Business Opportunity Seekers

It's a fact: 95% of people who are looking for a business opportunity won't find one.

The (relatively) rare few who do find opportunities have a huge edge over the majority of people, and they have learned exactly what to look for to make it happen. So how do you become one in five?

One way is to take an opportunity course that teaches you what goes into successful businesses — not just “success” as an abstract idea, but the nuts and bolts of how to set up and maintain your business so it becomes a real livelihood. A good example is an opportunity course offered by The SchoolofOpportunity.com .

We all know that a business can be anything from a smooth-running multi-million dollar company to a quaint coffee shop on the corner. The difference is in how they are set up and maintained. If you want to get into business, NOW is the time. The world needs people with business ideas. And when you leave school, start working or going to college, your dream of owning your own “something” will only become more and more elusive if you don't take advantage of your freedom right now and take the steps necessary to set up something on your own terms — whether you want a franchise, an online venture or just an oldfashioned brick-and-mortar store near home.

All you need is a business idea and then to take the time to actually set it up properly.

So how do you find a good opportunity that has a chance of success? You need to know what makes for a successful business.

There are three main factors involved when setting up a business:

1) Location 2) Customer base 3) Business model

Location and customer base are things you will have very little influence over, but the business model is something you can control. And your chances of success depend on getting all three factors right.

There are lots of books that give definitions of the three factors, but here is a simple example:

The business model is a detailed plan for what you have to do to succeed. If you don't have a clear plan, then there are too many moving parts and things will not work out.

Location is where you can reasonably expect your customers to come from, so that's where you need to decide on your niche market. The money-making thing about a niche market is that it's highly specialized and you can become very expert in it — and a specialist needs no more than one customer or client per day or week. That way if the business fails for some reason it won't affect you personally.

Customer base is exactly what it says, who or what group you are targeting. For example, if you have a coffee shop with a niche market of university students, then you will be dependent on them for most of your business. Then all it takes is one change at the university, like the closure of a library or cafeteria and your business will suffer.

So see what I mean? It's all about having a plan and an idea that can actually be worked into reality without too many things going wrong at once. This is what opportunity courses teach you, how to set up the right kind of business so that if any one thing fails in your plan it doesn't result in failure for you personally.

By the way, when it comes to having a business idea that works, what you plan to sell is not as important as how you plan to sell it. So if you want to run a bakery, don't worry so much about what kinds of cakes or cookies you'll offer — think about how you would market your brand and sell them.

Then you can try a “market test” by making a small batch and offering it to your friends and family. That way you can enjoy some good feedback about what you are doing that is lacking.

The more prepared you are before you start the actual setup of your business, the better it will be for everybody — from your customers to yourself.

Business Opportunity Seekers,

Cynthia Safford

http://www.lookmomnoinvestment.com/bizopps.shtml

I’m a 21 year old college student. I’ve had some success with online marketing and I plan on going for my business degree in January. I want to learn about how to set up a website, set up an email list, and market the product that is going to be sold. So far I have read the the free 10-part series at http://www.lookmomnoinvestment.com/bizopps2/ . Now, I’m ready to take the next step and get more involved in this.

I’d like to hear from others who have taken advantage of an opportunity course, so that I can put together my own business plan.

Brad B – USA

Hi Brad,

Thank you for your comment! If you need any additional information or advice please feel free to ask some questions below. Best of luck with your Website! Please reply back if you want some personalized help from me. Take care! Sincerely, Cynthia Safford PS: Don't forget to subscribe for my FREE Blog at http://www.lookmomnoinvestment.com/blog/ .

Part 1 of the 10-part course on how to start a business is available here: http://www.lookmomnoinvestment.com/bizopps2/

The next chapter of Business Opportunity…

http://www.lookmomnoinvestment.com/bizopps3/

Business Opportunity Seekers,

Cynthia Safford

I’m looking to invest a small amount of money into an online business idea and am wondering what the qualifications are in order to be considered as a potential partner? It seems like I will be competing against many people with similar ideas but other than that, I’m not sure what else I should look for in terms of a business partner.

Conclusion:

There is no universal answer to this question. There are many reasons why an individual may need a partner and be looking for one. The following are a list of the most common reasons:

1) Money – going into business with money is not always the best idea. From an accounting standpoint, financial records should be maintained at all times to ensure that the money being invested is going towards the start-up of a business instead of being used for other purposes. Another reason why money may not be needed is because you want to “go in on” your business with someone else and/or have them help you raise capital for growth or expansion.