be successful in that field.

For example, if you do natural health and fitness, then you're probably running a gym or a training business. If you do software development, then you're probably doing some kind of software development project for the company that uses the software that you've built. And so on.

And if your business falls into one of these 13 major categories, then it's time to find out what it takes to be successful in that field in general and which particular companies are looking for people in that industry. Good luck!

Stay tuned for more great business articles right here at  FindingTheBusiness.com .

And sign up for our free business building and goal setting tips here .

Have a great day! [POST DATA]

Title: Running a Business, Part 2: What is YOUR business?

Author: FindingTheBusiness.com, Copyright © 2013 by Paul Krause of FindingTheBusiness.com all rights reserved.

Chapter title:  Are you in the right business?

Are you in the right business? Are you sure that you're not doing something that someone else could do better or something that someone else hasn't already done before? You might be in an industry that's crowded with others and there may be very little chance of making yourself stand out amongst them. Or maybe you're in an industry that you don't like. In that case, you might want to look into doing something else. I know that I'm in the right business, but I'm not going to tell you what my business is because of the nature of this article. But I will tell you that I have been doing it for the last 12 years, and my family and I are very happy. So why am I hesitant on telling you who I am or what my business is? Well, quite honestly, because there are other people who might read this, and they know me personally. And they know exactly what my business is. And they could be angry with me if they felt that I revealed too much here. So let's just say that it's a fairly well established industry with many people getting into it every day. But here's the real reason why I'm hesitant on telling you who I am or what my business is: It could change tomorrow. I have seen this happen many times in my business. I started out as an independent contractor in the IT industry, and I didn't tell people what I was doing for money for years. And then one day we were contacted by a major IT company, and they asked us if we would be interested in being an employee for them for a couple of months to see how it went. We said "Sure, sounds great!" And in a few short months, I became the lead developer with a big company that had over 10 other developers teams around the world. In other words, I was in the wrong business. If I had told people what my business was from day one when I started out, or even when we were approached by another company to see if we wanted to be an employee for them, then things would have turned out very differently for us. So [...] Are you in the right business? [USING TEXT] GOOD SHOTS

Well, there's one thing that might be able to answer that question: the business plan.

Conclusion

So in this article I started off by asking you:

"Are you in the right industry or business?"

And then I showed you some of the signs that make you realize that what you are doing is actually the right thing to do.

But one of the most important questions about your business is "Is it the right industry for YOU?" If it's not, then it's time to find out how to make this work for yourself. And that's where visualizing your life and your business come into play. It will help immensely to think about how things will look from 6 months from now, 1 year from now and 2+ years from now.